Discipline Yourself To Spend Less |
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| By William Blake | ||||
We have to learn to live within our means. This does not mean just having enough money to pay our bills- it means much more, such as having money in a savings account, and emergency money put away just in case. If you live paycheck to paycheck, this is very dangerous, particularly if you have a family. Things happen that you need extra money to pay for- such as a vehicle breaking down, or a child getting sick. If you don't have the money to pay for these things, you will often have to take money from the bills, which is not good. In order to break this vicious cycle, you need to learn how to spend less money each month. Everyone wants to know how to do that. Discipline begins with a plan. A sound financial plan begins with a family budget. The first budget will be the hardest to develop, but once you get the hang of it, it won't be so time-consuming the next time. A budget is only as good as the people using it. Keep yourself accountable to someone your spouse, your friend, your parents. Have a person who will call you out if you are spending too much money. It takes two weeks to make or break a habit. Start at the beginning of a month and try out your budget. If you eat out for lunch at work, why not prepare your lunch for a month. Include lunch items on the grocery list and pack your lunch the night before. Spending less requires changes in other areas besides the finances. Lunches for the kids and yourself can be fixed at night so no one forgets in the morning. Thaw out a meat for dinner in the morning so there is no excuse to eat out. Leave notes on the bathroom mirror and the refrigerator if you have to until you get the hang of the new way of doing things. Get out of the habit of pulling out your checks or credit card whenever someone in your household wants something. You need to decide if that item is necessary. You might find with some searching that you already have that item. Keep your house well organized so you can actually find items, rather than needing to go out and find things you misplace. If you happen to get as lucky as to get a raise, don't increase your spending; treat the extra income as a way to save more money. Do not include the increase in the family budget. Use the extra cash to put into savings. Spending habits don't change overnight. It takes time to change a shopaholic into a frugal fan, but it can be done when you try. |
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