Do you ever look at someone who seems to simply have everything to do with money in order without nary a hiccup and feel that surge of envy? Well, put that behind you. There’s no real difference between people who are good with money and those who aren’t. Financially healthy individuals with good habits weren’t born with them. They learned them. Many of them through trial-and-error. We’re going to skip the error bit and look at the habits you should be learning right now.
They see where they’re at
A lot of people would save themselves a lot of headaches if they simply took the time to check their finances every so often. Every day, you should set aside a money minute to look at your bank balances, transactions, and any progress towards savings goals. It gives you an idea of where you’re at and where you’re going. It also incentivises you to keep moving, rather than ignoring it for too long. Check your bank statements every month, too. Identify any purchases you could have skipped or services and subscriptions you didn’t use. It’s a lot easier to keep more of your money when you start thinking about what expenses could be painlessly culled.
They have aims
An important part of the last point is the mention of aims. If you don’t have them, it’s always going to be harder to keep money aside. When we have an objective, our efforts are simply more focused. A good long term goal for anyone is financial freedom. To be free from debt and the threat of it, to not be beholden to chance and creditors. What are the steps you can take toward financial freedom? Clearing any debt is an obvious one and should be the first step. But then there are goals to protect that freedom, too. Setting up an emergency fund so you’re not dragged back into debt, for instance. Diversifying your income so you’re not entirely reliant on a job without a financial future. Don’t make personal gratification your outcome. Delay it and let it be one of the pleasant side effects of meeting your real goals.
They invest and save
As you can see at http://www.bankrate.com/, there tends to be a lot of debate over whether you should invest or save. At some point, however, you’re going to realize the answer lies in a bit of both. This is part of the income diversification that you’re going to use to protect your financial freedom. It’s not enough to find a good savings account and a good investment and just let it lie, either. You need to keep working on it. Look for the best options, reap your gains and reinvest. Keep building different channels of bringing income in. It takes a bit of work keeping so many irons in so many fires, but it’s effective.
They learn to control their impulses
As we stated above, you need to learn how to delay gratification. Not just in terms of changing goals from ‘I want a new TV’ to ‘I want to have invested a thousand dollars this quarter’. You also have to be mindful of the habits that are keeping you away from financial health. Especially when it comes to impulse buying. There are a couple of habits that can help you cut a lot of the fluff out of your expenses. First, if you have to borrow to buy it, you can’t afford it. Then, give yourself fifteen minutes on any potential impulse buy to reconsider. If it’s bigger, make it a day and sleep on it. Remove immediate buying from your mind entirely.
If they NEED debt they work on their credit
Borrowing money costs money, and should generally be avoided. However if you need to borrow money on bigger essential purchases, having good credit can save you money. Advice from places like https://creditrepaircompanies.com can be useful for those who need to borrow money for any reason. A good credit score can get a better deal on a home, on business loans, and when buying a car on credit – the latter is an expensive way to operate a vehicle but if you really need a car then getting the lending for it as cheap as possible is a good thing.
They simplify what they can
The whole of your personal finances isn’t simple. But there are a lot of tasks that can be made a lot simpler. For instance, you could consider automating your savings. You can set aside the portion of your budget dedicated to your financial goals and have it transferred from your account every time you get paid so you never spend it accidentally, leaving yourself nothing to save for this period. You can automate bill payments, too, but a lot of people don’t like doing that. Instead, many will recommend you set all your bill payments on the same day, if you’re paid monthly, or on two days throughout the month, if you’re paid more regularly. Forgetting to pay bills is a habit many share but one that’s really quite easy to get rid of.
They read
Finance can get a lot more complicated than what we’ve gone through above. For instance, you might want to figure out how to really budget. Or how to weigh an investment portfolio. Or even habits of thinking that will get you even more financially savvy. There’s more to finance than any one post can cover. That’s why people who really care about their money read. They go to sites like http://www.businessinsider.com/ and give themselves a book a year to read. Your finances are like a body. They don’t get healthy all at once. You have to put the time and the effort in and learn how it all works.
The habits above are going to make you more mindful of your finance, a better decision maker and financially a lot healthier in general. But the most important tip comes last. Don’t delay. Don’t procrastinate. Every second you waste decreases the positive benefits of learning the habits above.
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