Is The Idea Of Spending Getting Too Much For You?

We’ll never quite be in the position to not have to spend money, and because of this, our everyday spending habits, and the ones we plan for financial longevity are possibly the biggest financial burdens we’ll ever have to cope with. Some people invest, but not everyone does, and so that kind of risk doesn’t carry for everyone.

But spending to survive? We all go through that. When you gained independence as a young adult, this was probably one of the biggest shifts you noticed from standing on your own two feet. You’re probably wishing you spent just a little more time at home!

But it doesn’t have to be an impossible task; even when you’ve had no success with a budget plan, there are always ways to cut back and work around the idea of handing over a few pennies every single day of your life! And this is especially true for the modern generation – we have more chances than ever before to save money and make it in new and interesting ways.

Even when you’ve got to pay your commuting ticket, and when you’ve got to grab some lunch, and when you’ve got to pay gas for your car, and then there’s that very tempting fast food drive-thru you pass on your way home… So with all that in mind, here are some of the best ways you can work with your need to spend money every single day, instead of working against it and blaming yourself when debt rolls around from the nearest corner.

Work Out How Much You Can Actually Allocate

When it comes to working out the right kind of budget, having the right calculations and math ability on your side is the best way to start. You can’t just come up with a budget sum with a snap of your fingers, and you’re going to want to make sure you’re putting a little sprinkling of reality into all of your savings goals. After all, you won’t have a few thousand in the account by the end of the year if you don’t even earn enough to comfortably sock away 20% of your paycheck each month!

So now’s your chance to get your bank statements out, open up your internet banking app, and get a piece of paper to note all your income and spending down. And make sure you do it as a holistic picture, and take annual transactions into account rather than monthly ones.

You want to plan a budget with the big picture in mind, and going month by month won’t allow you to plan properly for the end of the year and the year after that. You’ve got big expenses, irregular expenses, and emergency situations to deal with, and you always want to have something there to cope with them.

But a good rule to start yourself off with, before you do any calculations, is to never spend more money than you earn, even if you think you’ve got a good deal on your hands. Even using your credit card one too many times when you know you’ve got a huge revenue bonus coming in can drag your score down and leave you out of pocket!

How Exactly Do You Keep This Lifestyle Up?

It does require a lot of discipline, but when you’ve got your entire livelihood and current lifestyle depending on it, you very quickly get into the habit of never outspending the money you earn. It’s one of the main ways you can avoid living from paycheck to paycheck, which 78% of Americans already claim to do, so it’s a very easy pitfall to slip into. Of course, sometimes it isn’t the fault of the person, but you always need to make sure you’re never making the situation worse.

First of all, you’ve got to know what you value most in life, and what order these top priorities come in. Rent and bills are always going to be top of that list, and then family needs if you have one, and then things like food and clothes, but after that? Maybe it’s the savings account you’re trying to bulk out, maybe it’s the vacation you’ve been saving up for for a few years now, or maybe it’s just a few nights out every now and then.

Get Someone to Help Out

And not just a friend or family member who’s willing to lend you a bit of cash here and there. No, an actual advisor or coach who might just be able to put you on the straight and narrow – a lot of the time we can feel we’re addicted to spending money, and if you’re spending 5 or more dollars on coffee every morning, it might not just be the caffeine your body craves…

But there’s no need to worry, at least not yet. There’s plenty of professionals out there who can help, whether that’s an accountant you turn to when balancing your books gets too much, or a friend of yours who’s a finance student and needs some real-life practice for their degree.

Or you could turn to this page on how to find a financial advisor; the choice is completely yours. Just remember, this could be a very smart decision to look into, and it’s one you shouldn’t gloss over in your journey to break the everyday spending burning.

Spending is a Necessary Evil

Sometimes you spend on things you want, a lot of the time you spend on things you don’t, and almost every day you think about where you could shave off a few pennies to keep your bank account in better condition.

It’s an ongoing battle, and it’s one you feel like you’re losing. But now’s your chance to turn the tide – with tips and tricks like these all across the internet, a bit of research every now and then definitely won’t hurt you!