Have you ever wondered where all your money went to? Do you often ponder why there is no money in your bank account at the end of each month? Have you found yourself frequently thinking about the invisible holes through which your funds vanish? If yes, then you have landed at the right place. We can tell you exactly the reasons why you are unable to amass money despite earning a decent income.
Here are the top 8 habits that can sneak into your hard-earned income and eat up your funds.
Spending more as your income increases
It is an excellent idea to start keeping a journal for all your income and expenses, whether they are huge or small. This way you will have a much better idea for controlling your finances
There’s no harm in raising your standard of life when you can. However, if you are a person who is constantly looking for ways to spend your money, you will probably find yourself in a difficult situation soon enough. If you continuously raise your expenditure along with any increase in your income (or even without it), it would be hard to have any real savings.
Try to keep your expenditures at a constant level along with exploring ways to increase your income. That’s the route to success!
Focusing on the present without caring about the future
Usually, when people find it hard to tackle a problem, they choose to ignore it. That’s a sure recipe for disaster. The same is the case with your finances. Generally, people focus on their present needs, wishfully thinking that future needs will somehow be met in some way.
You need to take the future into perspective whenever you are making any financial decision. Although it is good to take care of everything in the present, do your best to save for your future.
Read more: 10 Must Read Books To Get Rich
You think it is too early to start saving
When you are young, it is easy to get carried away by the various pleasures money can buy. People often think that right now is too early to start saving or investing. Wrong! It is never too early to save a portion of your income, no matter how low or high your income is!
Start saving today! In fact, experts say that you should save before you spend. Keep aside a portion of whatever money or income you get, and then spend the rest!
Not keeping a record of your money
Make a budget and stick to it! I can say this from my own experience: it makes a huge difference in how you look at your money. In the absence of a budget, it is very easy to get carried away and commit unnecessary expenditures.
We all think that we know where our money comes from and where it ends up. Sadly, that’s not true for most of us. We might be aware of our major expenditures, but the small things usually eat up our finances more than the big ones.
It is an excellent idea to start keeping a journal for all your income and expenses, whether they are huge or small. This way you will have a much better idea for controlling your finances.
Lack of budgeting and/or poor budgeting
You might be documenting everything. Then again, you might be missing the starting point — a budget! Having a realistic and well-documented budget is the foundation of all your financial planning and success.
Make a budget and stick to it! I can say this from my own experience: it makes a huge difference in how you look at your money. In the absence of a budget, it is very easy to get carried away and commit unnecessary expenditures.
Being unclear of your needs, wants, and finances!
In order to save money and build wealth, it is of the utmost important that you absolutely care about the must-haves, good-to-haves, and not-to-haves! You need to prioritize your financial targets. If getting rich is a top priority for you, then you need to sacrifice some of your present pleasures, whether you like it or not.
Be clear about your goals and write them down. Review them at regular intervals to keep yourself on track.
Read more: Want to meet your goals? How about daydreaming!
Ignoring your debt
For a lot of people in today’s world, interest eats up a huge portion of their finances. It’s a painful fact. Still, they don’t know how to get out of this vicious cycle, leaving them with little to no savings.
First of all, make paying your debt a top-of-the-list item on your agenda. Work out a plan for this and stick to it, no matter what. You don’t want to believe that you’re poor, do you?
Constantly upgrading your electronic gadgets
There is no limit to it. While there is no harm in buying gadgets that you actually need, buying only because there is this next version of mobile available in the market will definitely cause you more harm than good.
Take charge of your life today. Do what needs to be done right now. You can do it. Do yourself a favor and start your journey of becoming wealthy today. As William Shatner said, “If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”
This piece was first published on Life Hack.