Suze Orman Says You Can Save $10 a Week by Asking Yourself This Question

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KEY POINTS

  • Saving extra money can be challenging, but even $10 a week saved can make a difference.
  • Asking yourself if a purchase is a want or a need can help make saving an extra $10 per week easier.

It's a simple way to put more money aside for your future. 

Are you hoping to increase your savings a little bit, but not sure where to start? Finance expert Suze Orman recently offered a great tip on Facebook that could make it easier for you to save an extra $10 per week. That's an extra $520 per year, and it can really add up over time.

So how does Orman think you can increase your savings by $10 weekly? Here's her advice. 

Asking yourself this question could make all the difference in your ability to save

For those who "can't imagine saving more," Orman said the best thing to do is to try to set a small goal such as saving $10 extra per week. And she believes you can reduce your spending and achieve this objective using a very simple approach. 

"I think you can achieve this by constantly asking yourself when shopping: 'Is this a want or a need?' I bet you will quickly have $10 a week in "want" purchases you can forego," Orman advised on her Facebook page. 

She went on to suggest that taking this approach makes increasing your savings seem much more doable so you're more likely to be successful -- and she said that once this works for you, you can slowly decrease your spending over time so even more money can go into your bank account. 

Why would asking yourself this question help you save more?

Orman's advice is great because what she's basically asking you to do is to be more mindful about where your money is going.

Far too many of us get into the habit of picking up things throughout our day or week, whether that's an extra treat at the grocery store or something on clearance at Target when we only ran in to pick up paper towels. These impulse purchases often add up to much more than most people realize, especially when we're doing this all the time.

By pausing for just a second to consider whether the item is actually something you really need, or just something you think you want in the moment, this extra consideration can provide the opportunity to realize that having more financial freedom in the future is more important. 

Spending mindfully doesn't mean giving up every luxury or fun purchase, either. It just means you're going the extra mile to consider whether you actually would rather spend the money than save it so you can do more with your hard-earned cash. Once you pay more attention to how many "wants" you're splurging on, it should be much easier to give up enough of those unnecessary items to save at least $10 per week if not more. 

There are other ways to achieve a similar objective, such as instituting a 24-hour rule before buying something. That would mean when you see something you want to splurge on, you commit to waiting 24 hours and then going back to buy it if you still want it. Tracking your spending is also another technique, since by writing down what you buy you're making yourself pay attention and be more accountable.

But Orman's simple question is an even easier technique than either of those -- and all of them do the same thing, which is making you really think about your spending. And since you work hard for your money, thinking about where it goes is the very least you owe yourself.   

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