Photo by Aidan Bartos on Unsplash

Cultural and economic values have changed dramatically over the last generations as political and media elites have convinced many people that saving is a thing of the past. So now, under the influence of Keynesian economists who favour government spending and high levels of consumption, the idea of saving has been devalued.

But savings, in this economic climate, should only be seen in a positive light. Both classical and Austrian economists agree that high rates of savings leads to higher productivity, but the personal saving rate has been trending downwards since mid-2012.

When you think about it, saving ultimately is consumption. By setting aside some resources for meeting financial consumption needs, we invest them.

That’s why it’s important to know what your online footprint can actually cost you, and how much money it is generating for other businesses:

Knowing this, while regaining control through adjusting your privacy settings, can help you save money when the time comes to meet your financial needs.

What a lot of people don’t know is that retailers today are increasingly charging “personalized” or “dynamic” prices based on your online footprint. Prices are manipulated, trying to charge you the maximum they think you’re willing to pay. You could be sitting right next to someone, looking at the same online product, and be charged more just because of a string of websites you visited that have ad trackers installed.

If you have booked a plane ticket in the last 5 years, you’ve seen this in action.

You can thank Google’s ITA QPX Software for that. The software provides solutions to airlines to price by market segment, point-of-sale, channel and user.

That profit comes right out of your pocket because they decided you were willing to pay more for your flight based on tracking.

So if you think saving money is productive — install browser add-ons or use a mobile browser that blocks tracking.

Now might be a good time: