There are plenty of things that we need in order to be happy and fulfilled in life. Our health, some passions and hobbies, and friends and family all rank highly on the list. And then there’s the matter of your finances. If your finances are in a bit of a mess, then you’ll find it difficult to truly enjoy life — it’s one of the top reasons that people are kept awake at night. But if there’s one thing to know, it’s that it’s always possible to improve the areas of life that are bringing us down. And doesn’t the beginning of a new year seem like the best time to do that?
In this blog, we’re going to look at some of the more underrated ways that you can wrestle back control of your finances.
Boost Your Career
An easy way to get your finances under a better level of control is to make sure that you are taking steps to earn more money. To do this, you need to ensure that you are hireable and that people will want you on their team. There are lots of things that can stop you from claiming a better career. You might be facing a legal issue that is preventing you from driving. If that’s the case, you should consider speaking to a hardship license attorney to get this resolved without delay.
Rethink Your Purchases
Want a fast way to improve your finances? Stop buying things. Of course, this is much easier said than done. For starters, we all need to buy things. But we’re not talking about the essentials here. We’re talking about those luxury purchases, the extra ones that we don’t need, but do want. While it’s fine to buy the odd gift for yourself, if it’s becoming too common an occurrence, then it’ll be time to take action. One of the simplest ways to avoid this type of problem is to follow the 72 hour rule. Instead of purchasing something straight away, commit to waiting 72 hours. If you still want it at that stage, then buy it — but in all likelihood, you’ll have realized that you weren’t so interested after all.
Buy At The Right Time
Even with the things that we do have to buy, or are committed to buying as a luxury item, there’s a right and a wrong way to go about it, at least so far as your finances are concerned. There are periods of the year when things are much cheaper, and it’s not always when the store owners tell you it is. Studies have shown that Black Friday Sales aren’t really as great as businesses make out. For a simple formula, follow the ‘is it on- or off-season?” question. If it’s off-season, then you’ll get a much deal than if it’s a time when everyone is looking.
Automate Those Payments
It’s not always the things that we buy that negatively impact our finances. It’s all the extra charges that are thrown on top, and boy, they can be plentiful. Many people get stung by late fees, often for reasons that they don’t fully understand. The best way to avoid being stung by a late fee is to automate the payments. There can always be difficulties when it comes to making a payment (such as, the website goes down), but if the burden of responsibility is on the company to collect, then you’ll avoid any late-fee hassle.
Thirty Minutes a Week
Everything that’s important has to be properly managed. While it’s unlikely to be the most exciting thing in your week, there’s a lot of value in setting aside thirty minutes a week to perform a bit of financial admin. This won’t just make you feel more in control of your money, but will also help to identify any weaknesses that negatively impact your finances (for instance, it’ll highlight if you’re spending more money than you should on avoiding expenses, such as takeout food).
Understand What You’re Signing Up For
There’ll be a time in your life when you need to take out a loan to make a purchase, such as when you’re buying a home or taking a loan out to purchase a car. While getting a loan can be a good option, it’s not as if all loans are created equal. The terms of some could have a long-term negative impact on your finances, yet the institution that is providing the loan is unlikely to highlight this point. There are things you can do to ensure you fully understand what you’re signing up for, however. Amortization tables are a good way to visualize how much you’ll be paying in total and each month/year. If it looks too high, then you’ll know that you’ll need to look for another lender.
Create an Emergency Fund
Most people have enough money to make their regular expenses. But as we go through life, there’s always the chance that an irregular expense will pop up. You never know when you’ll need to make a last-minute trip, or fix your car, or replace a computer or smartphone. Any one of these expenses can severely change the landscape of your finances. That is, unless you have an emergency fund that’ll help you to absorb the financial blow. It’s not always so exciting to put money aside for a hypothetical situation that might never happen, but you’ll be glad for your efforts should you need it at one stage.
Planning For Retirement
You’ll always be plagued by a nagging unease if you know that trouble could be on the horizon. Studies have shown that many people underestimate how much they require for their retirement — and that can cause a big problem once the moment arrives. So in order to get your finances more under your control, look at tackling the retirement question as soon as possible.
Don’t Keep Up With The Jones’
It’s bad enough getting yourself into financial difficulties because of your own doing; it’s even worse to end up there because of other people. Yet that’s just what happens with many people. Rather than being happy with what they’ve got, they compare themselves to what other people have, and then push themselves to the limit trying to get it into their life. While there’s nothing wrong with upgrading your home or car per se, it does become problematic if you’re only doing so to keep up appearances. Everyone’s on their own journey in this life, and don’t forget it!
Step It Up
Many people assume that getting their money situation under control always requires that they do something that’s radically different from what they were doing before. While this can be one approach to take, it’s not the only one — there are other ways to do things. For example, could you be doing just slightly more? As with all things in life, pushing yourself to do 10% more with everything related to your finances is one of the best ways to make a subtle but marked improvement to your money situation.
Don’t Stress
Finally, while adopting a bigger mindset won’t necessarily help you to get your finances under control, it can help to lessen the stress and anxiety that money matters can induce. It’s all too easy to fall into a pit of negative thinking once we get started, and that’s as true for our money situation as it is for anything else. If you’re really struggling with your financial situation even if you’re getting it under control (as in, the thought is causing stress), then remember that your finances do not define you and that one day, once you’ve gotten things under control, the negative thoughts will be just a distant memory.
