Back when I was getting over a problem with gambling I used a technique I call ‘forced frugality’ to help deal with it. Basically whenever I received money I would immediately spend it on a bill. This way I never had any extra money that I was tempted to gamble away. If I didn’t have any bills due I would just pay them ahead of time. I often paid my next month’s rent at the beginning of the month. I was giving up a little interest that I could have earned on the money but one gambling binge would wipe out all that interest and more. A major drawback to the technique was I could never actually save money just pay ahead on bills.
Now I don’t have a problem with gambling and can save money. The past couple of months though I’ve been spending my money unwisely and not paying down my debt or saving money like I should. I’m going to implement my forced frugality technique again. Any time I receive money it will immediately go to a bill,savings, or to pay off debt. I don’t have a problem with spending money once it is in my savings. If the money is just sitting in my checking account and I don’t need it to pay a bill I’ve been giving in to temptation lately and spending it frivolously. Until I feel that I have my spending back under control I’ll be using the forced frugality technique.
That’s actually a pretty good strategy.
I also find that whenever I get extra money, I have to get it out of my checking account right away or it will mysteriously be “absorbed.”
I’m the same as far as not spending money if it’s in savings but having money just sitting available in my budget will get me every time.