I’ll be the first to admit, I’m better at spending than I am at saving.
I’ve got bills to pay and places to be, and that makes it hard for me to save up a nice little nest egg.
It’s like I have to trick myself into doing it. I have to outsmart the primitive lizard brain inside me that’s ready to burn through all my cash.
That’s why saving for retirement with an automated 401(k) plan works for me. Those 401(k) contributions get taken out before I ever see my paycheck. I never see that money, so I’m never tempted to spend it.
But what about saving money outside your retirement fund? What about socking something away for an emergency? How about saving for a car or a wedding or a down payment on a house or an amazing vacation, or for whatever else you want?
Me, I’ve gotta trick myself. If I really want to save that money, then I’ve got to put it somewhere other than my wallet, where I guarantee it will get spent.
Just like with my 401(k) contributions, I have to automate it.
Tricking Yourself Through the Miracle of Automation
There are easy ways to set up automatic withdrawals from your checking account into your savings or retirement accounts (or, even better, both!).
One way to do this is to push 10% of your paycheck into a separate, hands-off account with Chime Bank, which helps you automatically save every time you get paid.
The FDIC-insured account comes with more than 24,000 fee-free ATMs, zero overdraft fees and doesn’t require a minimum or monthly payment.
Plus, when a slice of your paycheck gets automatically funneled into your secret stash, well… what you don’t see, you won’t miss, right?
Chime also has a feature that helps you save when you spend. It rounds up your purchases to the next dollar and puts the difference into your savings account.
Not only that, but it also rewards you with a 10% bonus on round-ups every week. You get your bonus on Friday, right before the weekend. You can earn up to $500 in bonuses per year.
Really, this is about taking financial control away from your primitive lizard brain and its yearning for shiny, shiny things.
This is about letting your brain’s frontal lobe use its higher cognitive functions to formulate and execute a successful, long-term savings strategy.
In other words, it’s a wicked sneaky ninja move against the lizard brain.
It’s a Jedi mind trick you use against yourself.
I’m not even kidding here, people. This kind of thing is all that works for me.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. Adding these links helps us keep the lights on in The Penny Hoarder HQ, which makes it a lot easier to play shuffleboard after a long day of deal-seeking!
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. His lizard brain is mighty.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.
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