Theoretical savings

[thebratqueen]

Is there any way to reward yourself for savings that mostly happen in theory?

Here's what I mean:

Comments

[meko00]

Well, not the same thing, but you could put all loose change in a jar and conveniently forget about it only to later find what could amount to quite a lot of money. Which you could then buy lots of fannish things with. :-) Of course, you'd still have that $20 dollar bill. Sorry, it's too late here.

[ezust]

I get what you're saying, and I apply the theory this way: Bank it, and with all the additional money I don't take out for those extra spending sprees, let it work at accruing interest. That's a way to make the money you saved the first time grow into more money, which amasses even more interest, etc.

Okay, it's a stretch. LOL!

[betweenclark]

I keep a separate spreadsheet for just this kind of thing and add it up at the end of every month, just like a regular budget. It also includes the savings I get from, say, not having to buy a new cellphone charger because my mom gave me the spare one that she doesn't need. I call it my "shadow savings".

[thebratqueen]

That's a good idea. First off because I love spreadsheets ;) Second because that might provide a way to show a tangible benefit in the sense that previously this would probably be something I'd put on a credit card to worry about later. So that way at the end of a month or a year I could look at it and see how much credit card debt I wasn't in.

[elfbystarlight]

I have to admit that I'm not quite sure of the point, in terms of money. You *didn't* save $65, you saved $20

[thebratqueen]

It's $65 savings if I didn't spend $65. Maybe what's confusing it is the starting with $20, where that's all I can spend. But assume I have $100. If I don't spend $20 here, $5 there, etc. I still just have $100. I don't "gain" money in the same way that I do by spending less than my budgeted amount on groceries.

If, over the course of the month, I spend $5 less/week on groceries, by the end of the month I have $20 that I wouldn't have had before. But if, over the course of the month, I don't spend $100 all I have is $100. There's no earnings, there's just maintenance.

And to me that's a harder thing to be motivated by because the benefits aren't as tangible. I could fight and win the battle against the temptation to buy hundreds of things, but in the end all I have is that $100. There's no obvious gain other than the fact that I am not in debt. Which, granted, is a worthwhile thing, but that's not as rewarding a feeling as a savings of $5 that you can put your hands on.

[elfbystarlight]

I'm a little confused by the distinction but I am suspecting it comes from a different general view of things rather than anything else.

I can kindof see where you're coming from... I think. I was confused by the repeated not-spending of the original $20. Are you talking about specifically not borrowing money for purchases rather than not spending money you have?

[thebratqueen]

I really appreciate your questions, because they're helping me to clarify my thoughts. I had a reply all typed out but it got long and overly geeky, so I'm going to make it a new post =)

[giglet]

I don't see the difference. If you resist eating a candybar, you haven't taken in those calories. If you resist that DVD, you haven't spent those dollars. You could just as well say, "Well, I haven't had six hot fudge sundaes today -- even though I thought about it six times, so that's a zillion calories I saved today. And I didn't buy two BMWs today, even though twice I thought that I'd really like to have one, so that's about $60k I saved." It's nonsensical.

I realize that this doesn't help at all. I'm sorry about that. I wish I had something useful to say.

[thebratqueen]

Well that's part of my point. Somebody could say that, and it would be nonsensical.

But, on the other hand, we're supposed to resist eating six hot fudge sundaes a day and buying every thing that even remotely catches our eye. So how do we stay motivated to do that when the benefits of doing that are so close to being imaginary that they might as well not exist?

[dotsomething]

First off, my brain runs through that same process you describe dozens of times a week. After a while it just shorts out--I deprive myself of that dvd, this cd, that lunch out, I save $2 by walking instead of taking the bus, etc., etc., and then my brain goes, wow, I saved like $35, ROWRRR!! COMICS!! and then I am doomed. Seems like if I didn't spend it on one thing, it goes to another

[thebratqueen]

I had something similar happen once when I had a craving for pizza. I tried to be "good" and not buy a slice for lunch, but that only made the craving worse to the point where I ended up buying a whole pie later. Now granted, I was able to freeze the extra for lunches at a later date, but even so one of those impulses was a lot cheaper and healthier than the other. Giving in to one would have been a lot better for me in the long run.

A mental trick I'm finding works is keeping track of what I don't spend and looking at that as credit card debt that I don't have. It might not feel like much now, but perhaps by the end of the year it will be nice to look back and see what debt I don't have to pay off.