It’s time to control your money so that debt no longer controls you.
Habits are hard to change, and among the hardest are bad money habits but fortunately, change is possible, and it starts with the 8 bad money habits below.
One: Not using a budget. If you find yourself surprised by an empty bank account soon after payday, you aren’t alone. In fact, according to this Gallup poll, only one in three Americans prepare a household budget. That means a majority of us are letting our most potent tool for creating security and building wealth, our income, slip through our fingers.
Let’s face it, it’s easy to spend more than you earn; it’s comfortable and provides instant gratification. Budgeting, on the other hand, requires consistency and discipline. But, when you look deeper, you can see that the debt created by living outside of your means causes stress, suffering and in many cases a reduced quality of life.
When you don’t have a budget, you are more likely to buy impulsively, overspend and incur additional expenses such as overdraft fees. Creating a budget helps you purposefully direct your money towards your financial goals. Therefore, the first thing you must do when breaking your bad money habits is to create a budget. This requires you to be mindful, track your spending, plan for your expenses, and stick to your spending limits.
Two: Using credit cards (or any borrowed money for that matter). As the old adage says, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. When you borrow money, it’s going to cost you money. It may be in the form of interest, or loan fees or more likely, it’s both. If you are anything like the average American, you are probably already in debt. A lot of debt. So, because of this, breaking this bad money habit must take place in two steps.
First, stop. Stop using your credit cards and don’t borrow money. Simply put, if you don’t have the money for it, don’t buy it. Next, pay more than the minimum to get out of the debt you’re in. If you took our advice and made a household budget, you know exactly how much money you can throw at your debt to pay it off. Start with the debt that has the highest interest or the smallest amount owed. Your motivation will skyrocket once you see those balances going down and accounts being paid off.
Three: Paying for convenience. We get it, you’re busy, but that doesn’t mean you should give your hard-earned money away. Some examples of conveniences we pay a high price for are, subscription-based products (think FabFitFun or Blue Apron), online shopping that requires a membership or processing fee (Amazon or buying movie tickets), and the most common convenience, eating out.
Home cooking is becoming a thing of the past at an alarming rate. That’s because people are as pressed for time as they are for money. Trouble is, not cooking at home is affecting your health and hitting your pocketbook. In fact, eating outside the home is costing you at least double and possibly triple the amount of money. Take a look.
Food is the most significant category that can make or break your budget, and for that reason, we encourage you to eat whole foods prepared at home; it’s healthier, and you’ll save a ton.
Four: Not saving your money. This one is straightforward; failing to save for the future and emergencies is a bad idea. When you don’t save for these things, the best outcome you can hope for when they occur is debt. Worse still, if you can’t borrow money (lousy credit?), you could face an additional financial disaster like losing vital assets, such as your car or home.
No matter how little you have to start, just start. Even saving $25 a paycheck while you pay off debt, is beneficial. As you pay down your debt, increase your savings, and you will have a robust emergency fund in no time. And, because you should think beyond emergencies and have a little fun sometimes, start saving towards education and vacation once your emergency fund is sufficiently funded.
Five: Paying your bills late. This bad money habit is self-explanatory. If you pay your bills late, your credit becomes poor. When you have bad credit, economic and life opportunities are vastly reduced, and things become much more expensive. Additionally, if you can’t pay a monthly bill and that debt rolls over into the next month, you create a deficit stack, which becomes much harder to overcome, particularly when you are on a limited budget.
You can stop this bad money habit by listing your expenses and due dates along with your income and the date that you receive it. If you find you have more expenses than income, reduce your expenses or increase your income. Additionally, if your bill is due on a date that is inconvenient, call the company to work out a due date that works for you.
Six: Impulse shopping. It’s easy, it feels good, and companies spend millions of dollars studying ways to make you do it. We are of course talking about impulse buying. While buying that shiny new trinket or delicious beverage makes you happy in the short-term, eventually buyer’s remorse sets in when you see how much you’ve spent. You’re not alone. Would it shock you to learn that on average, during their lifetime, consumers spend $324,000 shopping impulsively? Well, it’s true according to this study.
That’s $5,400 annually that could be put towards debt or into savings. The biggest culprit of impulse buying was by far food, followed by clothing. The best way to break this bad money habit is to make a list before you go shopping and do not stray from the list while shopping. When putting items on the list, ask yourself if it is essential, and if it must be purchased now, or if it can wait. If it is not a necessity now, leave it off the list.
Seven: Being underinsured. Spending responsibly and saving your money are great ways to build security and improve your financial health. Sadly, with the cost of living today, you are still potentially one accident or health crisis away from putting your ability to work in jeopardy and wiping out your savings. That is why it is important to have health insurance and to consider getting a disability insurance policy.
Also, make sure that your existing homeowners/renters insurance and car insurance policies have enough coverage. Buying a life insurance policy with enough coverage for your final expenses is also recommended so that you can safeguard your loved one’s financial health after you’re gone.
Eight: Not investing. With convenient apps like Acorns and Robinhood and others like them, not having enough time or money is no longer an excuse not to invest. Many of these investing apps do not charge trading fees, and you can invest small amounts (like your spare change!). While investing comes with some risk, it’s also the only way your money can generate additional income rather than sitting stagnate.
As investing is a highly personalized decision, we recommend you take some time to learn about different investing strategies and tools and then invest a percentage of your savings in a way that’s right for you. If you are considering investing in the stock market, we recommend checking out these stock market basics.
Reading through our list and defining the areas that need improvement is a great start. Now it’s time to change your mindset, make realistic goals and start taking concrete steps to meet those goals. With consistency, your bad money habits will become good money habits that will transform your life.
As always, we hope you have found this article helpful in your pursuit of financial freedom. Family Financial Education Foundation is here to help you work towards a brighter financial future. You can learn more about us by visiting www.ffef.org or by calling 1-877-789-4172 for a no-obligation, free financial consultation.