I am very lucky to have a chunk of disposable income every month. However, I want to invest and save most of it, because I recognize that disposable income can quickly disappear given the right circumstances.
My problem is a time old one, that I struggle with material desires, and how easy it is to treat it as play money.
Does anyone have any advice how to offset those impulses or otherwise make it easier in the moment to check myself?
I have 4 different bank accounts that I use primarily (technically 10 total). What I do is split up my direct deposits and/or schedule transfers so that everything is bucketed. One account for fixed monthly bills, one for variable things like groceries, one for savings, and one for whatever I want, etc.
I put a little more than necessary in each account each month, so every so often I may have a surplus for a given bucket, too. This will either go towards the accelerated payoff of something or I’ll split the difference and move half to my fun bucket.
For the most part, this keeps necessary money (bills and savings) out of sight or mind and it’s easier to control my impulse spending when the only account I can/should be spending from has a low limited amount.