Financial Goals

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There’s a divide in the world of personal finance. On one side are the folks who offer advice for scrimping and saving your way to financial success. On the other are the experts who scoff at frugality and champion big wins. I think there’s a place for both.

From my perspective, it’s important to do the small stuff — clipping coupons, conserving electricity — because doing so builds good habits. And, of course, many small actions combine to yield big rewards in the long term. (Plus there’s the fact that a frugal lifestyle costs less to support, which means you can reach financial independence all the sooner!)

On the other hand, the “big wins” camp has a valid point. Too many people focus exclusively on the small stuff because it’s easy to do and doesn’t require any real sacrifice. Yet you improve your monthly cash flow by hundreds of dollars by achieving a single big win, which is likely to be more than you save on all of the thrifty things you do combined.

Big Wins vs. Pyrrhic Victories

The way I see it, there are four types of things you can do to reduce your expenses or boost your income.

  • Difficult (or time-consuming) things that provide small pay-offs. These pyrrhic victories include things like going door-to-door to collect old newspapers in order to earn money or making your own laundry detergent.
  • Easy (or quick) things that provide small pay-offs. Because there are so many of these opportunities, they’re the bread and butter of personal finance. They’re the daily victories with which we’re all familiar. On the income side, they include working overtime and participating in research studies. Small, quick ways to reduce spending include clipping coupons, buying clothes at thrift stores, and making use of the public library.
  • Difficult (or time-consuming) things that provide big pay-offs. Some tasks, such as moving to a cheaper home in a cheaper city, can provide huge rewards, but they take a lot of time and effort to accomplish. These are ongoing projects, and might include selling all of the stuff you’ve collected in your attic or garage. (An example of this is me selling my comic books last year.)
  • Easy (or quick) things that provide big pay-offs. Here’s where you should spend most of your time: Working toward big wins. These include negotiating your salary (which takes minutes, but pays off for decades to come) and reducing your transportation costs (which you can do in a matter of days).

Here’s a diagram to provide a visual representation of what I’m describing:


Some actions provide bigger payoffs than others. And some are easier than others.

Note: For convenience, I’m saying that the things we do fall into one of these four quadrants. In reality, all of this exists on a continuum. Some of the easy actions are easier than others. And each of us will obtain slightly different results.

As you can see, big wins are the best way to improve your financial situation. They’re easy (or quick) to achieve, but provide big rewards. If you want to improve your financial situation, start with these.

How to Achieve Big Wins

Here are some examples of common ways to achieve big wins that will dramatically improve your cash flow:

Housing

Housing is the biggest expense for most Americans — and by a wide margin. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), the typical American household spends 32.8 percent of its income on housing, which includes mortgage (or rent), maintenance, insurance, interest, and utilities.

In an ideal world, you’d slash your housing expense by buying an affordable home in a city with a low cost of living. But while that would provide a huge financial reward, it’s not exactly easy, which means it doesn’t qualify as a “big win” in my world. But there are easier ways to reduce your living expenses.

The biggest (and, admittedly, most difficult) is to move within your current city. Sell your home (or move out of your rental) and choose something more affordable. Think about it: If you’re an average American who spends slightly more than $50,000 per year, $1,408 is going to housing every month. Drop that by 10 percent, and you’ll save almost $150 per month. Drop it by 30 percent, and you’ll save more than $5,000 per year!

Transportation

Transportation is our second-largest expense. We spend an average of $750 per month (17.5 percent of the typical budget) to get around, including vehicle payments, gasoline, insurance, and repairs. I know Americans love their automobiles. They’re loath to let go of them, even in the face of logic. But imagine how much you could save if you could cut your car costs in half! How do you do that?

  • Sell your current car. Replace it with a used vehicle, one that’s fuel efficient. (Side benefit: An older, used vehicle will cost less to insure!)
  • Drive your car only when necessary. When possible, bike or walk to reach your destination. (Side benefit: Increased fitness, which also saves you money!)
  • Make use of public transportation. (Side benefit: Time to read!)

Usually when I recommend people make changes to the way they get around, I’m met with a wall of objections. No worries. I’m used to it. But let me suggest that instead of looking for reasons you can’t do this that you instead look for ways you can. You’ll save yourself buckets of money.

Other expenses

Together, housing and transportation consume half of the average American’s budget. There are enormous opportunities to save if you choose to economize on these two categories. But there are dozens of ways to achieve big wins in other areas too.

The CES reveals that the typical household spent $1,736 on clothing in 2012, $3,556 on health care, $2,605 on entertainment, and $6,599 on food (which doesn’t include the $783 that went toward alcohol and tobacco).

Because each of us is different and we spend in different ways, opportunities for big wins vary from person to person. For example, after tracking my spending for the last half of 2013, I realized that I was spending way too much on travel. This year, I hope to cut my travel costs in half. Doing so would allow me to save money toward other goals, such as, guitar lessons.

Examine your own spending. Where do you have the most room to cut back? How can you do it? Look for big wins — and make them happen.

Income

I’ve written before about the importance of increasing your income. While it’s great to cut your spending, you can only trim your budget so far. Your earning potential, on the other hand, is theoretically unlimited. If you really want to get rich — slowly or otherwise — you’re going to have to make more money.

But as with spending, some methods of boosting your income provide big wins while others don’t. Here are two easy (or quick) ways to make a big difference to the amount of money you make:

  • Take a second job. Earning more in your spare time is a quick way to boost your cash flow, and it’s something that almost anyone can do. Some people don’t like the idea of taking a second job (they feel like it’s beneath them) and others are full of reasons that doing so is impossible (they don’t have time, the job market is tough). But for those who choose this path, a second job involves less risk and planning than most other income-boosting strategies, and it’s likely to cause far less stress than your primary job.
  • Negotiate your salary. One of the best ways to increase your income is at the source: during salary negotiations when you land a job or during a performance review. For many folks, salary negotiations can be awkward or scary. But in his book Negotiating Your Salary, career coach Jack Chapman argues that those few minutes during which you ask for more money in an interview can make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars over your career. Maybe hundreds of thousands. That’s a big win.

There are other ways to supercharge your income — become better educated, start a side business, become a landlord — but they take more time and effort. You can find a second job this week and be earning more toward your financial goals. And you can negotiate a salary increase the next time you sit down for a performance review. Both provide big boosts to your earnings for a minimum of effort.

The Bottom Line

I’m not saying you shouldn’t make your own laundry detergent or collect newspapers to earn money. But I think it’s important to put these activities in their proper place and to realize that you will never get rich doing them. (In fact, they’re a poor way to get out of debt.) It’s better to focus on actions that are easier to complete and/or yield greater rewards.

The biggest barrier between the average person and big wins isn’t ability. It’s psychology. Big wins generally require effort and sacrifice, which can be tough to stomach, especially if you’re just getting started with smart personal finance. But the sooner you understand that these aren’t fringe ideas, the quicker you’ll get out of debt or reach financial independence. The small stuff forms a great basis for behavioral change, but it’s doing the big things that will make you rich.

Source: getrichslowly.org

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From 1945 to 1964, Americans gave birth to seventy-six million children.

These seventy million some-odd children, the Baby Boom generation, are now seventy million adults reaching retirement age, or else getting close enough to retirement age that they’re starting to think through financial goals for their golden years.

For Baby Boomers, what financial goals should be most important, especially during these difficult economic times?

1. Eliminate Any Debts

Getting out of debt is important for all generations, not just Baby Boomers. However, for Baby Boomers, with retirement either looming or already starting, getting out of debt takes on extra importance.

Once you’re out of debt – including paying off the mortgage early – you can really start to enjoy those golden years. You’ll have the extra money you need to travel the way you always dreamed of, or spoil your grandkids for years to come. For all ages, debts are a drag on the finances; for people with fixed incomes, debts are especially dangerous.

2. Increase Retirement Savings

For the generation that once said, “Trust no one over thirty,” it’s hard to imagine that retirement is just around the corner. Maybe it was the culture of youth that kept you from saving for retirement in your twenties and thirties, or maybe it was just plain ignorance. At any rate, it’s never too late to start saving and investing to increase the size of your nest egg. Even if you’ve reached your early fifties, you still have close to fifteen years of working life to save for your retirement.

Financial author Dave Ramsey suggests that you save at least fifteen percent of your gross income towards your retirement. While a Roth 401k and Roth IRA retirement accounts are good places to start, they may not be enough if you started saving for retirement late in the game. If you did start saving late, talk to a financial advisor about more aggressive investing.

3. Get Healthy

What does getting healthy have to do with your financial decisions? If you’ve paid a doctor or hospital bill recently, you’ll realize that your physical health has everything to do with your financial health.

Although Baby Boomers might not want to admit it, their body is starting to get older, and that means more health problems are coming. Unless you want to spend that money you set aside for a trip around the world on medical bills, implement a diet and fitness plan now that you can live with. Considering the uncertainty of healthcare in the United States, who knows what will happen to the availability and expenses associated with medical care by the time you reach retirement? Therefore, now’s the time to lose the weight, quit the smoking, and cut back on any other indulgences that harm your health. An investment in your local gym, hiking club, or yoga studio could be one of the smartest investments a Boomer can make.

4. Create a Retirement Budget and Educate Yourself

Although it may sound like a no-brainer, a surprising two-thirds of people nearing retirement age haven’t yet created a budget for their retirement. Creating a retirement budget, along with a strategy for how you’ll draw from your nest egg, is a critical planning step for your upcoming retirement.

Fidelity recently surveyed recent retirees, asking them what they wish they would have done before retirement. When they asked the question, “What advice would you give to a family member or friend who’s within a year of their retirement?”, the most common answer was to seek guidance from a professional advisor to help with the transition.

Does your employer offer any resources that might help educate you for your upcoming transition? In Fidelity’s survey, 32% of the people who turned to their employer for guidance said they couldn’t have made the transition into retirement without the extra help.

5. Start Dreaming Now

If you’re a Baby Boomer in your late forties, fifties, or sixties, you owe it to yourself and to your family to stop procrastinating and take these financial steps now. Even if retirement hasn’t hit yet, it will come sooner than you think. You want your retirement years to be trouble-free, giving you the freedom to live where you want and how you want, whether that means selling your house and getting an RV to tour the country, or buying that beachfront property or cabin in the mountains.

Source: goodfinancialcents.com

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It seems contradictory, but I love being frugal and I also love spending money. Over the last few years, however, my love of frugality has outweighed my love of spending — and it’s been good for my savings.

Yes, it’s OK to spend money sometimes. If you have it, and you’re comfortable with your present and future finances, by all means, spend away. But a lot of us, including myself, spend when we shouldn’t spend. It’s to be expected, I think, in our consumer culture. I can’t walk down my block without being sold something every minute or so, from billboards to petitioners to window sales.

Anyway, a couple of readers requested an article on how to avoid spending sprees. It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately anyway, so this was a great reason to give the subject more thought and put something together.

Identify the Root of Your Spending

We’ll start with the heavy stuff first because I think it helps put the practical tips into perspective. I recently read Lost and Found by Geenen Roth. Roth and her husband lost their savings in the Bernie Madoff scandal, but her book is mostly about her emotional issues with money. In one chapter, Roth describes an obsession with a pair of chic but expensive eyeglasses she desperately wanted to buy. The obsession is symbolic of her relationship with consumption. In an interview with Time, she explains:

“In the same way that we use food for emotional reasons, we use buying things to fill something that we can’t quite name.”

Roth adds that this can lead to “binge-shopping.” This hit home for me, because I used to spend emotionally, especially when I was younger. Learning to let go of my emotional attachments with spending helped me to avoid these binges.

For Roth, Stuff represented love. For me, Stuff represented acceptance. I recall one binge spree in college particularly well because I was making $10 an hour, and I skipped class to buy a bunch of clothes. This is so insensible, I remember thinking, and it was the first time I realized shopping was emotionally symbolic for me. I felt like, if I got a whole new wardrobe, I might be a different and better person. I’d be more self-assured, less neurotic. (It didn’t work.)

A friend recently told me about her own emotional spending. Like Roth, she equated it to love. “So I learned to love myself differently,” she said. Similarly, during one Christmas shopping spree that set me back quite a bit, I realized I also enjoy buying things for other people to let them know I care. I’ve learned to let them know in other ways.

Again, it’s OK to spend. I had a spendy weekend recently, and while it was a little out of control, I don’t think I was trying to fill a void. I was just having fun. It set my savings back a bit, but it wasn’t totally insensible — I didn’t skip any life duties to go shopping; I didn’t charge anything. And Holly recently discussed spending a lot during her vacation. I didn’t feel like she was trying to fill a void either — she was just enjoying her trip.

I think those instances are different from binge-shopping. To continue Holly’s booze metaphor, those instances are like having one too many beers when you’re out with an old friend. Binge-shopping is like drinking for the sole purpose of getting shit-faced to forget your problems.

Of course, for some people, it’s not that complicated — they just like to buy things. But if shopping has become an uncontrollable issue, it might be because it’s filling some emotional void. Identifying the root of your spending can help curb it.

‘Power Shop’

It seems unlikely now, but my dad used to have a spending problem. He got over it, so I thought I’d ask him how. “I power-shopped,” he said, meaning he’d walk around Best Buy, fill his basket up with Stuff and then put it all back. It seems kind of crazy, but it helped him let go of his desire to consume everything.

Reader Erica does the same thing. In her comment, she wrote:

“I find if I walk around with something in my hand in the store, after a while, I’m over it and I can put it back.”

I guess the idea is that, after “owning” something, you realize the product isn’t going to significantly change your life. It loses any appeal and meaning you might have attached to it. You realize it’s just a thing.

Erica did say this doesn’t always work, though, and my dad warned that it takes a lot of discipline. I imagine it can backfire if you’re good at arguing with yourself.

Focus on Your Goals

This is another thing that worked for my dad, and it also worked for me. Instead of focusing on the things I didn’t have, I focused on my financial goals. I checked my budget daily, read personal finance and frugal living blogs, monitored my goals and watched my net worth rise. The more focused I’ve become with my financial independence, the less obsessed I am with shopping. Yes, I still want things. But I don’t give in as much because giving in gets in the way of my goals.

Wait

Because emotional shopping is usually impulsive, waiting helps you decide whether you really want something or you’re just spending to spend. “I’ve gotten to a point of waiting a week or a month or a year,” my dad told me. “And if I still want or think I need it, then so be it, I will get it. But, usually, it turns out that the impulsive thought has passed.”

Avoid Shopping With Spend-Happy Friends

I have a friend whom I used to love shopping with. Why? Because he always bought something. This made me feel better about my own spending. If I’m wavering, and I see my friend buying something, I don’t know why, but I’m more apt to give in.

Avoid Stores

Especially when I feel vulnerable, I just avoid certain stores. Lots of stores trigger my emotional spending and make me feel like I need to own half of their inventory. It makes sense; companies spend a lot of money and put a lot of effort into appealing to our vulnerabilities.

Take a Field rip Without Your Wallet

This seems contradictory to the previous tip, but it helped me learn to appreciate things without the need to own them. Visit your favorite store without any money. For me, this squelched instant gratification. Without money or credit cards, you have no way to consume, and you’re forced to just accept products for what they are. This helped me appreciate the aesthetic or usefulness of something without forcing myself into the equation. So instead of representing anything significant, the thing is only a thing. It might be beautiful, it might be cool, but that’s all it is.

Another interesting thing about visiting your favorite store without money is that you also become aware of all of the subtle tricks that convince shoppers to spend — the clever advertising, the strategic store layout, the proportionate mannequins — and hopefully, you’ll remember these subtle tricks during a future temptation.

Make a List of Things You Already Have

It sounds a little obsessive, but to curb my temptation, I used to keep a list on my phone of all of the Stuff I’ve spent money on in the past year. While shopping, I’d get that little voice in my head telling me: Hey! You reeeally don’t need this.

It’s easy to ignore that voice. Something tangible, like a list, is harder to ignore.

Also, if there’s something I want, a list helps me compare it to what I already have. I ask myself, “What is it about this new thing that I like?” Usually, I already own something that possesses those qualities.

Just Stop

It’s easier said than done, I know. But when I’m particularly fed up with my desire for Stuff, I just stop. I think about things in perspective. Overspending — what a problem to have! I think about my mom’s awful stories of growing up in poverty. I think about how spoiled overspending must sound to someone who’s really struggling. And I just don’t do it. Guilt probably isn’t the best tool; but instead of the guilt, if you focus on the abundance you already have, whether it’s family, friends, independence, whatever, it can help stop the urge to spend.

I’ve gotten better, but I still have setbacks. When I’m overwhelmed with work and nothing seems to be going my way, I’m especially susceptible to “retail therapy.” And, again, it’s not bad to want things. But when it gets in the way of your well-being, financial independence or life goals, it’s a nasty problem.

Source: getrichslowly.org

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Over the past few months, I’ve occasionally used the “Ask the Readers” feature at Get Rich Slowly to poll people about their budgets and spending habits. So far, I’ve asked folks to share their spending on food, clothes, gifts, and health insurance. Now I want to look at a bigger item in your budget — probably the biggest. Let’s talk about how much you spend on housing.

More than other expenses, your housing costs are influenced by where you live. Some parts of the country — and some parts of the world — are much cheaper to buy a home or to rent an apartment. It’s cheaper to live in Boise, Idaho, for instance, than to live in New York City. Generally, however, there are reasons for these price disparities. Most people are willing to pay more to live in New York than in Boise, and that drives prices higher. It’s a trade-off.

I’m a firm believer in the Balanced Money Formula, which says that if you pay too much for housing, you’ll have less to spend on other wants and needs, and you’ll always feel pinched, as if you can’t afford anything. On the other hand, if you limit your housing expense to below 25% of your take-home pay, you should have lots of breathing room.

For my own part, I pay a little more than I ought to for housing. After a few years of spending $0 per month (because we paid off the mortgage after selling the blog), I’m now paying $950 for my apartment in Portland. That’s 36% of my take-home pay, and a fine example of not practicing what I preach. But I’m able to get away with this because:

  • I’m still saving more than 20% of my income.
  • I have ample emergency savings.
  • The rest of my spending on needs is low.
  • My spending on wants is extremely low, and my relatively high housing expense doesn’t make me feel pinched.

As I mentioned before, this $950/month figure seemed high to me until I started comparing notes with other Portland renters. Yes, there are places that cost less, but they all involve compromises I’m unwilling to make right now. (The biggest compromise? Location. I want to be able to walk almost everywhere, and I can do that from this apartment. That’ll help me save money on auto expenses, which balances things a little.)

What about you? Where do you live and how much do you pay on housing? What percentage of your budget does this represent? Does your housing payment cramp other parts of your life? Or have you intentionally kept it low so that you can afford to spend on other things? If you were to start over again from scratch, what sorts of housing choices would you make? Would you rent? Would you buy? Would you move to another part of the country (or the world)?

Reminder: I’m not one of those who believes that buying a home is always best. Nor do I believe that renting is always best. Either can be a fine choice, but you have to be clear on your financial goals and you have to take into account your local real-estate market. To help make an informed choice, use something like the New York Times rent or buy calculator. In my case, I opted to rent.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not you will find an excuse.” ― Anonymous

As a financial writer, I hear a lot of reasons for why a person can’t pay off debt, save more money, retire, travel more, and so on. While some of these are legitimate reasons and there are people who are stuck in a bad situation, I find that some people are just bad with money.

I honestly do know that some people have a much harder life than others.

But, I’m talking about people who keep justifying poor financial choices with excuses that prevent them from living the life they want.

These are things like why someone “needs” a brand new car or huge house. Choosing those things doesn’t make you bad with money, it’s when you let them be the reason you aren’t able to work towards more important financial goals.

If you want to be better with your money, you’re going to have to stop making excuses and start making better choices.

Just think about the last time you said, “That won’t work for me because (fill in the blank with your excuse here).” Again, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for why some people have financial setbacks, but there are still many people making excuses for why they can’t achieve their goals or why they are bad with money.

So, today’s blog post is going to be a “tough love” article about changing your mindset so you can stop being bad with money.

I want you to start improving your life right now – don’t wait until tomorrow (please, don’t give me that excuse!), don’t wait until next year, and so on.

Start making better financial choices right NOW so that you can change your life for the better.

As you read through this post, I want you to think a lot about the excuses you’ve made in the past and remember that they won’t help you make better financial decisions, they hold you back, and they won’t help you and/or your future at all.

Related content:

 

Have you told yourself any of these reasons for why you’re bad with money?

When was the last time you said:

  • What if I fail? I don’t want to look stupid.
  • That person had an earlier start than me so there’s no point in me even trying.
  • I can’t pay off my debt because _____ (fill in the blank).
  • I need a brand new car or I can’t go to work!
  • I don’t have time to make extra money.
  • That person had everything paid for by their parents, and that’s why they are successful.
  • I deserve and/or need the things I buy.
  • I enjoy my job and can always make money later, so saving for retirement isn’t something I need to do.
  • The city I live in is too expensive to save money. Good luck trying that on the east (or west) coast.
  • It’s too late for me to start saving money.

These are all excuses I’ve personally heard.

Now, I know some of these are legitimate reasons. But, I’m talking about when you use them as excuses that hold you back from reaching your goals.

Think about this quote: “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.” – Anonymous

If something is really important to you, you will find a way to make it happen.

However, if you keep making excuses for poor financial decisions, you are starting a bad habit that can hold you back from ever reaching your financial or life goals.

To put it simply, excuses prevent you from living the life you want. 

You’re giving up before you’ve even begun.

To reach your goals and to stop being bad with money, you’ll have to work hard and stop making excuses. No one has a perfect life, so it’s a waste to make excuses for why something is impossible for you.

Trust me, I used to be very bad with money. I bought clothes I never wore, spent too much money on going out to eat, and so on. I told myself I deserved those things, but really I should have been making better choices with my money.

Now, if I want to do something like that, I plan for each purchase and think about what other things I could be doing with that money.

Sure, it’s nice every now and then to just spend freely, but unless it’s in your budget, this will keep you from reaching your goals.

 

Excuses are a complete waste of your time.

I have a motto in life that I say to myself and my husband quite often.

Will I spend more time thinking about doing something than it would take me to do it?

So many people spend time thinking about excuses for things, dwelling in regret, and constantly living a life of “what-ifs.” But, that’s time and energy you could be using to change your life.

It can be hard, but stepping outside of your comfort zone and challenging yourself can change your life.

Making excuses means that you’re wasting time by not even trying.

Instead of finding reasons for why you shouldn’t pursue a goal, you should spend your time creating a plan to achieve your dream life.

Next time you’re about to make an excuse, remember that being negative and making excuses is just a huge waste of time.

And, you’re better than that!

Related content: 11 Ways You’re Wasting Time And How To Change

 

Don’t use averages as an excuse for why you’re bad with your money.

The average person isn’t doing well financially.

  • 68% live paycheck to paycheck.
  • 26% have no emergency savings.
  • The median amount saved for retirement is less than $60,000.
  • The average household has $7,283 in credit card debt.
  • The average student loan debt is $32,264.

As you can see, the average person has a lot of work to do to get their financial life on track. So, don’t just look at those statistics and think that it’s okay if your finances aren’t doing well.

There are lots of people who fall into those statistics for legitimate reasons.

But, there are others who use those statistics to justify not working harder for the things they want.

If you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck, have money in savings and for retirement, and to take control of your financial situation, you’ll have to start owning up to your mistakes and finding a way to change things for the better.

So, stop using averages as an excuse for why you’re bad with money and start realizing how you can change your life.

So, please Stop Using These Ridiculous Excuses For Not Saving Money.

 

Stop trying to keep up with others.

Often, people are bad with money because they want to keep up with what other people are doing. You see your friend buy a brand new car and think you need one too. You get on Facebook and see someone from high school going on an amazing vacation and think you deserve a vacation.

However, you don’t know anyone else’s financial situation but yours.

Maybe these people went into tons of debt to “afford” these things. Maybe they really can afford them. You don’t know and it doesn’t matter.

The only thing that matters is what’s going on in your life.

If you want to go on vacation, start saving to make it happen. If you want to buy a new car, think about how having a large monthly car payment will affect what you can put towards retirement. 

You don’t deserve something because someone else has it – you deserve it if you can make it happen.

Related content: How To Take Control of Your Life and Stop Making Excuses

 

Find out why you make excuses.

People make excuses for all sorts of reasons. By figuring out why you are constantly finding excuses, you’ll be closer to tackling your problem.

Common reasons for why people make excuses include:

  • Fear of not reaching a goal, failure, hard work, etc.
  • Being scared.
  • A feeling/belief that life is unfair.
  • Not really wanting it or lacking motivation.
  • Lack of confidence.

And more!

A lot of the time, the reason you make excuses for why you are bad with money is deeply rooted in past experiences, a lack of confidence, lack of motivation, and more. But, when you find out what’s holding you back, you’ll be able to move forward in reaching your goals.

 

Believe in yourself.

You might be bad with money now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change your life for the better.

To take control of your life and to be successful with your finances, you need to start believing that you can do it.

Think about what you are good at, think about successes you have had, and see those things as evidence for how you can succeed. Everyone has it in them, but sometimes we forget that we have already overcome things.

Next time you think “That’s not possible for me because of (your excuse),” you should think instead about what you have already accomplished and about how you can make your current goal a reality.

You also NEED to admit that you are making excuses, because until you admit that, you will most likely just continue making them.

Yes, it may be a little difficult to change your mindset in the beginning, but as time passes you’ll realize that your excuses were just a waste of time and energy. Because, if you really want to make a better financial life for yourself, you can find ways to make it a reality.

Reaching your goal will take time, and there might be setbacks (there probably will be – that is only normal!), but your goal for making a better financial future is only impossible if you quit before you get there.

Do you think that a person’s mindset can impact how well they do with money? What excuses have you made in the past?

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Source: makingsenseofcents.com