5 Habits to Change Your Life Financially
Ready to give your life a financial makeover? Before you start, be sure to set up a financial goal that you can easily obtain. Year after year, people promise themselves to change by making over-the-top resolutions, but these promises are rarely kept. Some of the most common failed resolutions are those involving finances. We all want to save money, but in one way or another, many of us miss the mark. In fact, the large majority of people fail to stick to their promises to budget and save because they aim too high right off the bat.
If your resolution is tied to money, the first step is to sit down with your bills and figure out how much you can realistically afford to save without leaving yourself broke until payday. If you’re not careful, you could find yourself searching for payday loans every time a financial emergency comes along. By making your goals attainable, you can easily stick to them while watching your savings grow bigger over time. Here’s 5 simple habits that could change your financial life for the better:
Start by Tracking One Expense
An easy way to kick off your budgeting goal is to pick one single expense and work towards cutting it from your budget. There’s usually one main thing that’s single-handedly throwing your budget out of kilter, and cutting it from your budget could end up saving you a bundle of cash each month. Whether it’s fast food, entertainment or even random impulse purchases, your job will be to figure out what that one thing is and cut it from your daily spending.
Review Your Monthly Bills
An important part of building a strong financial foundation is by keeping track of your monthly bills. You may find that some bills you’re paying are for services you aren’t using. Is your gym membership being put to good use or are you donating fifty dollars a month to a fitness center? If you’re paying for something you’re not using, ditch it. Give your monthly expenses an audit check and see what’s necessary and what can be cut out altogether. The savings may surprise you.
Make Your Savings Automatic
Saving money can be a hard habit to initiate, simply because many of us would rather keep our money in our pockets than have it locked up in a savings account. If setting aside money is hard for you, try setting up an automatic transfer into your savings with every paycheck. You could be saving money without even having to lift a finger, and you likely won’t miss what you never see.
Learn Something New About Your Finances Daily
Make it a point to crack open a book or pull up an online article about finance every day. All it takes is a few minutes to learn something new. Knowledge is power and the more you know about the ways of finance, the more likely you’ll be to apply those principles to your own finances.
Keep an Eye on Your Progress
It’s a good idea to commit to keeping track of your progress. You’ll be able to clearly see how you’re doing so that you can make adjustments to your budget accordingly.
Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” This enlightening quote is true for financial success as well. If you want to build financial success, you need to make striving for financial success a habit from the start. Stick to these 5 financial habits and see how in time your financial situation can improve.
Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.