How to Save Money When You Don't Feel Like It

How to Save Money When You Don’t Feel Like It – When you feel like you’re burned out on budgeting, here’s what you need to get yourself back on track!

When you first start a budget, you’re running on adrenaline. Maybe you saw the amount that you can save each month that you’ve just been spending and you’re pretty excited. That magical number has inspired you to reach for greater money-saving heights, and you’re ready to watch those dollar bills roll in.

But come week 2 or maybe even month 2, you’re sick of it. Maybe it’s the first girls night out that you had to say “no” to and it’s just really got you down. Or it could be the first birthday when you knew you needed to ask for a handwritten card and flowers from the yard instead of those new sunglasses you’ve been hoping for.

You will hit a point in your budgeting and money-saving journey when you just don’t feel like doing it anymore. You’re struggling to find how to save money when you don’t feel like it… and guess what… that’s totally normal.

Everyone gets burned out sometimes. Even the thriftiest people can tell you about the one time when they splurged and made a crazy impulse purchase. As far as I’m concerned, this is totally normal!

But it’s important not to let this derail your plans to save money altogether. That’s why you need to know how to save money when you don’t feel like it.

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Set aside money for fun.

This is my favorite budget tip that always seems to get overlooked! Guys, nowhere in the budgeting rule book does it say that you can’t have some fun with your money!

Even if it’s $5/week to get a small lunch on Friday, set aside a small amount of fun money. This way, when you don’t feel like being frugal, your budget isn’t in jeopardy of being derailed from your fun.

Stop what you’re doing.

Whatever it is that you’re doing that has you so burned out, figure out what it is that has you so burned out.

Are you spreading yourself too thin?
Did you set your budget too tight?
Did you forget to plan for a big expense coming up?
Do you have the support that you need?

Whatever the reason is, think about it. What is it that’s causing you to slip up in some way with your budget?

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Find the reason that you’re saving.

If you haven’t already set a savings goal, it’s time to make one. This will help you stay on track, think of the big picture and motivate you to stay on the straight and narrow.

Are you setting savings goals to:

Buy a house?
Pay cash for your next car?
Get out of debt faster?
Grow your retirement savings?
A new designer purse?
Private school for the kids?

Whatever it may be that is the reason for your savings, always keep it in mind when you’re ready to throw in the towel and go on a shopping spree.

Go back to square one and see where you went wrong.

Sometimes you just need to reset. Starting your budget all over again might be tedious and mind-numbing to you, but there’s a reason that it didn’t work for you and we need to figure out what it is.

Sometimes when you first start a budget, you go too hard from the beginning. You set your initial goals too high. And then when you don’t meet those ridiculously high goals, you feel like a failure and just throw in the towel.

For example, if you’ve never been able to save a penny in your whole life, setting your first month’s saving goal as $1,000 is just not realistic. At that point, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Not that it’s impossible to save up $1,000 in a month! But you need to work your way up to that. Setting that as your very first goal right from the beginning is just going to make your life a lot more stressful than it needs to be. If you want to set your savings goal at $100, that’s more reasonable.

Most people will quit because they set their budget too tight or their expectations too high. If you did this to yourself, don’t worry. This is totally normal in the beginning! You get too excited and that excitement doesn’t always translate into success when the reality of the magnitude of your goals and budget might be.

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Did you:

Set your budget too tight?
Make your goals too high?
Push yourself too hard?
Forget about a big expense that was set to occur in a month and then had it ruin your budget?

All of these things are TOTALLY normal in the beginning! Don’t worry – you are NOT alone! 🙂

At this point, start your budget over again and make your new budget more realistic for you. Instead of cutting your current grocery bill of $1,200 down to $300 in one month, try cutting it back 5-10% at first and then do it again next month, and the next, etc. That’s much more reasonable.

Give in and feel bad, but don’t let a slip up derail you for good.

This is important! You’re allowed to slip up and mess up. You’re allowed to feel bad about it and feel guilty. But don’t ever let it derail you from your goals.

You don’t need permission to say that it’s time for a pity party day. Buy that cute purse, but save that receipt for when you decide that your money goal is worth more than a cute purse.

Make sure that if you slip up, that it doesn’t turn into a habit. One slip up is fine, but if it becomes a daily thing, it’s not longer a slip-up… it’s a habit.

The biggest thing when it comes to budgeting is to change your mindset.

One of the toughest factors of how to save money when you don’t feel like it is knowing that this is all a process. You will want to change the way that you think about money and how you use it. It is a process that takes a lot of time and is harder for some people. And that’s all totally normal.

A budget is nothing more than just telling your money where to go. You are trying to change the bad habits that you’ve started with money. That’s it.

Just don’t stop when it gets difficult!

Fight and fight hard for your finances. Don’t let bad habits derail your ability to have a great life. The sooner that you can really get a grasp your finances, the sooner that budgeting won’t hurt.

If you ever need an extra pick-me-up to remember how to save money when you don’t feel like it, grab your free 200 ways to save workbook to help you find more ways to save in your daily life!

How to Save Money When You Don’t Feel Like It

Set aside money for fun.

Stop what you’re doing.