Managing Your Spending Habits

Avatar of Michael E. Parker.
Avatar of Michael E. Parker.

Managing Your Spending Habits

CEO
San Francisco, CA, USA
Habits about money are thought to form from a very early age making it difficult to break them and establish new ones. Don’t let that scare you though. Equip yourself with some habit-breaking knowledge and get to a better financial place with the tips below. Mindset overhaul. The first step in breaking bad habits and forming good ones is a simple change of mindset. If you decide before you even try that it is too difficult or unattainable, the chances that you will make sustainable change is unlikely. Use the power of positivity to change how you look at the challenge and achieve it. Where you spend. A month of taking note of where and on what you spend will help you notice trends about how you spend, and possibly even why. Take advantage of different apps that are created to help keep track of spending, such as Mint.com. Once you recognize where you are investing your money, you can look for new ways to spend and save. Set realistic goals. Avoid the idea of all in or not at all. If you spend $100 a month on eating out and want to change this habit, it is more helpful to begin by cutting back and allowing yourself $50 for eating out during the month. This will help with managing spending; rather than deciding to eat out because you don’t feel like cooking, you can must some energy and save that money for a night out with friends. Method of spending. One simple trick to managing spending habits is going cash-only. Anyone who has a credit card can agree that the simple swipe is too easy and often leads to an unpleasant surprise when checking the bank account. By going cash-only, people are more aware of the money they are spending. Each time you go to make a purchase, you can see all of the funds available, rather than slowly chipping away at an invisible number. Goals and rewards. Hard work deserves a reward; at work, you receive a paycheck, shouldn’t you receive something for your hard work at home? Set a goal or challenge for a certain amount of time (2 weeks to a month) and if you achieve it, reward yourself (appropriately). More tips to help you control spending: Budget money only. Create a list of items, such as for grocery shopping. Determine a budget to purchase the items on the list, such as $150. Put that amount of cash in your wallet and take out your credit cards. This will guarantee that you prioritize your items and only spend what you budgeted. Baby Steps. Do not try to change everything at once. That will only lead to failure. Set small goals that lead to broader goals, and before you know it, you will have reached your goal of managing your spending habits!
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Published: Oct 24th 2018
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Word
spending habits
Habits
spending
Personal Finance
Budgeting
budget

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