These are the 4 most effective ways to save, according to science

Home and personal finance savings is that shining star that we never seem to quite catch up with. When we manage to save some money (to form an emergency fund or later invest it), we want to save more later. But the real problem is

To save, it must be taken into account that increasing income -whether personal or from a company- is theoretically unlimited while saving money is limited by what we currently spend.

So there are only two levers to touch. Either increase income, or decrease expenses.

There appear the personal ones that each one can do better or worse. But, beyond everything we want to test, several investigations have tried to prove which are the most effective savings methods or mechanism or, which is often the same, the method that generates the most adherence. That is, it costs us less to carry out.

1. Set a savings figure and establish a mechanism to achieve it

Establishing a tangible savings goal, such as wanting to save X money in a year, and making accounts to gradually achieve it month by month is a good option to start. But for this, our objective must comply with the SMART rule, which in English sounds very good but means that the objective is: concrete, measurable, achievable, realistic and with specific deadlines. For example, 2,000 euros in six months for a summer vacation or 5,000 euros in 12 months for an emergency fund in case we lose our job.

Next, place blocks in all the places where you are going to spend money. For example, if you see that you are spending a lot of money on food each month, maybe you can take out the cash to just spend that.

What the science says about it: Social psychologist Roy Baumeister has spent years studying willpower and self-control. In an interview in the middle, he shared some ideas about New Year’s resolutions. Many of them apply to saving money, since it also includes changing habits.

First, having multiple resolutions makes it less likely that you will stick to one of them, as each one saps your willpower. That is why we must set ourselves a single savings goal.

2. Carry only cash

It may not be the most modern or comfortable, but it is effective. Research has shown that when you use credit cards alone, you tend to spend more. A titled “Effects of the payment mechanism on spending behavior: The role of testing and the immediacy of payments”, made it clear.

The summary is that past spending influences future spending behavior, but the payment mechanism (credit, debit, cash, etc.) does. Since credit cards don’t feel like money and payment isn’t immediate, we tend not to feel the pain of those purchases as much.

3. Do not save payment information in the browser

Continuing with the above, a blocking mechanism to not spend and think a little more if the expense is worth it or not. Again, it’s about losing comfort.

How many times have you aborted a purchase because the credit card was in the other room? Everybody has done it.

4. Tell a friend that you want to save

In a study published in the , researchers found that people were more likely to be obese when a friend was. Like a 57% chance. And they studied 12,067 people for 32 years.

The bottom line is that our friends have a huge influence on us and an even bigger influence on our finances.

If you tell a friend that you’re saving for something big and important, they’ll want to help you by not asking you to maybe make plans or plans that are affordable to your budgetary intentions.