I was going through an article lately, and in the article, it was mentioned that the problem with people is that, when their means of income are reduced, they usually do not reduce their spending to fit the purpose, people always find it hard to cut down their expenses as they often believe it is too difficult to do.
As we continue to live in a particular way, making changes to the things we consider normal and essential may be difficult to practice, in that light, some people see debt acquisition as a completely normal thing to do, which shouldn't be at all. Any effort made to cut down expenses has to be followed by a shift in mindset.
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According to Barker, limiting spending to achieve financial goals, including the payment of debt, should not be considered a sacrifice, it should rather be seen as a necessity required to control our money. How do we get to achieve this;
- Track your spending habits: You need to first understand where the money is going, start from your weekly or monthly spending habit, and you will be very surprised at how much you have spent on some items you even considered irrelivant. Initially, we may have to write down everything we spend in an old-fashioned manner, but because of how stressful th act is, w may not want to pull through with it. However, technology has made things even more easy, everything paid for with your debit or your credit card can be appropriately monitored.
With a simple mobile application, you can go through your history of money spent, and you will be able to determine if you actually needed those things you have been spending on or if there is a way to cut down the spending.
- Stay on a budget: Creating a budget is not much of a big deal, it simply means plan for your money. When your money is planned for, it will be easy to observe and adjust spendings, it makes the entire process easier to manage.
Paying off debt is a major priority, it can be tempting to take money out of it and spend on other areas of your life you consider tempting, but do not do that, as it isn't a smart idea. Three major steps to the crating of a budget are;
Determining your income.
Determine what your fixed monthly bills are.
Then determine what your needs entail; feeding, gas, medical expenses.
- Cancel unnecessary subscriptions: When there is a good inflow of money, we want comfort and sometimes luxurious ones, so we could pay for high streaming services, cell phones subscriptions, wight loss programs amongst others, but when it gets to the point when money becomes insufficient then it is time to ask yourself these three important questions;
- How much do I spend on this luxury?
- Do I really need these things?
- Can I live without these subscriptions?
Just like what I started this post, when your finances is not as flourishing as before, you also need to learn how to limit expenses.
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