Want to be a millionaire?

You can begin by asking yourself questions about why and where you overspend

Have you ever said to yourself: “I've never been a millionaire, but I know I would be great at it!”

With the house prices now reaching an all-time high, you may indeed now be a millionaire, and if so, congratulations! For the rest of us, we are still struggling to get there, and we can broad-stroke Canadians into two groups, spenders and savers, who oddly enough are usually married to each other.

Now before you decide to toss this column aside, I am not going to advocate penny-pinching and coupon clipping. Saving 20 cents on a can a soup is one thing, but it will never get you to retirement as a millionaire. Now with inflation and sky-high gas prices, it is easy to understand why families are stressed out. Most people, on paper, make a decent income, but the average Canadian couple still lives paycheque to paycheque even though they bring in a six-figure income. They claim that they can't save anything and that their life is completely normal — is it?

There is only one true way to improve your monetary situation and change things around to find ways to save. This is the key to saving thousands of dollars every year and, guaranteed, it will make you a millionaire by retirement. The trick is “mindful spending.” I know most of you think you already do this all the time, but even the greatest budget-minded savers often fall off the wagon and spend too much on everyday life. In order to make this work, you need to keep a journal on paper, on your phone or on or computer and log every single purchase every day.

I know I am asking a lot. But stay with me and try this for 60 days. Guaranteed you will find the leaks and holes, and identify the places where your money is wasting away. Likely, you will also recognize some personal changes you can easily make to save more, without sacrificing too much. Ask yourself these 10 questions. Remember they are not designed to judge you, but rather to help you identify the behaviours that trigger overspending.

1. Do you shop without a list? Do you have a list, but buy more than what is on the list?

2. Do you shop online frequently? Do you spend more when you're alone?

3. Do you subscribe to things and then forget about them?

4. Do you buy things “just in case you need them” at some future date?

5. Do you buy more than you “meant to” at a certain store or online?

6. Do you become unsatisfied with what you have and want to upgrade? (For example, your home, cars, electronics, clothes and shoes.)

7. Do you buy things in bulk, even when you don't need that much?

8. Do you buy what you see friends or neighbours wearing or using?

9. Do you spend money on experiences, like dining out, without keeping track of how much you spend or how often? Do you spend more when you are with others?

10. Do you buy something simply because it was on sale or seems like a good deal for the future?

Spending is emotional and this exercise may help you find the triggers that evoke an emotional response that causes you to spend more than is needed. We all spend money to buy things that we think will make our lives better or even to make us a better version of ourselves. Advertisers know this and are very skilled at convincing us to buy now.

They imply: “You deserve an upgrade of your old stuff (even though it still works fine), to get something newer, faster and more improved, don't you?”

Remember, the secret to having everything is believing that you already have it.