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Have you withdrawn money from a deposit and put it in a safe? Or have they converted everything into foreign currency? Or spent cash on buying your favorite items for future use? We will assume that the period of impulsive spending is over — it is time to calmly and soberly review the usual financial strategies. Psychologist Vladislav Chubarov and financial consultant Anastasia Veselko suggest how to optimize costs.
A period of instability, oddly enough, is a very good time to reconsider your relationship with money. Are you ready to budget more efficiently? Are you able to forego some nice but optional spending lines, or even the thought of saving makes you panic?
“Understanding your mindset is the first step towards more adequate budgeting,” says psychologist Vladislav Chubarov. — Agree, it is difficult to change financial strategies for someone who is convinced: “we didn’t live richly, there’s nothing to start”, “happiness is not in money”, “we live here and now”. Until such a person tests his beliefs for rationality and realism, does not subject them to criticism, he will most likely continue to waste money, and then he will be surprised that he got into debt again.
Vladislav Chubarov gives three tips on how to consume more consciously during a crisis.
Conscious consumption in a crisis
Learn your triggers
For example, you care about nature, strive to reduce the amount of plastic and replace polyethylene with string bags and bags made of fabric. Pay attention to how justified your actions are? If you, forgetting to take your eco-package to the store, buy a new one there every time, and as a result, you accumulate a lot of such packages at home, you won’t save any money. Sometimes the desire to save on some purchases can lead to an increase in spending in another segment.
Understand what emotions are behind the desire to buy
Parents are ready to overwhelm their child with toys because of guilt that they devote little time to him. An insecure woman is shopping for bright makeup, and an anxious man is trying to calm down in a sporting goods store. If you find it difficult to deal with your feelings on your own, and purchases are increasingly becoming impulsive, seek help from a psychologist.
Take a break before buying
If you like something — do not rush to immediately pay for the purchase. Wait at least a couple of hours, or better days. This simple and practical trick helps you not to buy an unnecessary thing in two cases out of three.
We draw up an anti-crisis family budget
Recommendations of financial consultant Anastasia Veselko
1. Take a little stress test
Imagine different crisis situations.
What happens if I lose my main income?
What happens if my partner loses his job?
What happens if my income drops significantly?
What will I do if the exchange rate rises again? Etc.
For each question, come up with a real work scenario. This exercise allows you to develop a backup plan for the most critical cases, as well as to calm down a bit. When I visualized the worst development of the situation, the current problems no longer seem so serious and unsolvable.
2. Get planning
To begin with, determine how much money your family needs to live quietly for a month without much savings. What minimum will allow you to stay afloat in the event of a loss of basic income?
Budget planning should start with a short time — try to first calculate the finances for the week or for the weekend. Estimate an approximate budget, and then act according to the situation.
You can also start by planning a separate category of expenses
For example, figure out how much you want to spend on groceries or entertainment this month and try to hit that amount.
There is a very simple way to plan — to designate a certain amount and try not to go beyond it until the end of the month. Then you navigate and make a decision on the situation — for example, if in the third week you realize that the money is running out, you refuse some expenses and switch to saving mode. For example, move to the next month trips to a restaurant and dinner at home or reduce taxi trips in favor of public transport.
Treat budgeting like a game, not a burden. This is not a quick process, so do not set too ambitious goals for yourself and do not reproach yourself for not getting everything right away.
3. Stuff the «pillow»
The importance of an airbag cannot be overestimated. Ideally, it should be enough for half a year of a normal life — without austerity, but also without large-scale spending. If now this amount of savings seems too large and unbearable to you, then it is worth making a reserve for at least one or two months.
The accumulated can be viewed from different angles. For example, the same amount will be enough for two months of usual life or three months in saving mode, and for a month with spending without any restrictions.
The main secret when saving money is consistency and regularity. Create a separate account for savings. It is desirable that part of your savings be in foreign currency.
4. Optimize costs
Analyze your spending and remove those that do not greatly affect your lifestyle and are easy to give up. Each of us has items of expenditure that can be reduced without tangible losses.
Prioritize. Savings in and of itself makes no sense. Do not limit yourself and loved ones in everything just like that. It is important to have a clearly defined goal. Look at your budget in terms of priorities, not in terms of savings.
For example, you need to cut costs for a while in order to allocate money for the creation of an airbag. Try to think of it not as the loss of some part of the usual goods and pleasures, but as taking care of yourself and your family. With such a setting of tasks, it no longer becomes a sad, depressing word “savings”, but a conscious management of personal finances.
Change your attitude and how you think about it: “I manage my money this way because I have goals that align with my priorities and values.”
change the situation. If circumstances have developed in such a way that your income has significantly decreased, then it is important to call a spade a spade and make appropriate decisions. For example, think about some new sources of income or, perhaps, about changing living conditions — moving to a cheaper apartment or area. Of course, you are unlikely to be able to maintain your usual lifestyle, it is worth redistributing expenses and temporarily abandoning some expenses. It would be nice if the economy mode was temporary — it is quite difficult to stay in it for a long time, primarily from a psychological point of view.
Check where you are losing money
Are you sure you’re not losing money in hundreds of different ways? Let’s check! Anastasia Veselko offers a simple checklist. It should mark the options that you are familiar with.
So, you…
keep savings in cash or on a card where inflation eats them up;
buy things that you don’t wear later;
throw away spoiled food;
buy online courses and do not go through them to the end;
pay for subscriptions you don’t use;
calling a taxi because you overslept for work again;
You pay for expensive treatment because you didn’t bother with prevention.
And now you can think about what you can do in the future to minimize your losses.