Are you looking for new ways to trick yourself into building up your savings account? Maybe you found the Four-Dollar Gas Savings Club concept appealing, but aren’t interested because you don’t own a car, or have trouble subtracting from four. Okay. Do you ever make silly impulse purchases? Maybe a different savings plan would work for you.

The Impulse Purchase Savings Plan is very simple. Whenever you make an impulse purchase, whether it’s a candy bar or an entire bar tab, you deposit the same amount of money in a savings account.

Depending on your bank, it’s probably not wise to transfer over every impulse purchase that you ever make unless you have exceptional financial restraint. Know your bank’s transfer limits, and work within them. Maybe take notes and transfer a total at the end of the week or end of the month.

You can work this plan if you use only cash, too: save the money up in an envelope and deposit it at the end of the month.

Of course, don’t go around buying stupid junk and use the savings plan to justify it. If you have an impulse purchase you can’t decide on, just go ahead and save the purchase amount and the matching amount in your savings account. A fat savings account is its own reward, right?

The Impulse Purchase Savings Plan [Debt Roundup] (via Rockstar Finance)

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