Surprise yourself with these 5 practical ways to use Spaces right now

While we’ve got big plans for Spaces coming up, here are some practical and useful ways you can already use them to master your finances.

Picture this: never having to worry again about spending too much money every month and putting the leftover money towards something you’ve been wanting since you were a kid.

Well, we can’t promise this will happen overnight, but with Spaces, you can start making real, noticeable progress towards your dreams—right now. And that’s important because behavioral psychology proves that if you face a significant hurdle before starting a longterm project, you are more likely to not start at all.

Here are some everyday ways you can use Spaces to get closer to next year’s dreams or even just next weekend’s staycation.

Much like how most people find it easier to keep track of spending when they pay for everything with cash, giving yourself a limited amount of money to spend will stop you from overspending.

Think of it this way: if you are contemplating going out for dinner and you notice you only have €20 left to spend the rest of the week, you’ll stop for a second to reconsider. Maybe eating in is the better choice.

How can you do this with Spaces? Just create a space in your N26 app called “Savings” or “Not for spending” and put the bulk of your money in there. Try to think about and work out how much you might spend a week, and put that amount in your Main Account. Which bring us to number two…

Save up with Spaces

Use N26 Spaces sub-accounts to easily organize your money and save up for your goals.

Discover sub-accounts

Out of sight out of mind, as the saying goes. It’s a great feeling getting paid at the end of the month. Finally! Some spending money.

But, a lot of that money isn’t for spending. It’s there to cover rent, transportation, groceries, and any other fixed costs.

So to keep you from spending your rent money, just create a “Rent” space, drag and drop the amount you pay monthly into that space, and “pay yourself back” after you transfer the rent. That way you won’t be tempted to spend it before the rent is due.

You can also do this for things like “Subscriptions”—like for Netflix or your transportation costs. Just don’t forget to move the money back after the bill comes in.

Giving your goal a name and a purpose will go a long way towards starting on your way. But also giving yourself a goal to reach will inspire you by showing you how much progress you’re making.

Try creating a space for something you want—let’s say it’s a new laptop. Create the space in your app or on the web, set a savings goal and drag and drop some money there to start saving. But how to get there? Well, you could...

If you’d rather not put a limit on how much you spend each week or month, try doing it the other way around. Keep your paycheck in your Main Account and at the end of the month put whatever is left over into your savings space.

If you’re going on a big trip and you know you’re willing to spend a (pretty large) set amount of money, try creating a space for it with the amount and waiting until the trip.

When you go on your trip, you can swap the money from your Main Account with the trip account and use only the money from there.

That will help you better keep track of what you’re spending, rather than only giving you a rough estimate. That way you’ll know towards the end of the trip if you can afford that last-minute hot air balloon ride or spa visit at the airport. I recommend the latter.

How are you using Spaces? Tweet us with #myspaces on Twitter or Instagram and we’ll feature some great ones in one of our next blog posts.

The bank account that gives you more control

Spend and save with confidence, and discover a better way to manage your money

Get bank account (new tab)