Enact A ‘Personal Tax’ On Your Discretionary Purchases To Save Money

Enact A ‘Personal Tax’ On Your Discretionary Purchases To Save Money

The best savings plan is the one where you never see the money you save. If you’re not in a position to take huge chunks of your pay out automatically every month (or you just want to save more), try a personal tax.

Money picture from Shutterstock

As finance blog Sweating the Big Stuff explains, a personal tax is one that you charge yourself every time you make a purchase that isn’t strictly necessary. Not only will this method make you think twice about superfluous purchases, it will help grow your savings whenever you do indulge:

Whenever you buy something that isn’t a necessity, you impose a 100% tax on yourself that goes toward your savings account. For example, if there is a Blu-Ray you want to buy on Amazon for $20, you have to have $40 to spend on it. $20 goes to the Blu-Ray and $20 goes to the savings account…

There’s no ‘I can’t afford it’ because this only applies to non-necessary purchases. You don’t need to match your rent and food spending, only items and activities that you choose to partake in. Your needs aren’t taxed, only your wants are.

Since it’s a personal tax, you can decide for yourself how much you want to contribute (though the 100 per cent rate is a good place to start). Even if you can’t do a high percentage, contributing something every time you buy fun items is better than nothing.

Force Yourself To Save With A 100% Personal Tax [Sweating the Big Stuff via Rockstar Finance]


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