Good point, very true. The issue I struggle with is discipline - if I have any way to access the funds, I will end up spending them, doesn't matter how many accounts I have to transfer through. Hence why I went with the pre-pay rent route - it's technically already "spent" and I can't simply take it back or acccess if after that. The goal is to recalibrate my spending habits after paying double rent for some time, and then begin to reallocate that monthly budget to better investments as you have mentioned.

Get a savings only account at a bank far from you. Throw the bank card out. Set automatic withdrawal to that account. This way you have to go to the physical bank to withdraw money. This may work for you. Good luck, it is really a challenge.

That’s a solid idea, thanks for the tips!

I'm not sure what GIC and HISA are, but it sounds like they may be US-specific? I'm in Europe, not sure what the equivalent is here if any.

GIC is a guaranteed investment certificate. HISA is a high interest savings account. They may be named alternatively in Europe. I am not familiar with EU banking.

You might have to research it further with your bank for GIC and look for online only banks for the HISA option.