5 unusual ideas to save money and start investing

1. The serotonin purchase

You might have heard that serotonin is one of the main chemicals in the human body that, among many other functions, helps us regulate our mood. It’s a neurotransmitter, a chemical that serves as a messenger between the brain and our organs, among many other functions.

The right amount of serotonin makes us feel happy, while low serotonin levels during the later course of the day may not only result in poor sleep, but also increase feelings of anxiety and can sometimes prompt us to turn to online shopping. So the next time you’re ready for a little retail therapy and filling up that shopping bag late at night instead of getting ready for bed, ask yourself, “Do I really want this or is it a serotonin purchase?” Chances are your purchase will look less appealing the next morning.

2. The 30 day rule

This one is a rule to keep in mind especially if you’re planning on buying an expensive item. Make a “30 day list” in your calendar or phone, note down the date you first wanted to buy this item, and set a reminder for 30 days from that date. If that alarm goes off after thirty days and you still want to buy it, go for it. Chances are high though that you won’t even remember what your reminder was all about and simply delete it. There - you saved money again!

3. Pretend shopping I

Did you know that shopping can give us the same sentiment as feeling a high? The brain is an amazing organ which brings us to our next fun fact: did you know that you don’t actually have to complete an online purchase to feel like you shopped? No kidding! This is a simple but very effective way to trick your brain into thinking that you bought something online even if you didn’t. 

You simply go online, browse items you want to buy and put things into your shopping cart, as usual. And now comes the important part: instead of hitting “Buy”, you hit the close button “x” in the top-hand corner of your browser instead! This may feel a little weird and disconcerting the first time you do it, but watch in amazement minutes later how you won’t feel like going back into the website to complete your purchase after all. Ta-da!

4. Pretend shopping II

If you don’t have the heart to abandon your purchase entirely just yet, there’s a way to train yourself to get there: instead of hitting “Buy” after you filled your cart, open a list view of your purchases and take a screenshot. Don’t look at it for at least three days. While one or two items on there may still give you a warm and fuzzy feeling after three days, chances are high that you will no longer want to buy most - or maybe even all - of the items in your screenshot.

5. Start investing

Have you ever considered the fact that trading on Bitpanda is also like shopping? So, instead of going online to buy that awesome gaming equipment or that cute little sweater, log into your Bitpanda account via desktop or mobile phone, pick your favourite digital asset, such as Bitpanda Stocks*, Solana or gold and invest your money in digital assets. How good do you think that feels? We told you!

*Bitpanda Stocks enables investing in fractional stocks. Fractional stocks in Europe are always enabled via a contract which replicates the underlying stock or ETF (financial instruments pursuant to section 1 item 7 lit. d WAG 2018). Investing in stocks and ETFs carries risks. For more details see the prospectus at bitpanda.com.