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Did you know that slow thinking can help you with your bank account balance? I’m serious. If you’ve been struggling to pay the bills, let alone put some money aside for emergencies, retirement, or that new house you’d love to buy one day, putting these new-learned slow thinking skills to use when it comes to your personal finances may be just what you need. 

Part of it is being better at controlling impulse spending. Part of it is being able to see the big picture and developing a long-term strategy that will help you reach those lofty financial goals. At the end of the day, the secret to financial freedom and smart money skills is simply to get the ball rolling in the right direction. 

It isn’t about making drastic changes. You don’t need to give up all of life’s little luxuries, downsize to a smaller home, or hope for a big raise to make it happen. Instead, you can use slow thinking to curb some of your impulse buys and change your spending habits. Small changes in behavior will quickly add up to big savings. 

Without slow thinking, it’s easy to spend a few dollars to grab a coffee here, another fifteen on lunch there, and finally forty dollars for a new blouse or a video game you ‘can’t live without.’ By the time you get home or the next week rolls around, the excitement and joy about the new purchases is forgotten, but the money is still gone. 

Slow thinking helps you remember that your big goal is a nice vacation with your family, or the down payment for that first house. It makes it easier to say no to that thing you previously thought you couldn’t live without. It helps you get up five minutes earlier so you can pack a lunch and pour some coffee into a travel mug. It helps you make a plan or budget and stick to it by remembering the reason why you’re trading instant gratification for long-term gains. 

Remember, this way of thinking and behaving is a muscle. It may be hard and painful at first, but it will get easier. Before long, you won’t miss spending money here and there on trivial things. Instead, you’ll get a huge kick out of watching your savings account grow and getting closer and closer to your big financial goals. And those feelings and rewards will last much longer than any joy you temporarily feel when you spend your hard-earned money.