| 1. Spend less time feeling poor. Flipping through catalogs and going to the mall will make you feel like you need things. Sure, you can afford some of the stuff, but the main message is: Most of this is out of your reach. Instead, do things that offer a sense of well-being. Walk in the park or invite friends over.
2. Retrain your brain. Depriving ourselves of current pleasure is nearly impossible if we're driven by a sense that the future will be unfullfilling. When you start to feel that "I'm deserving so I'm buying" feeling, visualize a smaller credit card bill or higher savings account.
3. Look around you. Are you happy with what your hard-earned dollars bought? Shift your spending to those things that bring greater long-term satisfaction, including retirement savings.
4. Choose your extravagances. Here's mine: I dine out once a month. As an extravagance I do without: junk food.
5. Assess weaknesses. "If you were thrifty, how would you look different?" says Gary Buffone. a financial psychologist in Jacksonville, Fla. Identify what you want to change; then shoot for specific targets, such as a six month hold on new tech gadgets.
6. Make trade-offs. Substitute small, free pleasures for those that cost. Have a movie night at home with friends-you'd be surprised how many people are equally eager to cut costs.
7. Set goals. Meet weekly with family to discuss the spending plan (avoid calling it a budget) for the months and years ahead. This may involve tough choices, such as forsaking a family vacation. But think of the guilt-free trip you can take after saving the necessary cash. Good memories last longer when untrammeled by large credit card bills.
8. Resist your children. They are going to find it hard to change their expectations. How can you help? Stand firm. The next time they clamor for the latest video-game, remind them of the bigger prize (that family vacation) and tell them their choices here and now are, say a picnic or a movie rental. Offer options, but avoid giving in to their push for more consumer goods.
9. Enlist other people. Many people are reticent to talk about money worries, even though everyone has them. So open up and tap your allies. Engage friends or family to see who can save the most in a month.
10. Post it. Remind yourself by putting post-it notes on your wallet, mirrors or steering wheel with the mantra of your choosing: "Abundance flows to me, through me and around me".
11. Automate it. Divert money monthly from your checking account to savings. 10% of your net pay is a good rule of thumb and you would be surprised how quickly it adds up.
12. Rethink rewards. What are some of our happiest memories? Those are the true rewards. Next time you are about to buy something because you think you deserve it, ask yourself if there is something that you deserve more, such as cooking with your teenager, or a stroll with a friend. We have been conditioned to think that spending money on clothes, a restaurant, is going to be the reward that we want from working hard. Is it the ultimate reward in the end?
Transform Your Life Through Hypnotherapy and Holistic Healing.
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