Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Para manter essa poupança, temos praticado uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro. - To keep that saving, we have been practising a more conscious management of money.

In essa poupança, essa refers to savings that have already been mentioned in the conversation or are mentally shared/known by both speaker and listener. It’s “that savings we were talking about”.

You could sometimes say esta poupança, but that would feel more like “this savings (I have here / I’m focusing on right now)”. In most natural contexts for this sentence, essa is the better choice because it points back to a previously mentioned idea.

Could you just say a poupança instead of essa poupança?

Yes, a poupança (literally “the savings”) is also possible and often natural.

essa poupança: points more clearly to something already mentioned or contrasted (e.g. “that savings goal”).
a poupança: refers to “the savings” without explicitly highlighting it as something just mentioned or contrasted.

So:

Para manter a poupança, temos praticado…
= “To maintain the savings, we’ve been…”

Both are grammatically fine; the original with essa is just a bit more deictic (“that particular savings we’ve been talking about”).

Why is poupança singular? In English we say “savings” in the plural.

In Portuguese, poupança is typically singular when referring to the general idea of saved money or a specific amount/plan of savings.

poupança = savings (as a concept or a specific pot of money)
poupanças = (also) savings, but more like “sums of money we’ve saved” / “our savings” in a concrete sense

So:

manter essa poupança ≈ “to maintain that savings (that amount / that fund)”
as nossas poupanças ≈ “our savings” (money we’ve accumulated)

English uses a plural form (“savings”), but Portuguese doesn’t need to; the singular poupança is perfectly normal.

Can poupança also mean a “savings account”?

Yes. Poupança can mean:

The act or result of saving money
- Estou a tentar fazer alguma poupança.
  “I’m trying to build up some savings.”
A savings account (especially in bank context)
- Tenho dinheiro na poupança.
  “I have money in (my) savings (account).”

In your sentence, it’s more like “that amount of savings / that financial cushion”, but context could also be a specific account.

What tense is temos praticado, and how does it compare to English?

Temos praticado is the pretérito perfeito composto, formed with ter (present) + past participle.

Function (in European Portuguese):

describes repeated or habitual actions over a period up to now
often corresponds to English “have been doing”

So:

Temos praticado uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro.
≈ “We have been managing our money more consciously (repeatedly / as a habit in recent times).”

Important point:
In Portuguese, this tense is not usually used for a single completed action (“We have done X once”). For that, EP would more likely use o pretérito perfeito simples:

Praticámos uma boa gestão do dinheiro.
“We managed the money well.” (a finished, past situation)

Could you say estamos a praticar uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro instead?

You could, but it changes the nuance.

Temos praticado…
Focuses on a habit/repeated behaviour over a period up to now: “we have been (regularly) doing this.”
Estamos a praticar…
Is the present continuous in European Portuguese (“we are doing this (these days / right now)”). It can imply an ongoing change of behaviour but doesn’t necessarily emphasize repetition over a longer period as clearly as temos praticado.

Both are correct; temos praticado fits better if you want to stress a pattern of behaviour over time.

Is it natural to use praticar with gestão? In English we don’t usually say “practice management”.

In Portuguese, praticar is broader than English “to practice”. Besides “to practise” (e.g. praticar desporto = to practise sports), it can also mean “to carry out / to put into practice”.

So:

praticar uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro
= “to carry out / put into practice a more conscious way of managing money”

This is natural, especially in somewhat formal or written language.

A more straightforward alternative would be:

Temos gerido o dinheiro de forma mais consciente.
“We have been managing the money more consciously.”

What exactly does gestão mean here?

Gestão corresponds to “management” (often in a somewhat formal register).

Common uses:

gestão de tempo – time management
gestão de recursos – resource management
gestão do dinheiro / gestão financeira – money/financial management

In the sentence, gestão means the way you organize, allocate, and control your money (spending, saving, budgeting, etc.).

What does mais consciente mean here? Is it more like “aware” or “responsible”?

Literally, mais consciente = “more conscious”, but in this context it overlaps with:

more aware
more mindful
more careful/responsible

So uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro is:

a way of managing money where you are more aware of how and why you spend or save, and you think about consequences instead of acting automatically.

Grammatically, consciente agrees with gestão (feminine singular), hence consciente (not conscientes).

Why is it do dinheiro and not do nosso dinheiro (“of our money”)?

In Portuguese, it’s very common to omit possessive adjectives (meu, nosso, etc.) where English would use them, especially when the owner is obvious from context.

do dinheiro = “of (the) money”
But in context, it’s clearly our money.

If you want to make ownership explicit, you can say:

do nosso dinheiro – of our money

Both are correct. do dinheiro is a bit more general and stylistically lighter; do nosso dinheiro puts more emphasis on “our” specifically.

Why is there a comma after poupança?

Para manter essa poupança is an initial purpose clause (“In order to maintain that savings”). In Portuguese, when an infinitive-purpose clause comes first, it is very common to separate it from the main clause with a comma:

Para X, fazemos Y.

So:

Para manter essa poupança, temos praticado…

The comma helps readability and matches standard written style, though in some short sentences it might be omitted.

Could we add nós (Nós temos praticado…)? Why is the subject pronoun missing?

Yes, you could say:

Nós temos praticado uma gestão mais consciente do dinheiro.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, nós, etc.) are often dropped, because the verb ending usually already shows the subject. Temos clearly indicates nós.

Adding nós usually adds emphasis or contrast, e.g.:

Nós temos praticado… (mas eles não).
“We have been doing this (but they haven’t).”

In the neutral version, it’s more natural to leave it out, as in the original sentence.