You can do a lot of things with your money. You can use it to pay the bills and go shopping. You can save enough for a down payment on a home, and you can donate your money to a good cause.

No matter how many things you can do with your money, there’s one thing you should never do—overspend. Unfortunately, that can be harder than it sounds.

Here are five tips that will allow you to keep more of your hard-earned money in your pocket so you can spend or save it however you choose.

Minimize Fees Associated With Financial Services

Financial services are a must. Banks provide us with a safe place to keep our money while money transfer services enable us to send money to friends and family living in another country. However, these institutions and services are not all created equal.

Some charge outrageous fees for the same services. Your job is to find a financial service that minimizes these fees. For example:

• Look for banks that don’t charge monthly fees for having a checking account
• Use bank-approved ATMs to avoid paying hefty ATM fees
• Choose a money transfer service with low transfer fees
• The right money transfer service will have a good exchange rate

Go on a Cash-Only Diet

Money is easier than ever to spend! From swiping credit cards to digital wallet payments, paying another person for goods and services has become quite abstract. It’s a lot easier to swipe a card to pay for that new handbag than it is to physically hand over $100!

Stop buying stuff you don’t need by going on a cash-only diet. That means leaving your cards at home and paying for everything using cold, hard cash.

This will force you to think more carefully about how you spend your money, and it can help you stick to a budget too!

Avoid Your Triggers

We’ve all got things that we love to spend our money on, even though we shouldn’t. They run the gamut from candles to clothes, tools, electronics, and more.

If you have a weakness, identify it and do your best to avoid it when you know you don’t have any extra money to spend. Avoid the mall if you’re into buying clothes and skip the trip to the electronics store if you’re always tempted to purchase the latest gadget.

Use Credit Cards the Right Way

It’s nearly impossible to go through life without at least one credit card. Not only can they help you in an emergency situation, they can also help you build your credit. The trouble is, most people don’t use credit cards the way they should.

If you don’t use credit cards appropriately, you’ll end up spending a lot more money than you should on high interest rates. You could literally be paying an extra $15 every month or more for every $100 on your credit card!

Don’t overspend your money and use credit cards the right way by:

• Paying off the balance in full each month
• Only using your card to buy things you need
• Negotiating a lower rate after making a series of timely payments
• Taking advantage of the benefits of your particular card

If you do have a large balance on your credit card, put a plan in place that enables you to pay down as much of that balance as quickly as you can and you can literally save thousands of dollars.

Don’t Get Sucked in by the Sale

Sales are tempting. After all, if you’re looking for ways to save money, the sale is the first thing you should hit up! That isn’t always the case.

Stores know that people love to get in on a good sale. They also know you’ll spend more if you think you’re saving money. That’s why they throw sales that really aren’t sales at all.

Just because a store is having a sale doesn’t mean you’ll save any money. If there’s something you want to buy, do a little comparison shopping to make sure you’re actually getting a discount.

You also have to avoid buying more than you normally would. It’s not a sale if you end up spending the same amount of money that you would have spent on full-priced items anyway. It just means you go home with more stuff!

You should be able to spend, or save, your money, your way. With these five tips, you can avoid overspending in areas that don’t deserve your money, ultimately providing you with plenty more cash to go around.