A friend of mine really struggles with impulse spending.
Every month, she drops a ton of money on new shoes, clothes, or gadgets.
Until there’s nothing left over for investing – even though she makes a good income.
Here’s a mindset shift that really helped her:
Don’t spend your money.
Spend your time.
Here’s how it works:
First, calculate how much you actually make per hour after taxes.
Take your net salary every month.
Divide by the actual number of hours you work.
Not the official 40 hours you’re supposed to work.
But the real hours – including overtime, commuting, and work you do at home.
Is it €15 per hour? €30 per hour? Maybe €50 per hour if you are lucky?
Now you know your real hourly rate.
Next time you’re tempted to buy a €100 pair of shoes, ask yourself:
“Do I want to trade 4 hours of my life for these shoes?”
“If I had to go to the office right now and work for 4 hours just to get these shoes and nothing else, would I do it?”
When you look at purchases this way, the temptation becomes much easier to resist.
Because you’re not just spending money anymore.
You’re spending pieces of your life.
Hours you’ll never get back.
And here’s the beautiful part:
Every hour you don’t spend on unnecessary stuff…
Is an hour you can invest toward financial freedom.
Every €100 you save and invest instead of spending on impulse purchases…
Becomes €200, then €400, then €800 over time through compound growth.
Your future self will thank you.
While others are surrounded by closets full of shoes they rarely wear or video games they never have the time to play…
You’ll have something much more valuable:
The freedom to spend your time however you choose.
Keep taking action.
I help busy Europeans become confident passive investors through a practical, step-by-step training program called The Index Masterclass.
Click here to access my free training for European investors.