Teach Your Bank to Yell at You

Here’s a clever idea that might help you manage an out of control spending habit. Use the banking alerts that your bank offers to help you manage your overspending. It can be surprisingly motivating if you actually pay attention to them. Plus it helps you keep your bank balance in mind before you overdraw your account.
It’s a little bit harder than it used to be to keep track of our bank accounts. Back in the day (yes, I’m OLD!) we used to write checks for everything and you’d keep a little register to keep a running total of your bank balance.
But now with everything being all debit cards and various types of automatic payments (see my post on Why Auto-Renew is Such a BAD Idea), it’s harder and harder to keep track of your bank balance. Most people just sort of guess and check online once in a while – not a great option.
How to Get Your Spending Under Control by Using Banking Alerts
What if you were really serious about getting your spending under control? You could set it up so that your husband gets an Email every time you spend XXX amount of money. Or your mother? It would be pretty embarrassing, but it would certainly be a good deterrent!
I have some serious overspending issues and sometimes have a friend act as an accountability partner. I’ll tell them what store I’m going to, what I’m planning to buy and how much I’m planning to spend. Then at the end of the shopping trip, I have to text them my receipt and explain any extra purchases. That is surprisingly powerful, just to know that someone else will know if you slip. But you only want to do that with a good friend who is invested in helping your improve. It’s kind of like those Weight Watcher Coaches to keep you on your food plan.
“What if you were really serious about getting your spending under control?”
A couple of guys were talking outside my cubicle at work the other day. They were joking about having to “bird-dog” their wives spending on a daily basis to keep it under control. One the one hand, I thought it was pretty disrespectful, but on the other hand, I could see their point. If their wives were crazy spending and not making reasonable attempts to keep it under control. See my post on toxic money behaviors.
I’ve had that trouble with my husband sometimes. I’ll have money set aside for bills or groceries and it ends up getting spent at Home Depot or Checker Auto – ooops! Now I know IMMEDIATELY when he’s done that, so we can take some kind of evasive action before the account goes overdrawn. And I can make sure he replaces the money come payday.
With most major banks, it is possible to set up all kinds of alerts, and I use them – a lot. I do leave my husband out of it. Instead, I let the bank yell at me directly. Obviously, they don’t actually YELL at me, but I do get daily Emails for all sorts of things. I get alerts if I let my savings balance drop below a certain range, if I spend more than a certain amount on my Visa, or if my checking account hits rock bottom.
This helps in several ways. It’s kind of a pesky nag point for me to want to get my balances back where they are supposed to be – it is such a relief when the Emails stop after a period of weeks or months! It also acts as an automatic fraud alert in case someone charges a bunch of stuff on my credit cards or checking account. Those darn little bank alerts are a pretty handy little tool, if you use them correctly.
What ways can you think outside the box to help your money management skills?
Here are some other posts you might enjoy:
10 Secrets of Women Who Always Have Money
Financial Tips To Help Your Future College Student
The Biggest Financial Mistake Women Make
This is a good idea. I live for my calendar notifications to remember my ever-changing schedule, so having the bank let me know what’s going on/yell at me would really work for me!
You too? I have approximately one zillion calendar reminders to remind me of just about everything, plus all these bank reminders. You’d think I’d be more on top of things….
I don’t shop like I used to but this is a great tip to remember! Thanks so much for sharing at Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa
That’s a great idea to provide your own guilt (and to avoid it by making better decisions).
I’m so glad you liked my idea. I visited your website also and it looks like you’ve got some great money saving tips also. Yay for the thrifty bloggers!
Great idea. I’m so stupid with money I’m not sure it will work!
This has me thinking now. I know someone who needs help with this but I don’t know if their bank provides alerts like this. Will have to look into it.
Visiting from SITS. Hope you had a great day!
this is a great idea! We have been working towards a few financial goals and this might help us!
thank you for sharing 😀
Keia
Ah, great idea! Who wants pesky reminders–great incentive to keep things under control with spending. Happy SITS day!
I did NOT know you could do this with a bank account! Great suggestion for someone like me! I use an app called Mint.com and is actually a product of Intuit and works with my Turbo Tax software that helped me complete my taxes this year way up here in Canada! Great post!xoxo
great tips! My Husband is a Financial Advisor. So, even if I want to spend some money recklessly, I can’t do it under his nose 🙂 He has taught me many things about Finance and how to handle money most effectively. I suppose it is okay to say I am far better in money management than i was a few years ago.. Hopping over from SITS. Have a wonderful day 🙂
Good advice Adrian! I actually didn’t know that you could do that with your bank.
Thanks for linking up to my Organizing Mission link party. I would love for you to grab my button or link for your post.
Thanks!