5 ways to kick retirement overspending

A good way to get a complete picture of your spending is to analyze your spending in the previous year. “This will provide you with a perspective of where you spent your money and can show

you spending trends and habits," says Berkhahn. Having a better understanding of your discretionary and nondiscretionary spending habits will allow you to prioritize what’s important.”

Analyzing your expenses will also help you see areas where you’re wasting funds. One spending bucket is for so-called life essentials, such as rent, food, bills and transportation. The other

bucket is things that you don’t necessarily have to spend on, such as eating out, traveling and picking up the bar tab after a night out. “There should be an accurate tracking of spending

and staying within budget limits,” says Thomas Salvino, CEO at Performance Wealth Partners. 4. WEAN YOURSELF OFF SPENDING. Cutting spending is no different than dieting or kicking off a new

workout plan. Going gung ho at the beginning, such as cutting off all discretionary spending, is akin to running a marathon on your first day of training or fasting for a full week when you

start a diet. In short, it won’t work, says Peterson. “Making drastic changes will make it less likely to stick to your new spending habits,” he says. Make small changes instead. If you

regularly eat out three days a week, skip eating out one night a week. Avoid the daily Starbucks run for a day or two. Change one of your shopping habits, such as not logging into Amazon

when you’re bored. “No one change is going to save the day, but small changes along the way can help change your behavior, which is the real goal,” says Peterson. To kick the spending habit,

you also must separate things you want from things you need, says Peterson. “What you want to do is take a pause before spending to determine if you really need an item,” he says. Delaying

gratification is another way to minimize the temptation to make impulse purchases. “If you step back and decide to wait a week or more on the purchase, it is likely you will decide not to

make the purchase,” says Peterson. And even if you end up buying the product, at least you gave it plenty of thought. A simple way to spend less when you go shopping is to make a list. “And

stick to it,” says Ghebray. “A few minutes of preplanning will help you avoid purchasing unnecessary items.” Another tip to keep you from taking the credit card out of your wallet is to

practice mindfulness. “Remind yourself of your financial goals and the consequences of overspending,” says Ghebray. Another technique to spend less is to use a debit card instead of a credit

card, says Roberts. This way you make sure you can afford the purchase now and are not piling up debt and going the pay-it-later route. 5. STOP DOING WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING. Just as an

overweight person can’t keep eating high-calorie foods if he expects to lose weight, people who overspend can’t keep managing their money the same way. You must change your behavior to get

your finances in order. “You can’t say, ‘I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” says Arnold. So, if you’ve never had a budget, make one. “It’s never too late,” he says.