Get Sorted: Winning at Gotcha!

What we need is a "no surprises" policy when it comes to spending. Photo / 123RF

Ever see someone walk through the grocery aisles with a calculator? I have. Twice I've watched shoppers plugging in the numbers as they go.

They were basically trying to win the game of "Gotcha!" that almost invariably happens when we get to the till. Who doesn't often get surprised - or perhaps even caught out - when we see what it all adds up to?

Our brains, for all their power, have a hard time following how much in total we're spending. We may easily be able to say how much we spent on lunch today, but could we immediately come up with how much it was for the last three weeks? Three months? Three years?

Credit card bills are also a notorious source of shock, when the sum of our choices is suddenly unveiled. You may find yourself asking, "Did I really spend that?"

We're not computers, after all. But we do have them at our disposal, so I am hopeful that one of these years the machines will help us crunch the data and warn us about any nasty sticker shocks ahead. ("Warning: you are about to pay heaps more for that car than the advertised price - there are a number of extras that have been deliberately separated.")

Have you heard of government ministers or CEOs having a "no surprises" policy? Their staff are under strict orders to make sure they are informed about what will happen next so they have time to react and handle any situations that arise.

What we need is a "no surprises" policy when it comes to spending. Without one, we end up paying more than we ever intend to.

In the absence of futuristic digital staff, or having to whip out a calculator in the grocery aisles, here are five ideas to win this game:

1. Ask around. Especially for large purchases that we don't make every day, like a car, talking to others who have done it recently can be incredibly useful to avoid painful surprises.

2. Look at what happened last time. When we're spending on things habitually (like happy hour), looking at how things turned out the last few times will help us predict how much we'll spend. Is it what we really want this time around?

3. Look ahead. Some upcoming expenses are hard to calculate ahead of time. Savvy house renovators build in at least 10% more when estimating their costs in order to cover the inevitable overruns to avoid surprises. Perhaps we can take a page out of their book.

4. Take a breather before buying. We get beat at Gotcha not just because we get hit with the high price at the end of the buying experience, but also because we hand over our money right then and there. A 24-hour or two-person rule before buying can help us make better choices because we can think about whether it's what we really want.

5. Follow the money. It's becoming ever easier to track our spending through apps and online banking, so in theory there should be fewer surprises about how much we're spending in total. By staying engaged with what's happening and what's coming up, we can be ready.

So we're all playing Gotcha - are we winning?

Get Sorted is written by Sorted's resident blogger, Tom Hartmann. Check out the guides and tools from Sorted – brought to you by the Commission for Financial Capability – at sorted.org.nz.