Do you always seem to be low on cash? Are you always borrowing money to pay back someone else who you borrowed from? Do you rely on your plastic credit card for everyday expenses? Have you always found it extremely difficult to build up your savings? If you answered yes to those questions, you don’t have an earnings problem, you’ve got a spending problem.
Don’t despair, if you can identify these bad spending habits then you can also fix them. The first step is admitting you have a spending problem. That’s probably why you’re reading this. The next step is to identify your bad habits. The final step is changing or at least controlling your bad habits.
Are you having trouble identifying whether you have a serious spending problem? Look out for these 5 signs and see if any (or all) of them apply to you.
Sales
When you notice that something is on sale. You get excited and you want it. Here’s the big thing though, you want it even though you didn’t want it before it went on sale. There’s nothing wrong with buying something on sale, but only if you genuinely need it and were going to buy it anyway. Purchasing items that are on sale is a way that people with spending problems justify their wild spending habits.
No money down
You are lured by the thought of “no money down” deals. You buy your furniture, TV’s and cars this way. While “no money down” sounds enticing, the real phrase should read “no money right now but a lot more later on”. These deals always make you sign a long term contract to make monthly payments with interest.
Credit cards
You never have cash on you because your bank account is always empty. As soon as you get paid you pay your bills (or as many as you can). So you end up making all your purchases on your credit cards. You even put your groceries and utilities on your credit card.
Emotional spending
When you’re feeling down you make yourself feel better by shopping. This is a sign that shopping is an addiction for you. It’s no different than doing drugs or overeating when you’re sad. Afterward, your problems are still there and you’re now in even deeper debt.
Impulse buying
You live in the moment. You don’t plan ahead. You look at making yourself happy today and don’t think about the future. If you’re shopping and you see something you like, you buy it. The thought of “sleeping on it” until tomorrow is foreign to you. Even if you don’t have money, you’ll put it on your credit card because you “have to have it” right now.
Save Your Cash is an