I kind of have a problem with self-control when it comes to spending. Im not a wealthy person and need to get it under control. I dont spend on big ticket items but i come pretty close. I was about to buy a 25k piano the other day but got myself under control.

Do you have problems with this or with self-control in general? how do you "tame" yourself? need help.

 

I think the problem with most people is that they do not SAVE! Even if its only $50 a check...save it. Most of my friends make decent money, but always seem broke. I think a lot of it is thinking they should have more than they really should...keeping up with the jones's type mentality.

I dont think there is any reason for most people to live paycheck to paycheck (not sure if this is your problem or not however). People think if I make 1000 a check, thats how much I have to spend - and as long as my bills are taken care of, the rest of the money is party money.


Pay yourself first.... Being broke, or dropping loads of money on something that should be fun, but after you've spent the money you feel sick - sucks...

And when you need to save money and dont know what to do, use the money you've already spent to keep yourself occupied. I try to engage in hobbies/things I can sustain with little expense for that very reason.

 

Yes, I've had these kind of issues in the past. I once went $20K in debt to build a media room in my house. After being broke for 2 years trying to pay off that debt, I decided, "never again".

The best way that I've found to avoid spending big bucks is to make your money as inaccessible as possible. I max out my investments into 401k and Roth IRA, so I know I can't touch that money. Then, I put my spare cash into an online savings account. It takes 3 days to move money from that savings account into my checking account, so that gives me 3 days to re-think my decision before making a major purchase. And once per year, I move the majority of the cash from my online savings account into a trading account where I use it to buy stocks (which I hold long-term). At any given time, my checking account will have enough to cover the bills that are due before my next paycheck plus a maximum of a couple hundred dollars worth of 'fun money'. No more than that. By making my money difficult to access, I find that de-motivates me to spend any money. I'm lazy by nature, so if it's too much trouble to get to the money, then I just don't bother.

Beyond making your money difficult to access, you have to make a conscious effort to avoid buying things on credit. Only buy what you can afford to pay off that month. Never carry a CC balance. Since paying off my debt from my media room, I haven't carried a balance on any interest-bearing card, and my only debt is my mortgage.

Additionally... a friend of mine said something that I always think about when considering large purchases (particularly cars, which is my current temptation):
"For every 20 thousand dollars that you spend today, you effectively add 1 year to your retirement date."

The actual number may be different for every individual, but the concept is the same. Money that you spend now is not available to invest & grow, and since my ultimate motivation for making money is so that I won't have to work forever, this is the factor that keeps me from spending excessively.

Good luck. Ultimately, you have to find a balance between "having money" & "spending money." And that balance is different for every individual.

 

Well spoken

 

When the impluse strikes...I buy. Is that a problem?

 

Only you can answer that for yourself, we all treat our finances differently. For me that would be a problem.

 

we asians don't have this issue.

 

Luckily I dealt with my impulse buy syndrome before I turned 14, bought about 3k worth of diablo 2 lod virtual items and became a god - a few month later felt like shit for spending my money on essentially trash... might as well had spent it on hookers and alcohol, after that I never bought anything more then 100$ without thinking about it for a while.

 

I've found without fail that the purchases I wait the longest for end up being the most rewarding.

 

My downfall is online shopping. What usually stops me is I have to walk from my office to the bedroom to get my wallet and the wife will inevitably ask "whatcha doin?"

For local purchases I typically go home, if I still want it bad enough that I'd go out again then it is worth considering further. (This isn't as fail proof though, now that I have the S I look for any excuse to go for a drive)