Smart Spender – 5 Simple Tips for Improving Your Spending Habits

in Finance

If you’re having trouble getting from payday to payday with any savings accrued, it can be easy to blame the wage for not being as sizeable as you’d prefer. However, are you doing enough on your end to maximize savings and make the most of what your salary offers? If your emails are full of receipts and invoices, with more piling up each day, it’s time to reflect on how you view spending and what can be done to pull your habits into line. Check out the following five tips for getting your spending habits under control:

Low-Interest Loans

Have you been burned by credit cards in the past? Perhaps that’s why you have these money woes to begin with? Instead of falling into the trap of high interest rates and shady repayment terms, do your research and see whether you qualify for quick cash loans with low interest. Small loans are enough to sort out that unexpected bill or emergency repair without the worries that credit cards can throw your way. Instead of swapping one debt for another, a low-interest small loan will help you get back into the black and stay there.

Uninstall Enabling Apps

Are you looking back through your email account only to find dozens of receipts for services you don’t even remember? Are you taking $20 trips home in a taxi or rideshare because you didn’t want to wait for the train? Excessively ordering takeaway food delivered to your door because you can’t be bothered stocking up on ingredients to cook at home? Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the smartphone apps that are making it too easy to say yes to the above questions? When faced with the task of re-installing the app, hopefully you’ll remember why you deleted it in the first place and take a pass on the pizza for tonight.

Research Your Next Purchase

When in the market for a new item, rather than buying the big name brand, or succumb to seductive marketing and packaging of an otherwise generic product, do some research into what cheaper alternatives are available. Is there a no-name equivalent that does the same job? Alternatively, out of two similarly priced products, does one have a better reputation for quality? Pay attention to where your money’s going and ensure you’re buying smart.

Avoid Your Weaknesses

If you’ve got a spending vice, try taking a month or two away while you sort out your finances. It could be anything from a bookshop to a bar, a cafe to a casino; we’re not judging. Take a vacation from your personal money-pit and trade the behavior for less costly activities. Tell your pushy friend that you’d rather eat in tonight, or enjoy a couple of quiet ales in front of the TV, rather than bow to peer pressure and splurge on yet another expensive night out. Take some time off and give your bank account the chance it deserves to get ahead.

Shopping While Bored?

The equivalent of snacking while you’re bored, shopping when you don’t need to buy anything is a recipe for disaster. If waiting around at the doctor’s office or the train station usually ends in an online vendor’s shopping cart, bring a book or download your favorite game as an app on your smartphone. There are plenty of free ways to whittle away time.

Problematic spending habits can be as hard to break as any other troublesome habit. It takes commitment and a desire to change, yet all will be worthwhile when you start seeing those savings build up.

Like this article? Share with your friends!

We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. Learn more.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Related