How to Fight Money Procrastination

Neither of us are scientists. Sam almost headed toward medical school instead of law school. However, his father wanted Sam to study law. Why? Because Sam’s father did not trust lawyers—and he wanted to know a lawyer he could trust.


That being said, let’s talk about how science affects our emotional lives every day. Consider the famous law of physics: "A body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest."

When it comes to money, procrastination—doing nothing—can hurt you. You may feel indecisive, not knowing how to start saving. However, choosing to do nothing is still a choice with consequences. This choice can cause you to miss opportunities that could change the course of your life.

The following procedures can help you overcome procrastination in your savings program.

Identify your favorite excuses

We all have our favorite excuses for why we cannot or will not do the things that we should. For example, we all know we should "eat less and exercise more." It is a simple concept. Why is it so easy to find good excuses not to do it? We tell ourselves, "I'm too stressed out," "I'm too tired," "I'm too busy," "I'm too upset." We claim, "I don't have enough confidence or energy," "That's just the way I am," or "I can't do this on my own."

Here's the deal: You can pick any excuse. Each excuse works as well as any other. No matter what your reason is, you are using it to stop you from doing what you know you should be doing. You are allowing excuses to paralyze you.

Your excuses may be true and worthy, but it doesn't really matter. The fact is, if you want to increase your savings and improve your life, you need to figure out how to overcome these destructive self-messages.

Think of your "Top Three" favorite excuses for not saving. Write them down and look at them. To help you overcome the paralysis that excuses create, here are some ways to get started.

Use automatic savings

Automatic savings is an automatic deduction from your payroll check or your bank account to go into a savings account. You can set aside money weekly or monthly. Once established, the program will work in your favor. Studies show that workers who are on an automatic savings plan are more likely to stick with that plan.

Automatic savings takes only a few simple steps to set up. They work because you never see the money. Some plans can be put into an investment automatically to start earning a return. Study the 401(k) plans and savings plans offered at your place of employment.

Use automatic deposit

You can have your paycheck automatically deposited. This way you cannot misplace your paycheck, and your money is available to you faster than if you deposited it in the bank yourself. If you track your bank accounts online, you can see exactly what checks have been deducted and what have not yet been cleared from your account. Don't forget to check your statement each month for any bank errors.

Use automatic bill paying

Another technique is to pay bills automatically. This is when your bill payments are deducted from your bank account or payroll check and sent directly to the vendor to pay your bills. This prevents you from misplacing your bills, forgetting to pay them, or paying them late. If you have ever paid a bill late, you know about late fees and penalties. With automatic bill paying, your bills are paid on time, every time.

To make automatic bill paying work, be sure you have enough money in your bank account on the day that each bill payment transfer is put through. Otherwise, you will have overdraft charges or checks bouncing. You can protect yourself from overdraft fees by acquiring a line of credit linked to your savings account. However, there is no reason to overdraw your account. If you are concerned about exceeding your balance limit, put as much "padding" as you can into your account. However, do not spend the padding!

Avoid overdraft fees and late fees

When you have several payments pending, many banks have adopted the procedure of processing the largest check you wrote before they process the smaller checks that you wrote. Banks make lots of money charging overdraft fees. They are more likely to collect those fees and more of them if they deduct the larger check before the smaller amount.

Banks and financial institutions stay in business by making money. To do this, they use your money. To achieve that goal, they need to do several things. They need to acquire as much of your money as possible, keep your money as long as possible, charge you the highest interest rate possible, and pay you the lowest interest rate possible.

On the other hand, the banker at your local bank branch can be very helpful. Go in and create an alliance with him or her. Ask for their tips about how you can do a better job budgeting, saving and eliminating fees.

You may be able to spread out the payments that are deducted from your account. Ask your creditors to try to change the "due dates" on your bills so that they are not all due at the same time of the month. This will help you manage your finances and prevent overdraft fees and late fees.

Heidi Clingen is a long-time resident of Stevenson Ranch. She and Samuel K. Freshman are authors of The Smartest Way™ to Save, Why You Can’t Hang on to Money and What to Do About It. They offer only their opinion, which does not constitute professional, financial, or legal advice. To receive a copy of The Principles of Financial Independence or submit questions, email them at Heidi@TheSmartestWay.com.