How To Save Money (Without Depriving Yourself): My Top 2 Tips

Compared to most people, I probably spend very little. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol (a relatively rare thing for an Irish person) and I use hardly any skincare, cosmetic, or bath products (a relatively rare thing for a woman). My expenses are few and my frivolous spending, while not non-existent (damn you, stationery supplies), is infrequent.

Now I’m not for a second suggesting you give up your bath bombs and your take-away curries, but I am encouraging you to think a little more carefully about your purchases. Over the years, I’ve managed to save myself a lot of money just by remembering two things when I’m about to hit that ‘buy’ button, and I want to share those with you.

• How To Save Money: Tip #1

Things are never as good as advertisers would have you believe. This is something I noticed from a very young age. Those games that looked so cool on TV, with their karate chop actions and their tension-filled levels, weren’t nearly as impressive when I finally got my hands on them. “Death lasers” were, in fact, just small lights, and those “7 amazing sounds” soon began to grate and get old. And the incredible collection shown on the goggle box was much more vast than the handful of figures you actually ended up with. And lord jaysus, they ate up batteries like nobody’s business. (That is, if your parents were savvy enough to remember to buy them in the first place. How many birthdays were ruined by a lack of batteries?)

It was a bit of a Buzz Lightyear moment for me.  (Of course, when I got older, it was more of a Michael Douglas in “Falling Down” moment, when the burger he’s salivating over turns out to be a limp sliver of beef between a sad little bun. Minus the gun, of course, but with all of the fury and frustration.)

Advertisers are people who are paid big money to make something look as incredible as it possibly can. They use lighting, carefully crafted backdrops, special effects, fancy words, and all sorts of clever tricks to make you think that what they’re showing you is something that you absolutely have to have. It’s the same way that they photoshop a model into oblivion to try to sell you a pair of jeans. We all know we’ll never look like that model. Hell, even the model doesn’t look like that model.

How many times have you bought something because it looked amazing or you’d seen ads for it everywhere, only to be disappointed? How many creams have promised you eternal youth, but you still wake up looking the same way every morning? How many gadgets have you bought that were supposed to revolutionise your life, and now sit forgotten and forlorn under the stairs? Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Don’t be sucked in by the “revolutionary” and the new-fangled. Advertisers, like politicians, are paid to tell you a pack of lies. It’s in their interest to get you on board and sell you an idea. In reality, they’re the only ones who win. They get your trust and your money, and you get a pile of crap.

Much like the grass is always greener on the other side, the gadgets and gizmos are always greater on the other side of the camera lens.

Now I’m not saying you can’t test out new things, but don’t buy into the hype that they’ll change your world. If that were the case… your world would be changed by now. Think about all of the stuff you’ve ever owned (a mountain), and now think about how much of it you actually cherish (a molehill). Your next purchase is more likely to end up in the trash than in your trophy cabinet.

Which leads me to my second tip…

• How To Save Money: Tip #2

This one took me MUCH longer to cotton onto and, in truth, I still struggle with it. You see something, you want it, and therefore you buy it. Right? Nope. It’s perfectly acceptable to see something, appreciate its aesthetics, and then move right along, the same way you might stop to appreciate a stranger’s beautiful garden.

Once you focus on the type of life you want, it becomes easier to see what will fit into it and what won’t. With fashion, for example, it’s OK to appreciate and admire a new trend, and to think that it looks good on the mannequin or on someone else, but that doesn’t mean that you have to change your personal style to fit it. No amount of pastel prints and billowing blouses is going to make me look anything but deathly ill. But I don’t care how unfashionable midi-length dresses become — I’m still going to wriggle my arse into one at every weather-appropriate opportunity.

The same is true of the home. If I bought all the cute furnishings I found, my house would be a disaster. And my husband would divorce me. Instead, I admire it for what it is; I take a moment to appreciate it, and to let it make me happy. And then I move on. I let it brighten my day without burdening my bank balance. (Unless it has rainbows or unicorns on it; then it’s coming home with me.)

Buying something doesn’t increase its worth or its beauty. (Actually, the reverse is often true.) Ownership doesn’t make something more powerful or more potent. Appropriation alone doesn’t enrich your life. There are eleventy billion beautiful things in the world. (You are one of them.) You can appreciate them all and love them all… without having to own them all.

Feel free to stop and smell the roses… but don’t prick yourself to death trying to pick them and carry them home in your pocket.

• So how can you save money without feeling deprived?

Simple: focus on experiences. Spend time instead of money. Make memories that you’ll carry with you forever.

You won’t remember all the toys you’ve ever owned, but I’d be willing to bet that you remember most, if not all, of your childhood holidays. You’ll remember the school trips you took, the things you saw, the different cultures you encountered, the playgrounds you frequented, the pets you played with, and the parties you attended. You’ll remember your first kiss and your first love. What you won’t remember is that pair of novelty glasses you just had to have. Or that sign with the witty saying. Or that floppy hat you thought would look fabulous (but really just blocked your field of vision).

Things are rarely as good as the seller would have you believe, and the things that are good will remain so, whether you display them in your sitting room or leave them on the shelf and just take the memory home with you.

• Cute top: €19.99
• New notebook: €5.99
• Putting something back and walking away: priceless

For everything else, there’s memories.

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