Saving money can be difficult. I don’t know about you, but it seems like if money is in the bank account, it often disappears. After food, bills, and a couple luxuries are paid for, all the money is gone. Saving money can be a tough, but it’s necessary one if you want to stay out of debt. When our stove cracked over the weekend, we knew we had to replace it. Fortunately, we were able to get the money. How did we save money? By making it difficult to spend.
If you’re struggling to save money, maybe you can benefit from our strategy. Here are some ways you can make your money more difficult to spend.
Strategy 1: Put it in Gold or Silver
When the US government gave out their coronabucks last year, we suddenly had an influx of cash. Rather than put it into a bank account, we went to the coin shop and bought silver rounds with some of it. They’re an ounce each, and today silver is selling for $27.63.
To get your money back, you have to go to the coin shop and sell the coins. What a pain! You might say. That’s the whole point. If it were easy to retrieve your money, you might be tempted to cash some out for something that wasn’t truly an emergency.
Like cryptocurrencies, metal can go up and down in value. The coin shop also charges a commission, just like exchanges do. Today, we were paid $3 over the spot price for our coins, which was very helpful.
Strategy 2: Put it in Cryptocurrencies
Most of us know about cryptocurrencies. Unless you have a debit card attached to your account, it’s difficult to spend. If your coins are in a wallet, you have to send the coins to an exchange. Then you go to the exchange and trade the coins for fiat. Then you have to send your fiat to the bank.
With both of the above strategies, at least for me, I often feel bad selling. It hurts. But in an emergency, you have to do it. And then you can buy back later.
Strategy 3: Put it in a Separate Bank Account
For me, this is probably the worst option, but it might be the best strategy for you. If it’s attached to a bank you already bank with, it might be tempting to transfer your money when something minor happens. If possible, don’t connect the accounts like that. Make it difficult to spend the money. Keep the debit card to the account at home. The point is to put your savings somewhere where you’ll either almost forget you have it, or make it difficult to spend so you’re only using it for emergencies.
I have cryptocurrency, some metal, and have a very small amount of fiat in a bank account we mostly forget about. To get money to buy a new stove, I went to the coin shop and sold some coins. It hurt to sell them, because they’re like a safety net. But with crypto down and silver up, it was a no-brainer which strategy to use (it cost over $800 so the money in the bank account wouldn’t cover it).
What strategies do you use to save money? Do you keep cash in an envelope in a safe somewhere? Do you do something else? Maybe you have a will of steel and won’t spend your money even if it’s in your regular bank account.
