How to enjoy a low-spend long weekend

As the long weekend kicks off, it can be all too easy to fill your time with fun and frivolous spending. But before you know it, Monday night rolls around and your bank balance is looking more than a little depleted.

Luckily, it doesn’t take much to reset your default setting from ‘spend’ to ‘save’ for a few days, and the savings can be pretty significant. Read on for our tips to boost your savings in just a few days.

Skip 1 thing
You probably have a pretty good idea of which is your biggest discretionary spend. But what would happen if you skipped it, just for this weekend? It’s easier than you think.

For example, for many of us, a big money suck can be eating out. With 4 days off, you could find yourself eating out a couple of times a day and think nothing of it. With even your local cafe or Thai restaurant setting you back at least $20 a head. If you’re a couple or a family, you could save hundreds of dollars.

Only use cash
Studies show that when we use cash rather than cards, we feel the loss of money more. This is because cash is a physical, tangible thing you have to give away to pay, while credit and other payment methods feel hypothetical or even non-existent.

Switching to cash not only makes it easier for you to mentally track your spending, but if you take out a set amount at the beginning of the long weekend, it makes it much easier to stick to a budget.

Take the zero-spend challenge
This one’s a game changer. For a single day (or even the whole weekend if you feel like an epic savings challenge), don’t spend a single cent and see what happens.

As an added bonus, you’ll find that (as long as you have a well-stocked fridge and ready access to a car or public transport) that the possibility for free activities are almost limitless. Make your own coffee, go for a run, fire up netflix, have some friends round or chill in your local library. It can be a really fun experiment.

Apply the ‘clean slate’ principle
If you spent Friday-Sunday on a bit of a spree, that’s actually ok – studies show that at the beginning of a week, month or any time that feels like a ‘fresh start’ is the perfect time for habit change.

With that in mind, Monday or Tuesday may be the perfect time to set up a new budget or set and ambitious savings goal, especially after a few days of spendthrift-madness.

So go on, take the challenge – enjoy a low-spend long weekend. It could save you heaps!