Learn From Thiago Nigro: How to Trick Your Brain and Save Money Now

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 03/07/2025 at 12:12

Foto: Reprodução

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Influencer Shows How Small Behavioral Changes Can Transform Your Personal Finances.

Millions of Brazilians face the same dilemma every month: the salary comes in and starts to disappear. Credit card payments, piled-up bills, and unplanned expenses leave little or no leftover.

According to data from IBGE, about 72.4% of the population lives in households struggling to pay monthly bills. Only 1% of Brazilian families claim to pay everything with ease.

Why, even knowing the importance of saving money, do so many people struggle to save?

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Present Bias and the Lazy Brain

Present bias explains why it is more pleasurable to spend now than to wait to reap benefits in the future.

Even knowing that saving R$ 100 today can yield much more later, most prefer the immediate benefit.

Another obstacle is inertia behavior. A study conducted with employees of a company in the United States showed how simple changes can influence financial decisions.

Previously, employees had to actively enroll in the company’s retirement plan. Result: only 37% adhered.

When the company changed the system to automatic enrollment, that number jumped to 86%. The reason? People avoid effort. If something requires decision and action, it is more likely to be ignored.

Avoid Complicated Budgets

Many people believe that the first step to saving is to create a detailed budget.

However, a study involving over 9,000 people showed that the budget format does not matter: on average, everyone spent 30% to 40% above the expected after 13 weeks.

In other words, creating a plan may work at first, but it is hard to maintain over time.

Just like those on a diet who can’t resist a sweet, most people fail to follow a strict budget.

The brain ends up sabotaging the plan, making it necessary to think of more realistic and effective alternatives.

Use Your Brain to Your Advantage

Psychology can also help with saving. One tactic is to use cash instead of a card.

Studies show that spending with physical bills activates an area of the brain related to pain.

Using a card, on the other hand, activates areas linked to pleasure. Even with the same value, the way you pay changes the perception of the expense.

Another technique is to separate money into “mental jars.” In an experiment with workers in India, those who received two envelopes — one for spending and another for saving — saved 72% more than those who received everything in a single envelope.

Having different goals and separate accounts helps create psychological barriers against consumption.

Liquidity Can Hinder

Financial products with immediate redemption are tempting. However, for those who already have an emergency fund, it is wise to avoid high liquidity.

An experiment in the Philippines with 1,700 people showed that those with accounts without immediate redemption ability saved 81% more.

Making access to money difficult can be an effective strategy to avoid impulse spending.

Automate and Forget

Automating is one of the most practical tips. Many banks, like Inter, allow for automatic investment scheduling.

For example, you can set it up to save 5% of your salary as soon as it is deposited in your account. You can also reinvest dividends or schedule monthly contributions to CDBs.

This way, saving happens even without conscious effort.

Learn From Thiago Nigro: How to Trick Your Brain and Save Money Now

Influencer Shows How Small Behavioral Changes Can Transform Your Personal Finances.

Present Bias and the Lazy Brain

Avoid Complicated Budgets

Use Your Brain to Your Advantage

Liquidity Can Hinder

Automate and Forget

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Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

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Goodbye traditional washing machine: Panasonic surprises housewives with the NA-G5 featuring four drums, a 13 kg washer and dryer, a 12 kg dryer, independent mini washers, a heat pump, and a 4-in-1 system awarded at the German Design Award.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

While common construction works rely on cranes from above, in Paris a lifting system raised parts of a viaduct from below, rotated entire decks, and still kept the overhead power grid in place.

While concrete and steel dominate the image of resilient buildings, a 10-story wooden building was shaken in a laboratory to test if it can withstand earthquakes and reduce permanent damage.

China implements basalt fibers tested on the Moon to contain the desert’s advance in 1 million hectares, and the program surprises scientists worldwide.

Scientists discover why 90% of people are right-handed and new research reveals surprising link between brain, legs, and human evolution

While major urban projects take years to materialize, Dubai hoisted an 8,500-ton structure in 16 days between the skyscrapers of One Za’abeel and created a 230-meter suspended walkway 100 meters above the ground without interrupting the traffic below.

Learn From Thiago Nigro: How to Trick Your Brain and Save Money Now

Influencer Shows How Small Behavioral Changes Can Transform Your Personal Finances.

Present Bias and the Lazy Brain

Avoid Complicated Budgets

Use Your Brain to Your Advantage

Liquidity Can Hinder

Automate and Forget

While an average building in London or New York takes three years to be completed, in China a 26-story tower went up in five days with about 100 workers, and the global modular construction market already moves US$ 95 billion per year.

Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

While a traditional school may take several days just to raise walls, in Malawi a 3D-printed school had its structure ready in 18 hours, welcomed children in June, and showed a new solution to the lack of classrooms.

Goodbye traditional washing machine: Panasonic surprises housewives with the NA-G5 featuring four drums, a 13 kg washer and dryer, a 12 kg dryer, independent mini washers, a heat pump, and a 4-in-1 system awarded at the German Design Award.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

Debt on CPF? The New Desenrola Brasil Calculator shows discounts, installments, use of FGTS, and how much you can pay to clear your name more securely before reaching an agreement with banks.

Company closes its doors, lays off employees, and accelerates global restructuring plan to cut costs after the automotive sector crisis eliminates hundreds of jobs and shuts down operations of a German multinational in Ohio, United States.

Shopee chooses Londrina to open a 100,000 m² megacenter in Paraná, in a project that promises to generate 2,000 direct jobs and transform the city into a strategic point for deliveries in the South, São Paulo, and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Brigadeiro becomes a R$ 300,000 per month business in Porto Alegre after a couple transforms an empty store into a buffet inspired by children’s parties, which now attracts up to 600 customers per weekend and turns down reservations due to lack of space.

Havan advances in Rio Grande do Sul, builds a megastore of 10,000 square meters on BR-470, invests R$ 90 million, creates 200 direct jobs, and confirms a historic opening for June 2026 in Garibaldi, in Serra Gaúcha.

While common construction works rely on cranes from above, in Paris a lifting system raised parts of a viaduct from below, rotated entire decks, and still kept the overhead power grid in place.

While concrete and steel dominate the image of resilient buildings, a 10-story wooden building was shaken in a laboratory to test if it can withstand earthquakes and reduce permanent damage.

China implements basalt fibers tested on the Moon to contain the desert’s advance in 1 million hectares, and the program surprises scientists worldwide.

Scientists discover why 90% of people are right-handed and new research reveals surprising link between brain, legs, and human evolution

While major urban projects take years to materialize, Dubai hoisted an 8,500-ton structure in 16 days between the skyscrapers of One Za’abeel and created a 230-meter suspended walkway 100 meters above the ground without interrupting the traffic below.