Welcome to our 2-part series about mindful spending. Today we bring you part 1 of our fantastic tips to help you become a more mindful spender, bringing awareness to your spending routines and challenging your habits. Â
Mindful spending is feeling good about what you are spending money on. It is about knowing what brings you joy, happiness and worth by understanding how we behave around money and how we feel about ourselves. So what can we do to help us save money through mindful spending……?
Tip 1 – Be mindful
Become more aware about how you spend your money. The easiest way to do this is to analyse your spending habits, by looking at what you’re actually spending money on. It tells you so much about what you value. For example, if you are spending £50 a week on online subscriptions and they add value to your life – don’t beat yourself up!
Take responsibility for your own spending rather than joint or household accounts, your personal accounts are often where the spending occurs.
Tip 2 – Stop comparing yourself to anyone elseÂ
Comparison truly is the thief of joy so try not to compare your spending to others. What really matters is what you are doing, thinking, and spending your money on. It really shouldn’t matter what anyone else is doing so focus on things that bring you joy, happiness, and fulfilment.
Tip 3 – Identify your triggers
Reflect on how you feel when you make an impulse buy and think about your spending triggers too, it could be that you’re trying to make decisions when you are tired, hungry or when you’re too busy and feeling rushed.
If you’re fearful of money and you can feel yourself pulling back from making decisions, or taking the plunge to invest for example, when is it that you feel this the most? Attempt to identify the triggers in yourself.
It can also help if you keep a journal too. Find time to write down how you feel when you spend. Seeing it written down can help you identify the triggers more clearly so that in the future, you can change your mood and spending situations. It also helps if you can talk it out with someone you trust too.
On Thursday, we will focus on how to stop our spending triggers and learn how to forgive ourselves for past money mistakes
Catherine Morgan is a multi-award winning, qualified financial planner and money coach. She is the founder of The Money Panel.
