Managing money is a big challenge for many people. The reasons can be various. Some see money as freedom, causing them to get carried away and spend money irresponsibly where they buy something because of mere impulse.
Other people see money as power and therefore, cannot resist the temptation to just show off. Sometimes, we think of money as compensation. This happens when we spend money without thorough planning, for example because we are sad or stressed.
The three reasons above can happen to anyone, no matter how much money they have. Therefore, we need to start practicing mindful spending in managing our daily finances.
Jago at Mindful Spending
What is mindful spending? You may be familiar with the term mindfulness. In general, mindfulness can be regarded as a practice that encourages us to focus on the current situation, realize and accept it gracefully.
Mindfulness can help us overcome or get rid of negative emotions, thoughts or anything that arises when we cannot accept what is happening to us.
Mindfulness & Wellbeing Coach Raden Prisya defines mindfulness in more detail. “Mindfulness is being aware of what we are doing while we are doing it. Everything we feel, all the sensations and feelings that arise are parts of us that don't need to be chased away or searched for. Everything we need is already here."
Well, mindful spending has a similar philosophy. When being mindful with money, we spend money with full awareness and attention. “Indeed the guidance is always within us and we just need to listen and really make a decision. What we need to do is slow down and really take our time and learn how to hear it."
Mindful spending can help us become more confident and satisfied with our financial management. With mindful spending, the feeling of regret that arises after we spend money to buy something can be avoided.
This is because we are 100% aware and accept that we use money truly to fulfill our needs as human beings and support the values we hold dear and the goals we want to achieve.
To be more mindful when managing finances, Raden Prisya shares the following 3 tips.
1. Don’t seek money out of things that are not positive
Being aware and accepting also need to be internalized when seeking money. Making money out of something positive is certainly a good and mindful thing. However, this is not the case when you seek money out of arrogance, revenge, stress or emptiness.
If the reason for seeking money is not something positive, then when you use the money it is usually also for something that is not positive, meaning no mindfulness at all.
"It's also worth pondering, what does 'enough' mean to you? Would you change your friends, work, life habits and so on if you were rich? If everything will stay the same, then you are already rich," Raden Prisya said.
2. Don’t spend all your money at once
Mindful spending is a lifestyle where we pay full attention to the use of money. In other words, mindful spending is the opposite of spending all your money.
It doesn't mean you can't spend money on entertainment, fun stuff and such. As long as you plan carefully and use your money mindfully, it should be fine.
3. Decide your goals and always seek gratitude
For those who don't know or don't have any goals yet, now is a good time to reflect and finally find the answer. Keep in mind, your goals don’t have to be the same as someone else's. Decide what is important to you and make it your goals.
Goals can be short or long term. Before using money, you need to realize whether it will help you achieve your goals or dreams.
Don't forget, in everything we do, including our wealth, it should always be accompanied by gratitude. We don't need to compare our wealth with other people's wealth. Everything becomes more beautiful when we are grateful.
Be More Mindful About Finances With Jago
To help you be more mindful about finances, you can take advantage of several Jago features.
1. Be more mindful of spending with the Spend Analysis feature
“One feature that can be utilized is the Spend Analysis. Every time we transact with Jago, it will automatically be recorded and categorized by Jago. Which ones are transfers, which ones are shopping, which ones are for families, and so on. At the end of each month, we can see the spending percentage for each of these categories and compare it with the previous month, so that it can help us be more mindful in spending money, " said Brand Communication Manager of Bank Jago, Muhammad Pandu.
The data is presented in the form of diagrams and percentages, so you can analyze spending more easily. The Spend Analysis feature is best if used regularly if you want to be more mindful of spending.
2. Be more mindful of financial goals with the Jago Pocket
To be more mindful of financial goals, a suitable feature is the Jago Pocket. This feature can be used to set aside money to meet various financial goals. Each Pocket can be personalized by giving it a name, changing the photo and color to remind you of your goals. The Pocket can also be turned into a Shared Pocket if you want to save and achieve financial goals with other people.
“The essence of the Jago Pocket is that our money is connected to a certain goal so that when we open the application we remember what our goal is. So, the Jago Pocket can remind us to be wiser when we want to spend money," Pandu added.
The Jago application has also been linked to ecosystems such as GoPay to facilitate daily money management, both for payments, transportation and food. In addition, for those who want to invest, the Jago Pocket can be linked to Bibit or Stockbit. Investments become more consistent and you can see all savings goals in one application.
3. ‘Force’ yourself to be mindful with the Locked Pocket and Autosave
For Jagoans who already have the spirit of mindful spending but are still not used to it or are still often tempted by external factors such as discounts, peer pressure, etc., you can be more mindful by disciplining yourself.
Don't worry, it won't hurt you at all, because you're doing it with the Locked Pocket. As the name implies, the Locked Pocket will lock money and secure it from less mindful use.
There is also the Autosave feature that lets you save money automatically. With it, you don't have to move money into savings yourself. But, you will see your savings continue to grow. And, at the same time you have also succeeded in practicing mindful spending.
Time to be more mindful of our spending to become jago at managing our daily finances.
