Here’s How You Can Change How You Think About Money
Changing your financial situation isn’t easy. If you’ve been living a lifestyle where you’re constantly living from one payday to the next for a while now, it’s hard to move to a position where you can start saving money towards your future. However, no matter how complicated your financial life may be, there are always options available to help you get back on track.
One of the first things you’ll need to do to boost your chances of success, is change how you think about money. Adjusting your attitude and the strategies that you use when you spend will make it less likely that you end up using too much cash on the things you don’t need.
Here’s how you can finally start to change things up.
- Create a Financial Calendar
Sometimes, the biggest problem we have when we’re trying to be strategic with our cash, is that it’s easy to forget about the fees that we’re scheduled to pay each year. If you don’t remember to pay your personal taxes, or address costs like your annual television license or water bill, then those costs are really going to catch you off guard. Write down when you should expect to pay extra at different points during the year, and make sure that you’re prepared.
- Budget Realistically
Most financial experts tell you that everyone should have a budget – but it’s easy for budgeting to seem like a way of restricting your spending, rather than helping you to spend more successfully. If you want to make the most out of your cash, try setting a budget that dedicates around 30% of your income to spending on the lifestyle that you want. This means that you have left over cash each month to put towards things like eating out with friends. As long as only half of your money goes towards bills, and 20% goes on saving, you’ll be fine.
- Live Simple
If you want to be able to pay for all your bills using just half of your monthly income, then you might have to live simply for a little while. That means choosing a loan for a car that keeps your costs low in the years ahead. You could even opt for a vehicle that isn’t going to cost you as much in fuel as your current car. You might also consider getting a mortgage for a smaller house than you can afford, just so you have more cash left over each month.
- Make Smaller Money Goals
We all know that having goals for our money can make it easier to keep our budgeting on track. However, if your goals feel too huge and far away, then the chances are that you’ll end up feeling daunted by them, rather than ambitious. With that in mind, keep your bigger goals in mind, but set some smaller ones too that you can track more immediately. For instance, you might want to try and save a specific amount of money each week.
- Get a Budgeting Buddy
If you’re worried that you might not reach your targets because you’ll lose track of your motivation along the way, then you could always consider getting some extra help. Having an accountable buddy that you can check in with once a month is a great way to boost your chances of staying on track. Your buddy can be someone in your family, a friend, or just someone you know that’s trying to make a difference to their own financial situation too.
- Make Big Purchases Wisely
There’s going to be a time in all of our lives when we’ll need to think about spending a large amount of money. You might need to buy a new washing machine, or even splash out on a new boiler. However, before you hand over the cash or sign up for the loan, make sure you’ve had enough time to think your options over carefully. Big purchases of more than £200 should come with a three-day thinking period at least. You might need more time to make the right decision on other purchases.
- Consider an All-Cash Diet
Finally, one of the best ways to change your attitude towards money is to start using cash instead of plastic. Actually having to deal with money in the form of notes and coins helps you to remember the value of money. You’ll start to address your spending more carefully than you would if you were just using a credit card.
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