I am a spender. It is hard for me to not spend money when I have it. I have gotten better in recent years. One of the tools I have used to stop spending money unwisely is what I call the “10 times as much” rule.

Would you pay $50 for a magazine?

Let me explain this by using an example. I love books and magazines. And I cannot step into my local Barnes & Noble without walking out with one. A few years ago, it was common for me to walk out of one with $30 to $50 worth of books and magazines. And then they would just end up being added to the stacks of unread books and magazines I had already bought.

But I have gotten a lot better. And here is the way I did it. Anytime I saw a book or magazine I thought I wanted, I would ask myself “would I still buy this if it cost 10 times as much”. If I saw a magazine and was considering buying it, I would look at the price. It would say $5. I would then ask myself, would I still want to buy this if it cost $50? If the answer was not yes, then I put it back.

Is it a need or a want?

Applying this technique has helped me separate wants from needs. Do I really need that book? Would I pay $200 for it? If so it’s a need. If not, it’s a want. More times than not the answer was no. I would let myself take a picture of the book and add it to my wish list in case I later changed my mind. More times than not, I just end up deleting those pictures later on.

What if you had 1/10 as much money as you have?

This technique works the other way too. Not only have I treated wants like they cost 10 times as much, but I have also treated the money I do have as if it were 1/10 as much. This has helped me really save and increase my balance in my checking and saving accounts. In the past, if I had a few hundred I would find myself spending that on things I did not need, just to turn around and find myself short of money when I needed something like a car repair. Now, I take my current balance in my bank account and divide it by 10 and I have found that mental exercise helps me revisit the urge to spend money just because it is in my bank account. Doing this has resulted in my current bank balance being about 10 times as much as it use to be.

So, next time you are tempted to go crazy and just spend spend spend, say like when it comes time to buy Christmas presents, ask yourself if you could still afford to buy a gift if it cost 10 times as much and treat your current bank balance as if it were 1/10 as much as it is, and you will find you do a much better job of avoiding zeroing out your bank accounts and maxing out your credit cards. Best of luck. You can do it.