Some of us hoard cash while paying 18% interest on a credit card balance. Others blow through a tax refund as if it were free money when it’s actually a return of our own hard-earned dollars.
This brain quirk has a name: mental accounting. We treat money differently depending on where it comes from and how we intend to spend it, often to our own detriment.
We can, however, leverage this illogical behavior to help us save more.
In my latest for the Associated Press, how having multiple savings accounts could help you save more.