Smart Cookies

For those of us addicted to the rush of shopping and not the rush from depositing money in the bank, it can take some practice to transform from obsessive shopper to obsessive saver. But it is possible, as we witnessed first hand after overhearing a conversation this week from a former shopaholic turned save-o-holic.

Two women quietly drinking coffee, see someone familiar walk in the cafe door. “ Kathy, hey, we haven’t seen you in the store in a while.”

Kathy responds, “YOU TWO!! No – you are the reason I have an entire spare room in my condo filled with clothes I never wear! Your store is an addiction, it’s instant gratification and I can’t help myself. I must stay away! It’s nothing personal, but I need fewer, must- have -right now- but -never-wear pieces of clothing, and more money in my bank account.”

While it’s easy to take a stand, it isn’t always easy to follow through, so we wanted to share our best little tricks to enable your savings addiction.

1. Amaze yourself Automatically set up your bank accounts so that your savings is taken out of your monthly income. Visit ingdirect.com or ingdirect.ca and follow their instructions to set up and name your accounts. Next, set a reminder, for example we like using our cell phone calendars to remind us to check our savings balance every two months. You will amaze yourself as your money continues to grow and grow.
2. Disgust yourself Gather three months of receipts, bank and credit card statements, you can use the “Smart Cookies Know Your Numbers” tool. Add up all of the spending that isn’t a mandatory expense ( groceries, rent, mortgage etc). Then add up the spending that isn’t on your Rather Factor card ( these are the little spending pleasures that you give yourself permission indulge in, like yoga, dinner with friends or travel). For more information visit www.smartcookies.com. We recently revisited this exercise in our money group and Robyn found that between convenient downtown parking, dog toys, and coffees, none of which were mandatory expense or on her Rather Factor, she had mindlessly spent $750 in two months!

In big fat black sharpie Robyn then wrote $750 at the top of her Rather Factor card. Now when it seems tempting to become a spending zombie, she remembers that $750 could be saved for things that really maker her happy, like watching her savings grow.

Here’s to changing our shopping addictions into saving additions. And to cute boutique owners everywhere: its nothing personal, we do love you, we really do and we will be back, but first we’ve got some saving we simply must do.