Having money goals is expected for everyone who’s financially savvy. Ambitious money goals or smaller ones, everything always has to start somewhere. Like any endeavor in your life, it begins with taking small steps towards achieving that financial goal.
With the right habits, you’ll begin to understand that saving money doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself. You can still enjoy a few bits and bobs while meeting your savings goal. By taking baby steps, those small habits will become second nature over time. In the long run, financial stability will soon be under your belt.
Let’s jump right into these five small habits on how to become wealthy that you can start applying, so you can save more money:
1. Plan Your Yearly Purchases
One of the factors that may significantly hurt your budget is when there are expenses unaccounted for in your budget you face. These expenses include:
- Giving to donation drives or charity;
- Birthday parties, whether as the host or a guest;
- Fun purchases you might make in the year;
- Friends having a wedding or a baby;
- Home upgrades and maintenance.
Everyone will at least come face-to-face with the reality of these expenses yearly, so plan for it ahead. Don’t just have that spur-of-the-moment decision to splurge on those expenses, not thinking about how it’s going to affect your budget.
At the end of every year, make it a habit to create that annual financial plan, so you’re sure your savings for the year stay intact.
2. Pay With Cash, Not Credit
Having a credit card will always come in handy, especially when it comes to traveling and other emergency expenses. There’s no harm in using one for as long as you remember never to spend anything more than you can afford to pay off in full the following month.
To ensure that you continue to live within your means, make it a habit to start paying with cash for as many purchases as you can. Ditch the credit card. In fact, don’t bring it with you every day. This kind of money habit can avoid the situation of falling into the never-ending cycle of debt.
3. Auto-Transfer Money Into Savings
Technology is making everyone’s lives so much easier nowadays. And you should definitely make use of it as well to make saving more doable for you. The key to never skipping putting amounts into your savings account is for you to auto-transfer money into a separate account that’s solely dedicated to savings.
As an added protection, don’t have an ATM card for that separate savings account. That way, you won’t be tempted to unnecessarily withdraw money simply because it’s easy to do so.
4. Remove All Those Online Shopping Apps
Stop shopping when you’re bored. Online shopping is convenient, but it can also be one of the main reasons why you aren’t able to save money anymore.
To avoid too much online shopping, start removing those apps. Now that the world is slowly getting back to normal and businesses are opening up again, there’s no need to keep those online shopping apps. Shop physically instead as that may give you more control over your purchases. With it, you can avoid midnight impulse shopping decisions due to boredom.
This isn’t to say that you should stop online shopping completely. When you do, better choose the cash on delivery option as well, so you’re not ranking up debt after debt on your credit card.
5. Always Have A Written Budget
Shopping for groceries, back-to-school shopping for the kids, and shopping while you’re on holiday—those are only three out of the many shopping trips you may make in a year. If you aren’t careful, you may wind up spending more than you had initially planned on spending.
You can be practical during those shopping trips by having a written, itemized budget. What are the items you need to buy for your home? Stick only to those on your list. How many boxes of crayons and school supplies do your kids need? Now, you get the picture.
Conclusion
While the majority of human beings around the world may never be as wealthy as the top 1%, everyone can surely learn from their money habits. If you thought they all started big, that notion may not be true. You may be surprised to learn that even the wealthiest abide by simple and easy strategies to save money such as those above. 2022 can be off to a more stable start for you when you make it a point to start applying those easy yet effective money-saving habits.
