How To Save Money Better By Hiding It From Yourself

What if I told you that the biggest obstacle between you and your savings– IS YOU!

Think about it.

You make a decent salary.

And you’re able to pay all your bills.

But, you have no emergency fund! No nest egg! And no extra cash flow.

So, what’s the problem?

Sorry to say it but — you are!

Chances are, you don’t know where your money is going!

For example, this writer was surprised to learn how much money her sister spends on her beverage budget. Wait…what?

You heard right! Between the coffees, the smoothies, and the alcohol, she was spending at least $250 a month on beverages.

Extravagant spending like that is the exact reason that so many of us can’t save money!

The problem is that we don’t always understand how to prioritize our spending.

We tend to get too caught up in our immediate gratification. And don’t focus enough on our securing our future.

So, how do you fix the problem? It’s simple!

Get to work on your Emergency ASAP! And my post on How To Boost Your Emergency Fund With Little Money can get you started.
You need to learn how to hide money — from yourself!

You probably wondering…” how in the heck can I hide money from myself?”

Great question!

Fortunately, I have a great answer!

Remember this old saying?

“Out of sight, out of mind.”

Well, guess what? That works both ways! So…“in your sight” means “in your mind.”

But don’t worry! I have some great ideas to help you protect your money — from you!

Table of Contents

9 Smart Ideas On How To Save Money And Keep It Safe From Yourself

1.Keep Savings And Checking Accounts At Separate Banks.

I was notorious for robbing my own savings account! Because I would quickly transfer money from my savings every time my checking account fell short.

Needless to say, I could never save anything! I needed to break that cycle. So, I began using separate banks.

Do you know why that worked so well? Because driving from bank to bank is a major hassle!

It takes planning. It takes effort. And it makes you think long and hard about why you need the money. Basically, it puts up a huge roadblock between you and your savings.

Personally, without my savings for back-up, I was forced to learn how to budget better. And, to monitor my checking account more closely.

Because it’s one thing for me to take money out of my own account. But I have a real problem when the bank does it in the form of overdraft fees.

Now my post on Why I Still Respect The “B” Word And So Should You”, shows exactly why we all need a budget!

2. Move Your Savings To A Bank You Don’t Routinely Visit.

This definitely kicks the difficulty level up a notch!

The ideal situation would be to use a bank or credit union that’s across town.

I know it sounds like a pain. But that’s the whole point!

You need a deterrent!

And you’re less likely to drive across town just to pull money out of your savings account — on a whim.

I’ll admit that it certainly slowed me down from making impulsive savings withdrawals!

So if you’re serious about wanting to save money, then you must keep your money out of easy reach.

Close-up of woman holding an agenda and cellphone r/t how to save money.

3. Arrange For Direct Deposits Into Your Savings.

You’ve probably already heard a thousand times to Pay Yourself First!

And there’s a good reason for that. One big complaint that people often have is that after paying bills, there’s nothing left to save!

The solution?

Your savings need to come off the top! And, it needs to happen automatically — before you even see your paycheck.

Remember, out of sight, out of mind?

That’s why direct deposits can significantly help to jumpstart your savings.

And all you have to do is:

Make arrangements through your bank or employer.
Choose the amount you want to have deducted from each paycheck.
Forget about the money and — Let it grow! Let it grow! (to the Frozen theme music, haha.)

Now watch this quick video to see just how simple it is.

See, I told you. Plus, when you save money automatically, you are much more likely to stick with it.

But what surprised me the most, is how easily I adjusted to having slightly smaller paychecks. Huh, go figure!

4. Use Technology To Trick Yourself And Save Money.

Man's hand holding a cellular phone displaying lots of Apps r/t how to save money.

Here’s where the slogan, “There’s an App for that” can actually help you grow your savings!

If you’re a person who thinks that it’s impossible to save money then try an App like Acorns.

It works by rounding up your spare change to the nearest dollar every time you buy something.

Then, it automatically invests that change into your Acorns account.

It’s so jaw-droppingly easy that this woman ended up saving $116 in 2 months — without even trying!

Be aware that there is a $1 monthly fee for accounts with less than $5,000. But college student can use the App free for up to four years.

The cool thing is, that it’s a sneaky way to hide money from yourself, even when you think you can’t save.

5. Eliminate ATM Cards From Your Savings Account.

Close-up of a hand sliding a debit card into an ATM r/t how to save money.

If you have an ATM card attached to your savings account…get rid of it!

That’s like dangling a carrot in front of a hungry rabbit!

All it takes is for your friends to invite you for lunch or drinks when you’re broke, then bam! Next thing you know, you’re pulling out the credit card or running straight to the ATM. Either way, not good!

So the safest thing for you…is not to even have that option.

But, if you don’t like the idea of completely removing your savings account from the ATM card, then at least do the following…

PRO Saving Tip: Set a low limit for ATM cash withdrawals. For example, you’re only allowed to withdraw a maximum of $20 per day from the ATM. So if you need more money than that, then you’ll have to:

Get out of your car.
Go inside the bank.
Fill out a form.
Walk up to a teller, and withdraw the cash.

Again, this can be annoying, inconvenient, and requires much more deliberate effort.

So in other words, it’s Perfect! We’re keeping your money safer by the day!

6. Do Not Shop With Credit Cards In Your Wallet.

Close-up of a hand passing a credit card to another hand r/t how to save money.

Lead us not into temptation…
Matthew 6:13

Credit cards are like catnip for impulse buyers and overspenders!

One of the safest ways to protect your money from yourself — is to leave the credit cards at home!

Better yet, consider locking them up in a safe deposit box. Or, not getting any at all to destroy the temptation altogether.

One of the common misconceptions people have is that they need credit cards to build credit. The truth is, there are other ways.

And quite often, credit cards are how we do the most damage to our credit through:

Late fees.
High-interest rates.
Carryover balances each month.
Increased risk of overspending.

But, don’t take my word for it on the pitfalls of credit cards. I’ll just let Dave Ramsey give you the real 4-1-1!

Dave does not sugar coat the facts! And when you think about his comments logically — he makes perfect sense! I guess that’s why he’s the guru!

7. Carry Cash To Curb Your Spending Impulse

Ever gone through the grocery checkout, gotten ready to pay, and then realized that you didn’t have enough money?

Admit it! It has happened to all of us.

So what do you do?

You immediately begin assessing your items. Then, you only choose the ones that you absolutely need. And you tell the clerk to put the rest back!

Welcome to the beauty of cash! It’s your best friend when you want to hide money from yourself. Because you can’t buy a $100 pair of shoes with a $50 bill!

In other words, you should only carry the amount of cash with you that you have already budgeted to spend.

And here’s the best part. It will never charge you interest. It will never charge you late fees. And it will never let you overspend!

Because once it’s gone, it’s gone!

8. Give Your Money To Someone You Trust.

Close-up of two people's hands sharing coins r/t how to save money.

This could be your secret weapon for saving money.

I know your immediate reaction is probably…” she can’t be serious!”

But oh yes my friend, I am beyond serious!

This truly works! And let me tell you how I know.

My sister at times can be an impulse buyer, an overspender, and a shopaholic all rolled up into one.

As you can imagine, she is terrible at saving money.

So one year when she was pregnant, she knew she was going to be out of work for a few months. And she also knew that it was crucial for her to figure out how to save money to continue paying her bills.

That ‘s when she made a Genius move!

She took a large portion of her tax refund and gave it to me to hold for her. Why? First of all, because she knew that I was trustworthy enough to save it. Second of all, because she also knew that SHE wasn’t!

And when the time came for her to be off work, her money was intact and waiting. I told you — Genius!

There are three reasons why I think this tip is so effective:

You have someone to help hold you accountable for saving.
You’ll be too embarrassed to ask for the money ahead of time without an exceptionally good reason.
You don’t want to get called out on your BS. So you’re less likely to ask for the money ahead of the agreed upon time or event.

So this might be just the kick in the pants motivation you need to get your savings ball rolling!

9. Stash Your Cash In A Retirement Account.

Do you want to know an iron-clad way of hiding money from yourself? Then put it towards your retirement!

Just thinking about the hurdles you have to jump through to take money out of a 401K or IRA account is enough to make anyone say…fuhgeddaboutit!

Plus, you’ll also have to deal with steep penalties for early withdrawals. And nobody wants that!

So this could very well be the perfect marriage between hiding money from yourself and saving for your future goals.

Other accounts where you can hide money from yourself are Certificates of Deposit (CD’s) or employee stock purchase plans (ESPP).

Now, which steps will you take to keep your money safe? Or, if you have any great tricks up your sleeve, I’d love to hear about it!

Attempting to remove money from any of these types of accounts usually involves:

Contacting the investment institution.
Requesting a withdrawal.
Explaining why you need the money.
Then waiting several days or weeks to get the funds.

Why bother?

The Takeaway

Okay, so now you know that saving money isn’t as impossible as you may have thought!

The secret is that you have to trick yourself into keeping your money safe from yourself.

And the best ways to hide money from yourself is by making it extremely difficult to access.

Just think. When the hassle and frustration factor goes up! The probability of withdrawing cash goes down!

So that means, your money is far more likely to stay well hidden from any impulse spending decisions.