Stop Believing These 4 Lies About Managing Your Money

Regardless of your financial situation, if you’re not honest with yourself about your finances, you may compromise your financial success and peace of mind. People often struggle to successfully manage money because they lack honesty about their spending and saving habits. Read on to learn about four of the most common excuses people use to justify their inability to successfully manage finances. If you have used any of these excuses, it’s time to take a serious look at your financial reality.

I Don’t Have Enough Experience Or Money To Invest

I Have Plenty Of Time To Save For Retirement

It’s easy to believe there is plenty of time to begin saving. Life is busy and retirement is a long way away. It is often challenging to discipline yourself in the present for the benefit of your future self.

Saving for retirement is important at every age. The sooner you begin, the greater the benefits.

I Can Afford My Lifestyle Spending

Most people are highly skilled at rationalizing. Perhaps you think you need trendy clothes to look good at work, to lease a luxury car you could not otherwise afford, or to justify eating out to save time grocery shopping and cooking. If any of these thoughts have crossed your mind, you may consider re-evaluating your spending mindset.

Stop making excuses for what you spend and start asking yourself how these purchases will affect your life. Is this something you really need? Will this help you accomplish your career and financial goals? How much will you have to work to afford the purchase? If you answer no to the first two questions and feel uncomfortable answering the third, this is a purchase you should probably avoid.

I’m Going To Start Keeping A Budget

The road to following a budget truly is paved with good intentions. A traditional budget requires you to track spending that has already happened. This format often fails for many; it does not provide forward-looking information and it can prove incredibly tedious to track every dollar.

• Fixed costs (rent, utilities, groceries, etc.)
• Investing (401K, Roth IRA, etc.)
• Discretionary spending (shopping, dining out, etc)
• Savings (vacations & other high dollar spends)

Allocating your income into these categories will aid your ability to keep spending in check. A spending plan is a road map you can use, regardless of income, to achieve your goals without the need to track every penny.

It’s important to remember you are in control of your finances. The sooner you take an honest look at how you manage your money the less likely you are to sacrifice your future financial health.

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