How to Manage Your Digital Spending and Get the Most Out of It

*Collaborative Post

Shopping online makes life incredibly easy. Whether you’re renewing a subscription or buying groceries, you can do it in seconds from your phone. In places like the UK, even online casinos let players make instant deposits and withdrawals using a fast bank transfer, no middleman required.

The downside? That same ease can work against you. When spending becomes too convenient, it’s easy to lose track and go over budget without meaning to.

While this convenience is appealing, it also comes with a few potential downsides. One of the biggest risks that comes with being able to pay for things conveniently online is that you’re likely to spend more than you can actually afford.

To prevent wastage and unnecessary spending, you should put measures in place to track your expenses. This guide explores some strategies to help you manage your digital spending wisely and get the most out of it.

Check Your Account Statements

To manage your digital spending wisely, you should avoid flying blindly. A neat money-management strategy is to check your account statements regularly. Taking inventory of your accounts and credit cards will help you identify spending patterns that may be hurting your financial health.

By checking your account statements, you can categorise your spending for easier management. The table below is an example of how to group your expenses based on whether they’re essential or discretionary.

Expense Category	Examples	Description
Recurring	Rent, utilities, subscriptions, loan payments	This refers to regular fixed expenses that you have to pay for periodically
One-time	Online shopping, travel, entertainment, gifts	One-off payments are discretionary expenses you pay less frequently

Using a table like the one above, you can separate the important expenses from leisurely expenses like travel, online shopping, games and other forms of entertainment.

Set Up Alerts for Your Accounts

Another way to stay on top of your online spending and avoid indiscriminate spending is to set up an alert system for all your accounts. Fortunately, most digital wallets and online banking platforms have this feature built into them.

With alerts set up, you get to receive notifications via email or SMS when an activity takes place or is about to take place on your account. You will get a notification when a withdrawal is made, when your credit card payments are due or when you’re close to an overdraft. These alerts keep you on your toes and help you keep track of all your spending at all times.

Manage Automated Payments Wisely

Automating payments is a convenient way to handle recurring online expenses. But plugging your credit or debit card into every digital platform will hurt you financially in the long run. It’s a lot better when you have some control over your spending and can prioritise what you need to spend money on instead of automating everything.

Manage automated payments wisely by subscribing to only essential things. For instance, it makes no sense to be subscribed to multiple streaming services when you only use one actively. Automate only the essentials and pay for everything else manually.

Set Spending Limits

Discipline and self-control are the ultimate hacks for building healthy digital spending habits. If you want to manage your expenses, then you need to put limits in place to keep you in check. Based on your earnings and expenses, you should set a specific budget for anything you’re spending money on online and stick with it.

This is particularly important for things that can take your money indefinitely like online gambling or shopping. If you fail to set a limit for this, you’ll end up spending more than you can afford. Once you hit your spending limit, log out and do something else.

Fortunately, many of these online platforms have features that allow users to set limits for themselves. Online casinos, for instance, have built-in daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits. If these are too high for you, you can also set your own deposit or loss limits to minimise spending.

Track Spending Patterns

A major benefit of digital spending is that it’s a lot easier to access your spending history. This makes it a lot easier to find where all your money is going and track your habits. If you take a closer look at the things you spend your money on often enough, you will figure out how to better control it.

Luckily, there are a few tools that can be used to track your spending and identify patterns automatically so you don’t have to do so manually. They include spreadsheets, and budgeting apps for tables and other features for better expense tracking. Some of these tools even plug directly into popular online platforms to collect your spending data directly.

Always Look for the Best Deals

To get the most out of your online spending we recommend looking out for the best deals possible when you purchase a product or use a service online. This ensures that you’re spending your money on the best version of whatever you’re getting at the most affordable cost possible. 

Following the expert advice of Jordan Conroy, chief editor at Slotozilla, here are some practical ways to stay on top of your digital spending:

• Never settle for the first price you see. Always check multiple websites and online marketplaces for the same product to find the best price possible.
• Look out for coupons, bonuses and promotions.
• Check reviews before buying a product or subscribing to a service. Note that a low price doesn’t always equate to a good deal. Prioritise quality over price drops.
• Time your online purchases strategically.
• Sign up for newsletters and alerts to get exclusive discounts, early access and special offers.
• Where possible, shop locally to cut costs on shipping.
• Use deal aggregator sites and online communities to find the best deals on any product or service.

Keep Money in Separate Accounts

Another way to ensure you’re not overspending on anything is to keep your money in separate accounts. You can categorise your major expenses and maintain separate accounts for each one. This way, you don’t end up spending your rent money and other essentials on online shopping or other non-essential expenses. Maintaining separate accounts for your expenses will teach you discipline and will teach you discipline and help you control your spending better.

Conclusion

Thanks to the convenience it offers, money moves quickly on the internet. Before you know it, you have drained your account with little to show for it. But you can keep things under control with the right strategies. The strategies highlighted here can help you cut costs on your online spending while keeping frivolous spending to a bare minimum.

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.