Nearly all of us are guilty of splurging and spending on things we don’t really need. We’ll spend money on things we want in the moment and then never use. Breaking bad money habits can be your path to becoming financially free. We’ve compiled a list of bad money habits to break to help get you started.
Stop Spending Everything
By spending all the money you earn every month your not investing in your future. When your spending everything instead of saving or investing your extending the time you’ll need to keep working later in life. By investing for the future instead of splurging on that new outfit will payoff greatly down the road. Put any extra cash you have into savings, and emergency fund, or investments that pay you.
Spending more than you make
Spending more than your bringing in by relying on credit cards is a sure way of losing money. Every dollar you spend on your cards your paying interest. Paying that interest is like flushing money down the toilet. Credit cards are easy to swipe and forget about but those bills will catch up and you’ll end up spending much more than your original purchase when it comes time to paying it off.
Pay Off Your Credit Cards Every Month
While emergency’s do come up and sometimes you need credit instead of cash, it’s always a good idea to payoff your balances in full. By paying off your full balance every month you keep the amount of interest you owe to a minimum and your not wasting money you don’t have to spend. This can often be one of the hardest bad money habit to break as swiping that card can be so easy.
Not Having an Emergency Fund
Not keeping an emergency fund can backfire should you need fast cash. Car breakdowns, heater decides to quit in the middle of winter, leaking pipe, etc. When an emergency happens that you haven’t planned for and your not able to cover the cost with cash you’ll end up spending additional amounts either in interest payments or finance charges that add to the cost.
Paying for Subscription Services
Subscriptions and memberships are nice things to have. They allow us to forget or disregard having to manually do whatever service they provide. The downside is they cost us money continually and often cost more than if we did what they provide ourselves. Many times these subscriptions are to goods or services we don’t really need. Are we using that gym membership we signed up for that January? Do we really need that bag of makeup showing up in the mailbox very few weeks?
Blaming Others for Our Money Troubles/ Making Excuses
Let’s face it. We like to blame others for our troubles. Most of us cause are own money troubles and are the reason we don’t have what we’d like too saved up. Youy can make all the ecuses you want but doing so will solve nothing in the end.
Lack of a Budget
Budgeting is a way we are able to see what we spend. When we follow our budget we can see where our money goes and where were wasting money. Sticking to a budget plan will get you where you want to be financially quicker and more successfully.
Being Compulsive
Today with the marketing of products nearly everywhere, were bound to see something we want. Be it online, social media, on TV, etc. were almost daily tempted to make impulsive buys. By being able to control our urges we can keep from over spending on things we don’t really need.
Taking Payday Loans
Sometimes you need money you don’t have. A popular choice is the payday loan. Payday loans are often extremely high interest loans and you end up paying back far more than you borrowed to begin with. Staying away from this type of capital can go a long way in allowing you to become financially free.
Being Late On Your Bills
Every time your late on a bill it cost you more. Added interest and finance charges simply are additional payments you need to make and more of your hard earned money you have to pay someone else instead of saving for your self.
Taking Advantage of Sales
Nearly all businesses run sales of some sort for marketing their services. By taking advantage of these sales for things we know were going to need to buy anyway you can add to your savings instead of paying the normal price. Don’t be afraid to use coupons when going to the grocery or eating out. Being financially smart is nothing to be ashamed of whether you have enough money or not, it’s simply being smart.
Not Living
Saving and being smart with your money is great. At the same time by focusing solely on that and not having any fun, ever, is a sure way to fail. Going out once in a while or buying a new outfit you like, taking a trip, can be good. Think of when your on a diet and eating nothing but healthy foods and trying to exercise constantly. Never eating a snack or taking a break. Doing this is doomed to failed. If your living miserably by trying to save every cent, your not going to be very successful in the long run.
Bad money habits can be a challenge to break, but it will lead to great rewards in your life.
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