It can sometimes be really frustrating if you are trying to spend less money but the other people in your household are spending lots. So, if you want to reduce the electric bill but they keep leaving all the lights on, for example, it can be really annoying. There are things that you could try though which should help to improve the situation.
Sit Everyone Down for a Chat
It is a good idea to get everyone together and have a chat about the situation. Explain to them that you want to spend less money on things and how you propose achieving this. Explain to them what their part will be to play in order to help with this. Make sure that you make it clear how you will all benefit from doing this. Check whether they have any problems with what you are asking them to do so that you can make sure that you are all in agreement with the goal and the way to achieve it. For example, if you want the heating turned down but someone gets cold, then try to come up with a compromise, perhaps by heating just one room for them to stay in or by finding a different way to reduce the energy usage elsewhere. If you have children then you will obviously need a different approach and this will also vary depending on whether they are young or adults.
Make it a Competition
It can be fun to make it into a competition. So perhaps see who is able to reduce the amount of money that they cost the most. So perhaps by reducing snack foods, using less water, walking instead of asking for lifts in the car and things like this. It could be wise to perhaps to come up with a list of areas where money could be saved and then challenge the family to tick as many off as they can in a week or month and see who manages the most. Obviously, these things will have to vary depending on which household member they are directed at as children will not be driving anywhere but maybe just not asking for a lift somewhere could count. There could be lots of different ways that you could do it and make it fun and challenging as well as something which will be valuable.
Have Rewards
It can be worth having rewards though. It is a good idea to think about whether you want to give these for specific targets or whether you are all saving money so that you can buy a specific thing which will then be your rewards, perhaps if you are saving for a family holiday, for example. You may think it will be better to have smaller rewards more regularly, but just make sure that they are not too expensive or else you could end up undoing all the good that you have done when you cut down the spending so much.
Keep it Going
It is worth thinking about how you will encourage everyone to keep going with it in the long term. Hopefully some good habits will remain, but you will need to keep a check on it. If you have saved up and had your holiday, it could be easy to slip back into old habits, but perhaps it will be wise to set your next goal so that you can make sure that stay focussed or keep on with the competition or reward system so that it continues. Try to keep it fun though, you do not want to get stressed about it, just keep focussing on the benefits.
