6 Psychological Money Saving Tricks

[@ashleytoateahelgerson2615]

I practice what I like to call "empty cabinets". If I have things in my food cabinets that can be created into a meal, I will not go out and buy more food. It forces me to use what I have and helps me not over-spend by buying doubles of things because I just couldn't see that I already had it in the fridge or the food pantry. Sometimes I will take two-three things out and say, "Okay I really do need (black beans) to make this a substantial meal" and I will buy black beans ONLY at the store if it is not a designated shopping day. Idk but it works for me and I've really seen our food budget drop dramatically. Also it forces me to be very creative in my cooking! 😂😂😂

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Ashley H Love it!! Great, great tip!

[@LillyAnnHouston]

I keep on telling myself, I'll do this. I need to just start and stop going to the store.

[@granitemoss1451]

I understand how this works, but i find it unwise to literally eat yourself down to nothing. It is always a good idea to have extra food in the house in case emergencies come up. We don't all need bunkers of food, but emergency preparedness is always a good idea and food is a big part of that.

[@ashleytoateahelgerson2615]

Seriously do you think I don't keep food enough for my family in case of emergencies? You don't get the point obviously.

[@granitemoss1451]

You call it 'empty cabinets' and talk about how if you have things that can be created into a meal, you will not go out and buy more food. Glad to hear you're not eating down to (literally) empty cabinets as some folks do and it's a bad idea. I DO get the point, but your original description wasn't clear on that.

[@CentsibleLivingWithMoneyMom]

Dana, I love that shirt on you. You look gorgeous. I so agree about cash. Our cash envelope system saves me between $200 to $300 a month. I also have money left over every month. Last month I had $110 left over. Thanks for all your wonderful videos.

[@michc4166]

You are definitely my favourite frugal youtuber.. calm and relaxed and I love watching you

[@JenniferJones-bt4bf]

If you haven’t failed a few times, you aren’t trying hard enough!

[@jodyporta2188]

Your kids are lucky to have you as a mother. You are an amazing young woman! My hubs was in the financial business and he has always kept us in line. Keep up the good work.

[@kimsfrugalfamily2511]

I love your comment on failure. This is how I spend my life - I suck at lots of things - and then I get better. I end up sucking less ;) We need to focus less soon being perfect and more on being out best selves - and that is a journey. Thanks for recognizing that!

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Memories, Munchies and Money Very well said! Totally agree. ❤️

[@GraceHappens]

I especially like the rebranding yourself tip. I am such a different/rebranded person now since I'm a saver rather than a spender. It took me some time to realize and be ok with that, not sure why but it did. Maybe because it is a completely different mindset. Thanks for the tips!

[@kindcounselor]

Thank you so much for these wonderful helpful words. Much appreciated.

[@TheSilverbird36]

I'm going to watch your videos continuously because I want to be around people who save.

[@Sasan_Guitar]

Discipline, lazyness (lazy to park a car for a lotto ticket, knowing its never gon hit), knowing fewer transactions lead to fewer unwanted situations, distiguishig needs vs wants, not stepping on the cars accelerator, compare prices, plan ahead for future expenses, subscribing to this channel, thanks!

[@Myfrugallife]

It’s painful for me to spend whether I have cash or credit card or even a gift card. I must have a spending problem. Lol. On the advertising, It’s everywhere, so we just learned to ignore it. Even my kids ignore the little ads they get in their games. We look at it as it’s someone is trying to get our money 💰.

[@mesidye]

#4 is what i need all of 2020

[@fredswartley9778]

Thanks for this great advice! I liked the part about failure. I agree that we shouldn't be afraid to fail in finances or any part of life. Failure and mistakes are how we learn and grow in life. Thanks Dana!

[@LauraCastillejos]

Great tricks! Thank you Dana!

[@marietuico9252]

I like the concept of failure. These days I feel depressed about tripping off, but I realized I shouldn't be that hard to myself. Thank you for giving me a new perspective about failures.

[@tinak.p.258]

I save when I use my card! Psychoogically I very quicky pull out some coins or a small note to pay for coffee, but the very thought of having that coffee being visible forever on my bank statements makes me cringe.

[@4nikkimay]

Great tips, and motivation. Thx 💕

[@WendyTomlinson]

I actually find using cash worse. I know this isn't the case for a lot of people, but I just found I couldn't track my money. I lost track of where the cash was going. I get around this by having a small monthly amount that I can spend on anything in cash. I don't worry about tracking this money. I just know when it's gone it's gone. I prefer to use my prepayment card as I can easily track my spending on my app. This money always lasts me longer.

[@daniellamoreno3616]

Life and Business With Wendy same.

[@hellohaynes]

Me too

[@thelostinstereo1]

Same here! I'm sure one could track the cash manually, but realistically i'm not going to do it. Much easier to check over your bank statement at the end of the month in my opinion :)

[@indahwulandari6236]

When I carry 100 , mostly I ended up spend minimum 50 So for me it's better to carry 30 because I know I will spend all of it anyway 😞😞😞😞

[@Malevolent_Siren]

I may be really weird but for #1. I feel the opposite. When I have cash I feel like it's free money to spend cause it doesn't reflect on my bank account (like birthday money) but when I swipe my card, I can't not acknowledge it in my budget. Anyone else feel this way?

[@sarasuperid]

I am just like you. Cash to me is something I only ever saw as gifts and you can't bounce cash. My budget card is numbers going down and I fear bouncing so much that I watch that like a hawk.

[@Maryculligan]

You are well disciplined. I have a much harder time parting with cash than with my plastic :)

[@kaitlynyoung1766]

Me! Cash seems to dissapear but using my debt card shows me where the money went and helped me cut out unnecessary spending

[@lesliecarnes8775]

Love these ideas and I love getting into a mindset of living with less. Fantastic!

[@Nat-n8h]

Really good advice! I'm going to watch this again.

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Natalie Leavenworth Great! I'm so glad it was helpful. HUGS. 😊

[@Angel12199]

Very sweet, very encouraging, well said 😊

[@Edbeatty91]

Not watch commercials💯💯💯 so many things my son has discovered from the commercials on cable tv @ grandma's house😂

[@JendisJournal]

We started muting commercials when the kids were really little because the advertising REALLY works on them. Nice to hear we aren't the only ones that still do it. Best wishes!

[@danielle8150]

I didn't realize you were in Philly! You are so close to my fam. We are also a family of 6, trying to live more frugally. So neat! I've followed you for forever but never caught that you were in the same state. :)

[@twelvesmylimit]

I love this video, Dana. :) I've shared it on my socials for my blog. 👍

[@janfromnycsavesmoney8723]

I grocery shop every 10 days instead of once a week. This forces me to use up what I already paid for and saves time and money by having one less grocery haul. I save about about $100 each month doing this.

[@CarolinaCutie20]

I don't have cable either. Just internet. And the company sounded disappointed that I didn't want the package that had cable and home phone. They were trying to convince me that metro pcs for phone and Netflix for tv wasn't enough for me. I wasn't having it though. I was like "acess denied".

[@susancaleca4796]

On these "No spend" months are we suppose to put the money aside we would have spent?

[@jeankilos3916]

Ohh my u r a psychologist great advice thanks lord bless.

[@Maryculligan]

fabulous tips! is there a source for the tips or your own findings?

[@ladyp8953]

Thank you so much for this video Dana....new subscriber

[@liliamrodriguez3020]

Great ideas, thank you 👍

[@annebuyze-smith4191]

Love this video! Just what I needed. It is so hard to retrain your brain and stick too it in the long haul. Please keep recording this type video especially since Christmas shopping frenzy is upon us. Yikes! I need some psychological anchors!

[@andreaadams-mcknight780]

Excellent!

[@michelelara5982]

I had to uninstall my Instagram account... it was too convenient to just make a quick checkout, and influenced what I purchased.

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Michele Lara Really? I used to be on IG everyday, but lately have been neglecting it. I didn't realize you could make purchases through it. Yikes! That is dangerous.

[@michelelara5982]

Debt Free Dana ツ yes, im a huge cosmetics junkie... & i had to have to newest... collection, or palette.. i waa so bad!!

[@krissievailolo8028]

I got rid of all my apps that encouraged my bad online shopping habits! Haven't bought new clothes in almost 2 months :) The Wish app is a super bad addiction!

[@WendyTomlinson]

I used to have my credit card attached to my Amazon account, I deleted the information and whilst I kept my card, I made it hard to get to. It was so easy to just click and buy before I knew this was far too tempting.

[@jazziered142]

I am trying to avoid the product-based KZbin videos, like the beauty gurus, the crafting gurus.

[@MrsH091011]

#4! So true. This is a hard one for me. 😬

[@betterlifebroadcasting7547]

I so absolutely agree bout not being afraid to fail.. This is probably oneo f the biggest pieces of life advice anyone can learn about ANYTHING! It took me over a year to come to grips with the fact that I'm a RABBIT..not a tortoise. I'm never going to be a tortoise, and I invariably fail if I try to make a huge structured plan to save $200 every month for a year and then.... I can however get super focused for a SHORTER duration and accomplish a 30 day No SPEND and save $800 in one month, and do that 3 times a year.

[@kerstinshadow2210]

The cash trick did not work out for me. But I write every penny that I spend on paper and add it at the end of the month.

[@fredswartley9778]

I'm sure we have all learned a lot about finances through failure and mistakes. I know I have.

[@carrie_the_recruiter]

As some others have said previously, I actually feel it MUCH more when I use my debit card than cash. I used to rely on credit cards a lot (due to the fact I got cash back) and I was always able to pay it off on time but the issue was I wasn't seeing the amounts hit my debit account. I'd end up with monthly bill sometimes at $800-$1000 and seriously wonder how it happened. Now I'm focusing on using my debit card for everything and I really do notice a difference. I have also put some expenses on credit card to get the benefits but then go home and pay it off RIGHT away. This helps me see my true balance right away as well :). Hope this can help someone else!

[@thebestwillow]

Hey Dana, I'm very psychologically pliable, so this will probably be great for me!

[@thebestwillow]

Hang out with people I want to be like...There's only one of those besides me that I know of...so I guess I will be a hermit with a tendency for frequent transatlantic solo travel!

[@laurenq816]

Great video! Do you have any advice on kid toys and minimalism? And maybe about Christmas for the kids?

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Lauren Quear Yeah! I'll film a video on our system. 👍🏻😊💕

[@WendyTomlinson]

Hi Lauren, I'm mum to a teenager and what I came to realize is that he really didn't need the extra presents, in fact we spoke about this quite recently and he told me he sometimes got bored opening the extra gifts and would have prefered to have a few small gifts in his stocking and one main present. Also, when I've bought bigger presents like the XBOX, I've bought 2nd hand (from Game here in England) or made sure I bought during a sale. His second-hand Xbox was bought 7 years and he's just resold it. Also, we don't need to buy them presents all year round. Just buy for Christmas and Birthdays. I found that when they have loads of toys, they actually don't play with most of them. It's too overwhelming.

[@rashmika9742]

I heard this tip once to put half of the child's toys away for a few months, and rotate them, putting the other half away for another few months. This way, the child can have the feeling of novelty without buying new toys. (But I'm sure it's best to make exceptions for a few favourites. :)

[@MichElle-jp1cm]

Love your videos!

[@caramoonlynn]

My 18 year old daughter has the opposite mindset...she would rather spend a $10 or $20 than pay for things with $1 bills. She thinks that's embarrassing. so, she has a whole jar of $1 bills! crazy girl! I go trade her big bills for her ones sometimes. She said, "I'm not going to hand someone seven one dollar bills!"

[@clothyoriginal]

Caras Life on the Farm I'm a bit like that myself. I hate paying for things in change/coins. Our lowest note is €5. I'm getting better with the €2 and €1 but when I go to pay in change I get all flustered and think the people behind me are moaning and such. Its a social anxiety thing.

[@caramoonlynn]

Yeah. I think that's what she goes through, too. I've started paying for my soda pop with change... just at my local store, there's never a line.

[@thebestwillow]

Maybe it's connected to developmental problems, but advertising genuinely doesn't seem to impact me...my attention isn't drawn by the things that catch other people's attention, so even if I know what an advert is trying to advertise at the time, I will remember other aspects of the advert, that probably no neurotypical person would have noticed in the first place. I hope that made some sense.

[@susancaleca4796]

In my job ppl use $100.00 bills for cheap things

[@moneyinthebank5394]

I love all of these points especially the one where you say everyone will find their own method eventually. For me, credit cards are the best way to go because I put all of my purchases for the month on there and review it on a regular basis. When I have small bills it's easy for me to be like oh it's $5 and I have exactly $5 with my card there's often minimums and it's easy to not want to add additional items to be able to use it. Totally different for everyone though! You gave some great advice!

[@sankey1988]

Am I the only person that spends more with cash? If I know it's there I'll just spend it. We get charged for every transaction on a debit card so it forces to double think my spending. Great tips Dana!

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Rebecca Sankey Hmm I could see how that could be true. So long as we're all thinking we're winning, right? 😊💕👍🏻

[@carolyndavis6657]

I usually get cash as blow money so it feels okay to spend but I hate swiping my card for small stuff.

[@amandaavila5968]

Yes! Failure is ok and you can pivot...woohoo

[@anarivera5905]

Nice video 😀😀

[@DebtFreeDana]

+Ana Rivera Thanks! HUGS! 😊❤️💕

[@bradleyvanzile1111]

$20 bill is a lot of money

[@janetiglesia1272]

for me is not watching hauls in you tube there is a lot you tubers that go out and spend money like crazy and than show off everything they got and it makes other people feel bad of what they have and such...

[@kimberlykimberly6773]

Janet Iglesia So true and then their next video is a decluttering video. Hahaha!

[@colleenmccord4699]

Definitely a problem for me too

[@bradleyvanzile1111]

I have not watched a commercial in 10-15 years. Always mute

[@kaitlinobrien243]

💜💚💜

[@beachgirl9823]

you look like MARGARET-mountainggirlclothing on Etsy/Instagram. Check her out...your twin.