5 Ways to Change How you Feel about Money
Are you constantly worrying about your finances? Perhaps you’re concerned about how you can get more cash, or save more of your money for a rainy day? Whatever your concerns might be – you’re not alone. There are plenty of people around the world today who suffer with anxiety caused by money. The good news is that you can make a huge difference to your life and your future just by changing your relationship with your finances.
The right attitude can go a long way in many areas of your life. Here, we’re going to look at a few of the things you can do to change how you feel about money and improve your spending habits as a result.
- Stop Accepting Prices as Is
In most parts of the western world, we’ve gotten into the habit of just accepting prices as they’re given to us. We assume that we can’t haggle on the price of things like insurance or utilities. However, the truth is that you can always shop around for a better deal.
Rather than just accepting that you’ve got the best deal on your loan, take some time to check out what kind of offers are available from other providers. There are plenty of comparison websites online that can assist with this, and you could end up saving hundreds or even thousands of pounds as a result. Every time you decide you want to buy something new, or subscribe to a new service, compare prices before you commit.
- Only Use Cash
Credit and debit cards are convenient, but they’re not much good for people who want to avoid spending too much cash. Plastic makes it too easy for you to over-spend and blow your budget. On the other hand, if you’re only using cash, then you can’t go overboard. If you decide you want to buy something that will take you over your budget, you’ll have to go all the way back home to get more money. In that time, you’re more likely to re-think your impulse purchase.
Whenever you’re going out somewhere to spend money, take cash, and leave your plastic at home. Ideally, you should be using cash for everything you don’t pay for over direct debit.
- Make a Bare Bones Budget
If no matter what you do, you can’t seem to stick to your budget, it’s time to go back to the basics. Sit down with a list of all the things that you absolutely have to buy and ask yourself how much money you have left over when you’re done spending on things like food, insurance, and loan repayments. With a bare-bones budget, you can figure out how much you should be spending in certain areas.
Once you’ve got the things you “need” ironed out, start tracking how much of your extra cash you spend on things you want. This will help you to discover the problem areas that are causing your spending issues.
- Make More to Save More
One of the biggest issues that people have with budgeting is that they get frustrated and distressed when they feel as though they’re not reaching their goals quickly enough. If that sounds familiar to you, then it could be time to think about whether you can find ways to make some extra cash elsewhere. For instance, look into selling the belongings that you no longer want or need online. This will give you more extra cash to play with at the end of the month.
If you’re not earning enough from your regular income, then see if there’s any way that you can work extra hours or take on a side job that will add more bulk to your bank account. There are plenty of extra employment options out there today.
- Give yourself some Flexibility
Finally, remember that a budget shouldn’t be something that you despise. It’s there to help you keep your spending on track, but don’t let it take over your life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed because you don’t have enough cash to do anything you enjoy anymore, look at your budget again and see whether you can reassign some cash elsewhere.
You can always change and update your budget if you need to when you decide that it’s not working for you. Just make sure that whatever plan you put in place; you’re always living within your means. This will help to prevent you from getting into dangerous debt.