Money is something that many of us need to live and survive. However, there is not much education or information about how to use your money wisely. This causes many people to live paycheck to paycheck, and month to month. But there are small things that you can start implementing into your life that could potentially improve your financial situation, and make your money go further. Here are a few of the top ways to be better with your money.
Change Your Mindset Around Money
If you are looking to become better with your money, then one of the first steps you should consider doing is changing your mindset around it. For a lot of people, money is simply used as a way to survive, and predominantly used to cover things such as bills, rent, mortgages, groceries, and other daily essentials. With the little money that is left over, it is not uncommon to see people spend the last parts of their money on creature comforts such as designer clothes that they don't need, take-out food, or expensive and overpriced coffees. Whereas if you can change your mindset to see your money more as a tool to help you create, or grow new opportunities for yourself, then you will soon realize that there are a whole host of other ways in which to spend your money, rather than just on creature comforts.
Save for Costly Holiday Seasons, and Occasions Over Time
Everyone knows how expensive holiday seasons such as Christmas, and Halloween can be. Not to mention there is the addition of special occasions like birthdays, graduations, weddings, and baby showers that happen each year too. When these events come around, generally a lot of people will start to feel the pinch financially, and this is because they will not have planned for these outgoings. An extremely simple way to be better with your money is to make sure that you include a way of including these types of outgoings into your financial routines. It could be as simple as putting a little extra away each month to account for these events or using something such as a christmas saving club card to ensure that you have something put away to help you with that specific time of the year. If you can find a way to save money over time that works for you and helps you prepare for these known events, then you will notice a big difference when they finally come around.
Look Into Investments as Well as Saving
Being better with your money does not necessarily mean that you need to put all of your money away into savings accounts. Instead what you could do is research ways in which you can cleverly invest your money so that it is not only safe, but has the potential to grow, and work for you. An example of a clever investment in the past was through the acquisition of real estate as these assets have exponentially increased in value over the few decades. However, while real estate is still a viable investment option, the financial gains that you will receive are not anywhere near as big as they once were, and acquiring your first property can be challenging due to the costs. Luckily other investment opportunities require a much smaller amount of collateral to begin with such as jewellery, stocks, art, and even vintage vehicles. Whatever you decide to invest in, be sure to have done your due diligence as there is a potential for loss with any investment.
Create an Automated Saving System
Saving money can be a tricky concept for many people, as at the end of the month, and after all the outgoings, a lot of people are left with hardly anything to put away. Sometimes it can feel like even with the more you earn, the more you spend. However, what is potentially happening is that you are unknowingly spending a little bit here, and a little bit there. This all adds up and over the course of a month you might have spent over $200 on things you didn't even need. A smart way to get around this, and to start saving your money is by automating it. If you know the day that you are being paid, set up a payment from your main bank account into a savings account with an amount of money that you think you can survive without, this way you will not even see the money in your main account to spend, and it is likely that by the end of the month, you will be in the same position, except this time you will have saved that money rather than spending it unknowingly.
Set a variety of goals to aim for
Goal setting is used for many different applications, and for good reason. It is much more likely that you will stick to a plan, and fulfill the desired outcome if you set reasonable and achievable goals, versus just trying to spontaneously wing it. When it comes to financial goals you can set several different ones, depending on what it is you are trying to achieve. A few examples could include your desired salary, the amount of money you wish to put into your pension by a certain age, or the amount of money you need to invest into something by a certain date. Regardless of what your aim is with your money, make sure to set a goal for it, and write it down somewhere.
There are of course many other ways in which a person can be better with their money, ranging from correctly budgeting for when they do a weekly food shop, to being more conscious of their energy consumption so as to lower their living costs. However, these options are not always applicable, or viable. So, why not try out one of these top ways to be better with your money instead, and see if they can make a positive change in your life?
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