Money Saving Tip #3: Don't Put Your Money in Your Pocket

“Where did my money go? Two days ago I was sure I had P2500 inside my pocket but now I only have P800 left.”

Isn’t the above statement sounds familiar. (The amount might be different but the scenario is basically the same.)We spend and spend until we end up with nothing. That's the time we will start to wonder where did the money went.

It was a Friday and I was supposed to go to SM to pay some bills – electrical bill, telephone bill, and water bill. Unfortunately, I got tied up with a very urgent matter in my workplace on that day, so I was not able to pay my bills. Innocently, I tucked the crisp peso bills inside my pocket thinking that it won’t go anywhere.

Weekend went in a blip. All I can remember was that we went to supermarket to buy some grocery, some house maintenance stuffs, and some medicines for the kids. Oh, we also had lunch in the kids most favorite dining place -- where else but in Jolibee. On Sunday the family visited my mother in Mandaue City. From there we went to the children’s favorite play area – under the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

When Monday morning came, I dug deep into my pocket to extract the leftover of the weekend – a folded but still crisp P1000 bills. Alarm bells went crazy over my head as I felt panic and guilt all at the same time. I was suppose to close three billings but with the leftover money all I can afford to pay now was the telephone bill (P600), and the water bill (P200). I only had three options then: skip payment, borrow some money or bore a hole through my own savings. With a heavy heart, I took the third option.

I hope you will agree with me but one of the depressing things to man is realizing that he spent a money tied up to something (bill payment or investment seed money) on something unplanned and non-urgent.

So what happened?

My realization is this, “Any money put in your pocket or your wallet is as good as money lost.” It’s like putting your money in the drain. Any time soon it will be flushed down the surge and you won’t even realize it until it’s too late.

I know this does not apply to all specially to those people who are so disciplined when it comes to spending their money, but in general I believe this applies.

So what is the tip?

The tip is, “Never put your money intended to pay your monthly bills, to pay a future expense (college education), to pay an investment, etc. in your pocket or wallet, unless you intended to use it within today.” The money in your pocket or wallet should only be those that you intended to be spent any time soon like your weekly allowance.

In my above situational example, the best thing that I could have done was to remove the P2500 out of my pocket when I got home, and put it in a safe place. This way I could have avoided the regrets that followed.

Putting money that is not suppose to be spent now in your pocket or wallet is similar to an Alcoholic Anonymous member who stuffed his house with Gilby’s, San Miguel beer, Red Horse, Emperador, Ginebra, etc. You are just setting yourself to fail.

Money has many purpose and usage. Just be sure to put in your pocket or wallet only those crisp bills that you can afford to lose anytime soon.

Be cool and be smart today!

PS: If you want to know more how to save money, how to avoid debt, how to get out of debt, and how to make a budget then click HERE. This is the home page of my blog where I shared my knowledge and experience in budgeting, expense tracking, financial planning, and making a budget that is not only doable but I actually proven for 8 years. I also shared tips, which I actually use regularly, on how to save money, where to save your money, and in the process you will know how to avoid debt. Learning to avoid debt is easier than getting out of debt so I put more emphasis on staying out of debt. As a bonus, I also assembled information on how you can make your own financial planning and budget software. To get all this information for free, please click HERE.

PS: I am interested to know if you find this article helpful so please feel free to drop some comments.