So many people live from paycheck to paycheck. Anything left over is quickly spent. New shoes…fancy dinners…the latest tech gadget…cigarettes. You name it. I’ve seen people throw away money on it. Then one day, their car needs new tires, or their refrigerator blows, or they’re laid off from work, and lo and behold, there’s no money to pay for it. Not in the bank, not from friends, nor relatives… what then?

I once had a client who, no matter what she earned, could not save money. It was sad, really, because she earned a decent living. For some reason, she always spent surplus income and barely had any savings. She knew her spending was out of control. She just couldn’t help herself.

Luckily, through therapy, she came to understand the root cause of her problem which in turn opened the door to a solution. Uncontrollable spending is a symptom of more than just a desire to own. But recognizing the underlying cause wasn’t enough for this poor woman. Try as she might, she just couldn’t stop.

Oh, she cut up her credit and debit cards, and switched her paycheck to direct deposit, but nothing changed. Whenever her bank statement arrived, she simply drove to the ATM. She tried giving her paycheck to friends with directives to dole out only living expenses and safeguard the rest. Let’s just say along the way, she ended up losing a few friends.

Finally, out of desperation, she made an appointment with a credit counselor who taught her a workable system. Unfortunately, it was too late to keep her out of bankruptcy. No longer spending uncontrollably, the client just couldn’t get her head above water. Service charges and interest on old credit card debt was eating her alive. Throughout her case, she continued to use the counselor’s money saving system. It was the only system that had ever kept her spending under control.

What was her system? Marked envelopes stuffed in the back of a refrigerator. Every pay period, she cashed and divided her salary into marked envelopes. One for her monthly utility bill, one for her mortgage, others for food, gas, and so on. Any monthly expense of any kind had its own envelope. In this manner, she tricked herself into believing she didn’t have money to spend. Silly, but it worked.

She did allow herself a small amount of spending money each pay period, but when it was gone, it was gone. The rest went into a tip jar hidden in the bank of a closet. When she had enough to purchase short- term certificates of deposit, she went to the bank. Knowing she couldn’t touch the CDs without penalties made her leave the money alone. When bills arrived, money in her refrigerator went into bank. Checks were mailed out the same day. In this manner, she was able to save a small nest egg to tide her over in the event of emergencies. I give her a lot of credit for trying.

Her saving system was a valuable lesson for me. Now, when people tell me they can’t save money, I say the solution is changing the way they think about money. That, and making room in the back of their refrigerator.