There are a lot of people in debt now days. Ranging from old bills to loans. Yet, they still haven’t made money management a required course in the school curriculums.
Personally, I didn’t learn how to manage, let alone understand the functions of money, until a couple of years ago. I learned because I was trying to get my first business started. When in hindsight, I probably should’ve learned first. Then tried to start my business and not at the same time. But hey, shrug you live and you learn, right? No regrets!
Yes, my efforts did include college. But as a result, student loans are about 85% of my debts. And I didn’t even get the chance to take ONE financial course!
Thank God, I finally got the chance to learn! If it wasn’t for the research I did, I probably wouldn’t know half of what I know now. Because school didn’t really teach me much and my parents aren’t even where I am. Although, I did learn about bill management/saving from my step-mother and bargain hurting from my grandmothers. I had to learn things like bookkeeping and investing on my own.
The times we live in and the generation that we are, doesn’t help us at all. Everything is high-class, if you will. Brands, high-tech, and keeping up with the Joneses, or should I say Kardashians?
I mean, I can understand the high-tech aspect. Technology has the power to make life more enjoyable and simpler. But keeping up with the latest fashion and trends, that ain’t my stizz. It’s never been worth it to me. Besides, they aren’t designed with me in mind.
What I’ve learned over these last few years is that: You NEED money for EVERYTHING but you don’t have to SPEND your money ON everything. Meaning, JUST because you WANT it, you DON’T have to BUY it!
How many times have you went into a store for one or two things and came out with more OR, worse , NOT even getting what you went in for. Exactly, too many times to count. But don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.
Here are some tips that have helped me and I’m sure can be useful to you as well.
- Save your change! It adds up!
- I’m not talking about JUST pennies either! Dimes, nickels and quarters as well. Keep it somewhere low, in a place that you don’t look very often and nobody else would think to look either.
- Break your big bills first!
- I know that’s against everything in you, but you’re going to do it eventually anyway! Trust me. Say you have a $100 or $50, once you break it, you have more bills. Put the loose change in your pot, and start putting aside your one dollar bills. (I advise a different place than your change pot. Like an envelope.) Then, start breaking your $20s, $10s and $5s. Once you’ve done that enough times you’ll have a nice saving of change and bills.
- Swipe less, Automate more!
- Many people have moved into debit cards and bank apps. Yet are still having to pay overdrawn fees. My advice is to automate your bills and keep just a little extra in the bank for overage and taxes. But if you’re going to go shopping, withdraw what you want to spend and make a list. You’d be surprised how much you save when you only have enough for exactly what you need.
- Keep receipts, know the flow!
- I advise you to keep them for at least a month or so, if you don’t use them for your taxes. That way you know where your money went. If you keep records of each month, you can track your spending habits. Therefore, you’ll know the average amount for your necessities and know what areas you need to make improvements in. As well as, become familiar with your bad habits. For example: How often you cook vs eat out and how often you buy unnecessary things (and what those things are.)
- Be Intentional! Use “The Process of Elimination”!
- This one, ties everything together! If you know your money and your habits, you can spend your money with intention. I’ll use myself as an example. I know that when I’m about to check out, I re-evaluate my cart. Remove anything I don’t really need and make sure I have exactly what I came in for. I try to take only enough money for the items I need/came in for. That way it’s easier for me to get rid of the non-essentials, to make sure I have enough money at the checkout.
I’m not sure if these tips are helpful or not because I don’t know your life. But I know they’ve worked wonders for myself and a few people I know. So, feel free to at least try them, come back and tell me how they worked or didn’t work for you
REMEMBER: Having money doesn’t make you rich and spending wisely doesn’t make you cheap.
Be The Change! 