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Use Sarthak's Solution to Save Money

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I will actually skip the shameless self promotion. In any case it is best to get to the topic asap. I will tell you how to save money. I will walk you down the entire process and make sure there are enough examples along the route. If you need any clarifications, the comment section is all yours :D

 
Save money by tricking yourself!

The Sarthak's Solution To Save Money


Before I begin there are a few variables we will use. It's best you keep a piece of paper and a pencil ready. yes, a pen will do.

We will work on a weekly basis - starting from Monday to Sunday. On each day we will naturally have some urge to buy something. Now here's the trick. Instead of buying them, we will just note it down. You can fool yourself to think that you are just keeping a note for convenience. But what not to mention in the note, or rather what qualifies? Write only big purchases, things that cost a substantial amount. let me give you some examples.

i. A Coke, pizza, magazines - Cool - go ahead and enjoy.
ii. iPhone 5 - Note it down.

Of course, what goes and does not go on your list depends on your income. Decide carefully what is a trivial purchase for you(Coke) and what is not(iPhone). This is subjective. Bill Gates sure does not need to note an iPhone down. An island in the Pacific? May be.

Now in a day you may have multiple things you want to buy. Don't buy then. Write them all down. At the end of the day you will have a list. Repeat this for the rest of the week. Try to keep things unique. But then you can allow if you find some new reason to buy something you wrote on a previous day. For example if you liked iPad for a Retina Display on Tuesday, you can't write iPad for the same reason on Thursday. But you can include it on Friday for build quality may be! New reason.

At the end of the week, that is on Sunday, you have 7 pieces of paper with all you want to buy. Now check honestly how many items are repeated. Pick top three things that are most repeated, sorted in ascending order. Write down the price of each item and add it up.

Now ask yourself this question -
You survived well enough without them for a week. Can you survive for another?
If the answer is yes, go ahead - don't buy and check if you need it. If the answer is no, think hard why you can't. If the answer does not come to you in a flash, give yourself some time - may be not a week and check. If you get an answer that you believe is genuine, go ahead and give a tick on it.

Say you have two items on your list -
1. Batmobile
2. Harry Potter's wand

Now check the total amount of money you saved in a week by not giving in to your urge to spend. Now think again if it is worth it to buy any of these. Say you feel that you can do without the wand, then scratch it. You are left with the Batmobile. If your finances are good, this is a time you can buy it - provided you really require a Batmobile to go to work or maybe kidnap somebody. If you are on a tighter budget you can either feel good about saving the money you added up on the list or extend the weekly check to a monthly one.

I am currently giving it a try on a monthly basis for a stress test. Will keep you posted here for updates and a cool flowchart for the same. Good luck.
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