Habits, especially bad habits, are hard to break. It even becomes worse when such habits are bad money habits. Bad money habits can prevent you from reaching your financial goals and set you up for financial failure.
Like every habit, bad habits can be unlearnt and good habits can be learned.
Here are some bad money habits you must break and how to break them before they break you.
SPENDING MORE THAN YOU EARN
One of the most common bad money habits is spending above one’s means. Doing this makes it hard for you to save or build wealth for the future. Your goal should be to spend less than you earn. You can do this by cutting down on your expenses, making a budget, and ensuring you stick to it.
NOT HAVING A BUDGET AT ALL
Do you want to take control of your finances and you do not have a budget? Is your financial health a joke to you? A budget shows your monthly income and expenses and helps you track what exactly you are spending money on. Now, having a budget is one thing, sticking to it is another. It takes a lot of discipline to consistently stick to a budget but the reward is usually worth it in the end.
MAKING IMPULSE PURCHASES
Have you ever been on Amazon website browsing through to get an essential need, then you stumble on a pair of Jimmy Choo flip-flops, you know you don’t need them, yet you cannot resist the urge to purchase them? One way to overcome this is to create a budget and stick to it. Also, when going to shop in a mall or supermarket, go with cash instead of your card, that way, you can resist the urge to get things on impulse.
NOT SAVING OR INVESTING
As the saying goes – Old habits die-hard, and one of such old habits is not saving or investing. One of the reasons people fail to save or invest is because they think they earn too little to save. The reality is that no amount is too little to save or invest. Fortunately, at Zimvest, we have savings and investment products that can help you build a healthy financial future.
TAKING OUT FROM YOUR SAVINGS OR EMERGENCY FUND
A lot of people are guilty of taking money out of their savings or emergency funds. If you find yourself in this category, it is a bad habit and you need to stop it NOW!
It might help to categorize your savings so you know what exactly you are saving towards.
The journey to financial health is not always an easy one.
On some days, you could find yourself slipping back to those bad money habits but, don’t give up.
With consistency, discipline, perseverance, and persistence, you would imbibe good money habits and they will become a part of you.
