No one ever teaches you how to manage your money properly, do they? Even so, there’s usually no one to blame for your money troubles other than yourself. When you’re a grown up, you’re expected to make good decisions with your cash; it’s just what most adults consider “normal”. However, a lot of adults don’t fall into the “normal” category and can, in fact, end up wasting lots of money on rubbish that they don’t want or need. It’s human nature to listen to emotion rather than logic, and that’s why you bought that expensive new coat the other day to add to your collection and then felt really guilty about it (insert relevant “buying rubbish” scenario here). If you often wonder where all your money is disappearing to, you probably need to manage your money better. Here’s how:
Keep All Of Your Receipts
You can either keep all of your receipts, or record everything you buy; and when we say everything, we mean everything! Thing that 30p packet of chewing gum doesn’t matter? Well it does, because you’re going to take a look at your receipts after a month and get a better idea of where all of your money goes. You might be spending too much on food without realising it, or perhaps you spend more money on clothes than you first thought. Wherever you spend your money, you’ll be able to see where you can cut back by adding up your receipts and sorting things into categories. For example; food, clothes, gadgets, beauty products, home accessories, etc.
Then, think about budgeting money for certain things, for example; you’re allowed to spend £100 a month on food but only £50 on clothes (rather than £100 on food and £150 on clothes like you have been doing).
Save Up
If you get an income, you should be saving up some money. Whether you drop a couple of quid into a money box each week or save up a set amount every month, it’s good to have a bit of back up cash behind you. Not for when you spot a fabulous new pair of shoes, but when emergencies crop up. The clutch on your car could break, your phone could get lost or stolen…you get the picture.
Stop Impulse Buying
Impulse buying is one of the biggest problems people today have, and you should try to squash it as fast as you can. It uses up way more of your money than you probably realise, and will more than likely give you little return on value. Make a decision to stop impulse buying, and only go shopping when you are in need of certain items.
Shop Around
If you are in need of something, great, feel free to go and buy it. However; a lot of people fail to shop around to find the best deals, leaving them out of pocket. Stop being lazy and shop around for what you need to save money!
If you need to exert control over your finances, then I hope these tips help you along your way – you’ll feel so much better once you start saving!
