Manage Your Spending to Avoid Impulse Spending
Take a moment to answer these questions:
- Do you feel like money burns a hole in your pocket? Ie – you can’t wait to spend it once you have it.
- Are you surprised at your credit card balance when you get the bill monthly?
- Do you have clothes in your closet with tags still on them?
- Do you buy things from infomercials only to get them and not use them?
- Do you buy things because they are on sale and not because you need them?
- Do you often hide the items you purchased from your spouse because you know they wouldn’t approve or you don’t know how to explain this purchase to them?
- Are you hiding credit card bills from your spouse so they can’t see the evidence of your spending spree?
If you answered “yes” to any two of the above questions, you are an impulse spender and need to re-evaluate your spending habits!
You are living for the moment and not thinking about the impact of your actions on your future. Spending like there no tomorrow will eventually affect the quality of your tomorrow. Savings needs to become a priority so your future purchases aren’t deferred because of reckless spending!
Impulse spending affects your wallet, your relationships, and is often a symbol of something lacking within yourself. As Dr. Phil would say, you are getting something out of this bad habit. This means you know it’s wrong but you are getting some type of temporary relief from this bad habit. You need to get to root of why you feel you need to spend this way. What feelings are you covering with the temporary thrill of reckless spending?
To help tackle this problem, take a proactive approach. Develop a budget that helps you track your daily expense. Track what you spend and realize what your needs and wants are. Do you really need that Starbucks Mocha Latte every morning? Or do you like the image it projects when people see you drink it? What else could you do with the $800 you are spending yearly on coffee?
Action Plan:
View saving as a priority
Start putting some money into a savings account. Start small and gradually increase the amount as you get into the saving habit. Can you get the same “high” from watching your savings account grow?
Invest in yourself for a change
The only way that $800 could be viewed as an investment is if you had spent it on stock in Starbucks! Look for ways to invest money so you can actually make your money work for you!
Start today by using Excel templates to start a daily budget. Save a little today so you will have the income to have a better tomorrow!
Instructions on how to download a FREE budget calculator spreadsheet.
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