We tend to think of saving money as a purely logistical exercise: make a budget, spend less, invest the difference. Simple, right? Except it never is. Life is messy. We’re messy. And our relationship with money is usually entangled with emotions—boredom, loneliness, insecurity—that sometimes no spreadsheet can solve. Then a certain fatalism creeps in once you’ve hit a rough patch with your finances, a low-grade, “screw it” mentality that tells you if you’ve already overspent, you might as well go full collapse. Buy the shoes, upgrade the flight, order the wine.

When you overspend, it’s not because you don’t understand addition and subtraction. It’s because, at that moment, buying something feels like the quickest way to fix something: a bad day, a shaky sense of self, or a sudden feeling of not having enough. This act is coined the “what the hell effect,” a phrase that perfectly captures the messy cycle of guilt, regret, and temporary euphoria that accompanies blowing your budget, again and again.

Note: this is not to dictate what you should buy or shouldn’t buy, you can buy whatever you want as long as it caters to your needs. Here are 11 practices, while not directly about money, can protect you and your wallet in profound and lasting ways.

1. Create “Friction” Around Impulsive Habits

The easier it is to buy something, the more likely you are to do it without thinking. That’s by design. Retailers invest heavily in making sure there’s almost no barrier between your passing desire and your payment information. Left unchecked, this constant accessibility can quietly drain your bank account.

One simple, powerful strategy is to intentionally build small “frictions” back into your life. Delete saved credit cards from your browser. Turn off one-click buying options. Unsubscribe from promotional emails that lure you into flash sales. Make yourself get up and find your wallet before any purchase.

These tiny barriers matter because they force a pause. And sometimes, that pause is enough to turn a momentary urge into a decision. You’re not outlawing fun or forbidding purchases. You’re making sure your choices are deliberate, not automatic — and that your money is going toward things you genuinely want, not just whatever’s easiest to click.

2. Protect Your Energy

Studies show that starting your day with intention (not just reaction) improves decision-making and reduces impulsivity. Translation: you’re less likely to spend $35 on lip balm just because your afternoon was stressful. Give yourself 10 extra minutes. Make breakfast. Breathe. It pays for itself.

Most impulse spending isn’t logical. It’s emotional. It’s what we reach for when we’re depleted: the quick meal, the unnecessary Uber, or impulse-buy something online as a form of self-soothing. In that sense, one of the most underrated ways to save money is by protecting your energy. You don’t need to become hyper-disciplined to take note of things that are sapping your energy. In that case, protecting your energy might mean declining plans you don’t really want to attend, going to bed earlier, structuring your day so that errands don’t pile up into one exhausting slog, or simply giving yourself permission to rest before you feel fully burnt out.

The more sustainably energized you are, the more likely you are to make financial decisions that reflect your true priorities, not just your temporary needs. In hindsight, protecting your energy is probably not something that comes to mind but in practice, it’s one of the clearest ways to avoid unnecessary spending before it even starts.

3. Give Yourself Something to Look Forward to (Create a “Small Joys” Fund) 

Saving money most likely fails because it feels like deprivation. Traditional budgeting advice tells you to slash “wants” ruthlessly. No lattes or no dinners out but deprivation eventually backfires. The human brain isn’t built to live indefinitely in a state of constant denial. Without something to look forward to, we end up reaching for quick, costly rewards to fill the emotional gap. What you need instead is structured indulgence: permission to want, thoughtfully.

Setting aside a small, guilt-free fund for things that bring genuine happiness — say, $30 a month for candles, records, or weird vintage postcards — rewires your brain away from binge-or-bust cycles. You’re not “bad” for wanting small pleasures. You’re human. By taking this approach, you get to spend less and actively plan joyful, free or low-cost things that give your brain the same hit of anticipation and pleasure. It could be a Sunday afternoon hike, a library trip for new books, a night cooking a special meal with friends. It could even be blocking off a few hours for uninterrupted rest, without chores or obligations.

The act of looking forward to something can provide the same emotional lift that impulsive spending tries to achieve, but without the lingering regret.

4. Romanticize or Take Care of the Things You Already Own

Somewhere along the way, we absorbed the idea that buying something new is the fastest path to feeling better. And to be fair, it works, for about 11 seconds.

Sometimes all you have to do is see  what’s already yours, and you can learn to appreciate them more. Rearrange your furniture. Clean your shoes, polish your favorite boots, get your car’s oil changed on time. Organize your closet and marvel at the clothes you once adored. Light the candles you were “saving for a special occasion.” (Spoiler: being alive is the special occasion.)

None of these acts are particularly glamorous, but  maintenance creates a subtle psychological shift. When you care for your belongings, you’re more connected to them. You’re less likely to treat them as disposable, less likely to chase newness just for the sake of novelty.

Consumer culture banks on you feeling perpetually dissatisfied. Refusing to participate isn’t just thrifty, it’s progressive. Personally, I think maintenance is a quiet form of rebellion, a way of saying: “what I have is enough, and it’s worth preserving,” in a culture that pushes endless upgrades and replacement cycles. 

5. Develop a Meaningful Ritual Around Money

Most people interact with their money reactively, checking their balances when something feels off, paying bills as they come due, moving through financial life on autopilot. One way to save more intentionally is to create a simple, meaningful ritual around your finances.

This doesn’t take much. It might be a Saturday morning coffee ritual where you review your accounts and update your budget. It might be setting goals for the month and celebrating the small wins — even if it’s just acknowledging them privately.

The point isn’t to micromanage every dollar, but to develop a relationship with your money in a thoughtful way rather than avoidant. Over time, that familiarity makes it easier to notice when you’re starting to drift — and easier to correct course without judgment.

6. Strengthen Your Community

It’s a hard truth, but loneliness is expensive. When our social lives are thin or transactional, we tend to compensate by spending: treating ourselves to gifts, paying for experiences we hope will fill the gap, outsourcing basic forms of companionship.

On the other hand, strong community ties can quietly save you money over and over again. Friends share meals instead of dining out alone. Friends lend tools instead of everyone buying their own. Friends trade advice and emotional support that might otherwise come at a professional premium.

Building real community — the kind rooted in mutual care rather than convenience — is perhaps inconvenient at times, as adults. It requires showing up, being vulnerable, investing your time without a guaranteed return. But it’s one of the most powerful financial strategies there is. When you’re surrounded by people who genuinely care about you, consumption loses a lot of its false promise.

7. Redefine What Feels “Normal”

Probably the most realistic way to save money is to rethink what you consider “normal.” Most of us grew up in a culture that equates self-care with spending. A treat is something you buy. An escape is something you book. Happiness is something you find at checkout, maybe.

But self-care often seems smaller but crucial. It’s going to bed on time. Saying no. Taking a walk. Calling your loved ones instead of ordering another sweater you’ll forget about in a week. If your baseline expectations are expensive ( such as dining out five nights a week, new clothes every season, weekend trips as a given), even moderate spending can make you feel like you’re depriving yourself.

But if you can reframe “treating yourself” and intentionally shape your own sense of enough as caring for your future self (the one who won’t be stressed about credit card debt), then you can start making choices that feel just as good now as they will later. Not because you have to. Because you deserve to.

8. Make Small Promises to Yourself (and keep them)

Big financial goals—buying a house, retiring early, paying off debt—are so overwhelming that many check out entirely. It feels like staring up at a mountain and deciding you might as well just sit at the bottom and eat chips.

Instead, focus on tiny, manageable commitments: I will pack lunch twice this week. I will wait 24 hours before buying anything non-essential. I will check my bank app every Friday afternoon.

Each small promise kept is a vote for your future self. Each broken one is an opportunity to offer yourself grace—and try again. Progress isn’t made in giant leaps; it’s stitched together in these quiet, daily acts of loyalty to yourself.

9. Delay Gratification 

You probably already know you should wait before buying things. Sleep on it.

Delaying gratification gives you time to dream bigger: maybe what you really want isn’t that pair of shoes, but a weekend getaway with your best friend. Maybe it’s saving toward a new hobby that will actually fill you up. When you frame waiting as a way to invest in a deeper happiness—not a punishment for wanting—you’ll find it easier to say no to what’s fleeting.

10. Normalize “doing nothing” With Your Friends 

So much socializing is tied to spending: meeting for drinks, brunches that sneakily turn into $70 bills, concerts, shopping “just to hang out.” And while those things can be wonderful, they don’t need to be the default. Start the conversation. Suggest a walk, a park hangout, a board game night. Remind yourself and your people that connection doesn’t require a receipt.

At first, it might feel awkward—like you’re cheap or boring. But over time, building friendships that aren’t glued to consumption frees everyone to show up more authentically. You realize: the real value was never the $15 cocktails. It was the conversation that made you lose track of time.

11. Track the Things You Don’t Buy

We’ve all heard the advice to track spending. But an equally powerful practice is noticing and celebrating the purchases you resist.

Maybe you almost bought that $120 jacket, but didn’t. Maybe you paused before adding a bottle of fancy shampoo to your cart. Write it down. Keep a “savings wins” list in your notes app.

Psychologists call this positive reinforcement — and it works because acknowledgeing your wins makes it more likely to be repeated. Each time you consciously choose not to buy something, you reinforce your self-control not as painful sacrifice, but as a source of pride.