When we first began our money group meetings we realized early on that obsessing about debt and focusing on all the negative aspects of our money woes simply wasn’t going to help us reach our goals. But, by changing our attitudes and our behavior we managed to pay off $50,000 in debt in one year and increased our income by $140,000. Now, a new study is showing that setting yourself up with positive, goal oriented money messages has a proven effect on your savings.
Our friends at lifehacker.com recently covered an interesting study done by four economists working with banks in the Philippines, Peru and Bolivia. The experiment looked at the effect of sending regular text messages to customers who had just opened up a savings account. Half of the subjects were sent negative warnings about their account not having savings. The remainder were sent messages with specific goals the customers gave when setting up the accounts. And sure enough, the negative messages proved to have little effect on the account holders, while the positive reinforcement showed and average increase in savings of 16 percent.
If you’re interested, allow us to share a few practical ways that you can take action to use positivity to set yourself up for success:
1. Sign up for an online account aggregator that offers regular balance and savings updates via email or SMS. Mint.com, Wesabe.com and Money Manager (offered to American Express charge card holders) are our favorites.
2. Take your favorite savings tips and strategies and enter them into your email calendar or free online to-do service like www.rememberthemilk.com and send yourself regular positive money reminders to your email or phone.
3. Start a money group with like minded members who also have a positive attitude and clear financial goals. For more information on how to join a money group, visit www.smartcookies.com.
4. Use your “Rather Factor” and stop focusing on spending money on the things that bring you joy, not on the thing you can’t spend money on right now. For example, if luxury vacations and weekly spa treatments are currently out of your reach, carry around a reminder of the little spending pleasures that you give yourself permission indulge in, like yoga, dinner with friends, or a weekly latte. It’s not about what you can’t afford right now, rather the choices you make everyday to get yourself closer to the life you deserve!
Take one positive step with your money today, and observe how one, simple positive action can drastically change your financial situation for the better.
Photo by iStock.