If you speak to any financial advisors about their clients who are in trouble, they will tell you that most of them simply spend too much money. Experts like Jeffrey Small Arbor financial advisor for example, will always sit down with their clients and the first thing that they will talk about is how much money they are spending. There are always items which we have to pay out, unavoidable spends like mortgages, rent and other bills, but there are a lot of costs which we have each month, which you can easily trim with some discipline, and here is how to manage some of that overspending.
Knowledge is Power
The first thing that you need to be focusing on here is gaining an insight into exactly what you are spending your money on. This may sound like something that you know, but the reality is that each month we spend money frivolously and we have no idea just how quickly that spending adds up. The best way to do this is to use an app, and then just update it every time that you spend any money. At the end of the money review your app and you will quickly see just how much you have spent on those ‘small’ items.
Make a Savings Plan
The best way to reduce how much money you are spending is to lay your focus towards saving. In doing this you can take that money which you previously would have been spending, and refocus it towards saving for the future. To keep yourself motivated you could picture something which you would like to spend your savings on, and then think about it whenever you are about to spend money on something which you may not need.
The Ten Second Rule
A very effective way to reduce some of that frivolous spending is to employ the ten second rule. This is very simple in fact, and all it means is that you stop for ten seconds before you buy an item. Hold the item in your hand and use those seconds to think about whether or not you really need the item which you are thinking about buying. This may sound silly but you will be stunned by how many items you will put back on the shelf after thinking about it for a little while.
Switch and Save
So many of us just assume that our bills cannot be changed in terms of how much we spend each month, but you may find that you could save a few dollars here and there if you do some comparisons. It may be that you could switch providers and save yourself some money each and every month. Dedicate a day to working out how much you are currently paying and then call around to other providers to see if they are able to offer a better price for you.
These are some easy tips which we can all employ to just save a little bit of money each and every month.