Managing your finances in a sound way means peace of mind. It also allows you to carry out projects that are important to you while living normally, without depriving yourself and without going into excessive debt.
There are some good habits to take , but also some mistakes that can take a big toll on your finances.
Mistake # 1: living beyond your means
This is one of the most common mistakes made by those who have trouble making ends meet and who are forced to make credits in order to be able to finance their expenses.
Often these people don’t realize that they are living beyond their means.
They often think that their money problems are due to the high cost of living or rising prices.
Which is not the case.
There are people who only buy designer clothes or shoes when they have difficulty paying everyday charges like rent or bills.
To find out if you are making this mistake, all you need to do is analyze your financial situation :
1. By making a budget
2. By analyzing your expenses
3. By tracking your purchasing behaviors to detect those that are making you spend more money than you need to.
Mistake # 2: not keeping track of your finances
Most of those who have money problems don’t keep track of their spending.
They have the impression that it is a waste of time and that it is of no use anyway, when it is precisely the key to controlling your finances.
Especially if you’re having difficulty.
Tracking your finances will allow you to more easily analyze your expenses and effectively manage your budget by having a more accurate view of your money.
Mistake # 3: depending on credit
The credit is indeed a useful and practical way to finance large purchases such as your home or car.
However, if you contract credits too often, know that you will enter a downward spiral from which you will come out with difficulty.
This is the reason why you should resort to credit only in case of absolute need .
For other projects such as travel, work or purchase of equipment for home, prefer the savings and buy only when you can afford it.
Mistake # 4: don’t save
We forget to save . This is still a fairly common mistake. Because it is precisely savings that not only allow us:
• To deal with the unexpected
• But also to finance projects without needing to call on credit.
To fix this error, just start saving today !
Mistake 5: offers with payment in installments
These kinds of very tempting offers are attractive, but calling on them too often can only throw your budget off balance.
Even more if you do not follow it scrupulously every month so that you can plan the monthly payments and know exactly where you are.
If you accumulate offers of this kind, even if they are offered at zero rate, they will end up straining your budget and this can be the start of your financial problems .
Because, we must not forget that when you buy in several times, it is still a credit that you contract.
You are therefore living beyond your means, because if you had the means to pay for the property right away, you would not have used this kind of offer!
Mistake 6: giving in to impulse
It’s also one of the enemies of our finances : the impulse that makes us buy yet another pair of shoes when we don’t really need them.
The impulse also makes us give in to a special and tempting offer of a product that we will ultimately use very little, if not at all.
And it’s the impulse that drives us to fill our bags when we go to buy a coat and come home with a whole wardrobe!
Mistake # 7: giving in to an offer before analyzing it
We often forget to analyze the prices available, whether for:
• the credits
• The bank cards
• Bank changes
• Or the purchase of a household appliance or a computer
Giving in to an offer before comparing prices is a mistake that hurts our finances because we could save money if we spent a little time researching and comparing.
Mistake # 8: not analyzing our spending every year
It also harms our finances, because out of habit or by reflex we renew our insurance with the same institutions without even trying to see if we can get better elsewhere and for less.
Just as we will continue to do our shopping at the same supermarket, whereas if we analyzed a little, we would see that we could save a lot of money if we went to the supermarket next door.
Mistake # 9: owning a credit card without really needing it
As you probably know, a credit card is actually a bank card associated with revolving credit that is among the most expensive credits on the market .
By analyzing your needs, you may find that you could use a different type of credit , less expensive, to finance your occasional projects.
Not to say that having a credit card drives consumption .
This harms finances, especially if you have an ease to spend the money available on the card which is of course higher than what you actually hold.
Mistake # 10: forgetting to plan ahead
Planning ahead saves you money .
Planning ahead will go a long way in helping your finances.
1. Whether for your trips , where planning is essential to reduce your expenses
2. But also for the financing of your projects where planning makes it possible to replace credit with programmed savings
Just like forgetting to do this will hurt your budget balance.
Clean up your personal finances
If you avoid the mistakes that harm your finances and if in addition you adopt good reflexes such as saving, planning, analyzing, comparing, you will quickly see the good you will do for your personal finances .
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