Being financially savvy doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Sometimes the desire to spend anything and everything in your bank account or chew through the loose notes in your wallet is an urge that’s too hard to resist.
If you are in the spend, spend, spend camp and your habits are more budget-busting than budget-friendly, then you’ll know exactly how hard it can be to reign yourself in and live within financial reality.
But believe it or not, things needn’t be tricky when it comes to getting your finance under control. Just a few simple changes can make all the difference when it comes to becoming a ‘fiscally responsible’ individual.
#1 – Consolidate Your Debts
It’s common to be paying a higher rate of interest than you need to if your loans are spread over various loans, pay-later schemes or credit cards. If so, it may be worth looking at a loan option that bundles all of your small loans up together and repays all your other creditors to leave you with one monthly payment.
As long as you maintain payments on your new loan and commit to not spending via other credit options or keep them for that ‘rainy day’ then you will already be on your way to managing your money and your debts. Look for a Personal loan company who can help facilitate a loan based on your requirements that you can realistically afford to repay.
Remember though, that taking on more debt should never be looked at as an easy way out of debt – but rather a way to help you become more responsible with your credit rating.
#2 – Use a Savings App
If you don’t have much in the way of savings but you want to start, then look at installing a savings app on your phone. These are handy in helping you identify where you can cut back on your spending and move money into a savings account. Be it to pay for a holiday, wedding, or solely for the future, starting small and getting into the habit of putting money away will help you to build better habits when it comes to building money.
#3 – Track Your Spending
Whether you prefer to use an app or a personal money planner to track your spending, it’s a great habit to write down everything you buy to see where your money is going. Doing this makes it easy to see what areas you need to cut back on and while highlighting where to make savings.
Being able to clearly see where your money goes will help change your habits and prompt you to make changes. This may result in cancelling any subscriptions you hardly use, taking your lunches to work or cutting back on impulse purchases. Every little bit does help, and being able to visualise your spending will give you a better idea of how you can make changes to your spending habits.
In summary, you don’t have to make significant changes at once! Simply identifying where you can make changes is a great starting place. Then, take action on your findings so that you to can create new, lower spending goals and become more financially savvy in the future.
1 Comment
These are basic, yet important, financial planning steps. Nicely done.