I crave a reward every time I do something right. Made it to the gym this morning? Defs treating myself to a coffee. Ticked everything off my to-do list? Deserve a nice dinner, for sure. Hit a milestone savings goal? Absolutely gonna buy a little present to celebrate. Not only is it a delightful way to get through the week but it legit works as a motivator, too.
We all deserve to treat ourselves for the little wins. It keeps us moving in the right direction. But, if you’re finding you don’t have the extra funds left in your account to spoil yourself when you deserve it, you shouldn’t miss out.
If you’re hitting your savings goals and paying every bill on time but scrimping on where it matters most (you), let’s change that.
Here’s how to be a bit wiser with your money, so you can spoil yourself some more.
Compare your bank
How does your bank stack up to the competition? Could it be giving you more benefits? Are there monthly fees you’re paying when you don’t have to be? You’re in control of your banking, so make it work for you, my friends.
Virgin Money is one bank that’s made to give you max rewards with their Go Account. It’s an everyday account that allows you to earn rewards on your debit card. Whether you’re forking out for the next round of cocktails or just paying your phone bill, you’ll be rewarded for every purchase that goes on your card (as long as you meet the monthly criteria*). AKA everything earns you points, baby.
Even though you rack up eight Virgin Money Points for every purchase, Virgin Money Rewards boosts your points with some rotating, red-hot partner offers. So, for example, right now if you were to spend a cheeky $200 at THE ICONIC, you’d rack up 5,000 points. Or, fancy a relaxing endota spa facial? You’d score 2,100 points for a $150 session. And if you treat yourself to a Menulog meal once a week for a month? You’re looking at 8,000 points. In one measly month, you could have racked up over 15,100 Virgin Money Points to trade-in for a $75 gift card.
Automate your accounts
It hurts less if you don’t see the money you need for bills in the first place. You don’t want to see a higher number than what you’re really working with in your account – it’ll get spent. Get ahead of the game by using the Virgin Money app bills tracker to help manage expenses before they’re even due. From there you can plan to automate all of your expenses to come straight out of your nominated account the day you get paid.
While you’re at it, yeet some money into an account that’s set aside purely to treat yourself. That way, you’ll be able to buy something a little nicer down the track instead of just scraping your leftover coins together for a rainbow paddle pop.
You’ve probably got more accounts at your fingertips than you realise, too, so use them to your advantage and give yourself some options. You won’t feel guilty splurging on a fancy meal if it’s coming out of a ‘Dining Out’ account that you’ve built up specifically for living lavishly from time to time, and not eating into a ‘Future Me Savings’ account.
If you’re with Virgin Money, the Go Account comes bundled with a high-interest savings account. So, if you use your Go Account for everyday spending, you can open up to 9 Virgin Money Boost Saver accounts. Whatever you wanna call them – Bills, Treat Yourself, “Don’t Touch These Savings” – you’re flush with account options.
Track your spending
Tracking your spending helps you see where your blind spots are. We all love to paint a rosy picture of ourselves, but when you see your transactions in black and white, you can clock what expenses you miss. And once you catch and correct those slippery suckers, you’ll be able to splash the extra cash you’re saving on fun stuff.
Before your eyes glaze over thinking about spreadsheets and budgets, it’s worth sussing if your bank has an app that can help. It will most likely have a spend tracker that’ll handle most of the hard work for you.
In the Virgin Money app, your expenses will be automatically categorised so you can easily track them, but if you want to dig deeper you can tag certain transactions too. So, if you’ve been wondering just how much you’ve racked up on transport this month – you’ll be able to see the total of all ‘transport’-tagged expenses crystal clear. Time to tone down those Ubers!
Sometimes you’ve got to spend a little on yourself. Give these tips a whirl to try and have more dosh leftover in your account each fortnight. Rather than just saving enough to meet your goals, you can have a little something leftover to treat yourself. Because you deserve it, mates.
If you take out a new Virgin Money Go Account before 10 April 2022, you can receive 20,000 bonus Virgin Money Points when you spend $100 in your first 30 days. Enough for a $100 gift card!
*Check out the T&Cs relating to the 20K bonus point offer, Virgin Money Rewards, partner offers and the Virgin Money Go Account and Boost Saver here . Rewards values mentioned in this article are correct as at 1 March 2022 and subject to change. Virgin Money Australia, a division of Bank of Queensland Limited ABN 32 009 656 740 Australian Credit Licence AFSL 244616, the issuer of the transaction and savings accounts.
Information provided is of general nature only and you should consider whether or not the product is appropriate for yourself. For full terms and conditions, including information on eligibility criteria and fees and charges click here.
