The problem with money is it is so easy to splurge and so hard to earn. Those leather wallets don’t lie. An hour ago you and your pals were flushed with cash, now you are looking at empty wallets. Once you start to peel off a tenner, the rest can’t wait to follow suit. What went wrong? Nothing unusual. It’s your spending habit that needs to be examined.
People tend to live beyond their paychecks. Proof are their credit card debts piling up crazily because they have to buy a car even gas prices are soaring. They must have a flat TV because the neighbor got one and they should have a vacation because they deserve it.
All these reasonsare conjured out of a hat to justify the expense. When the deeds are done, there’s nothing left for the basic essentials to last them till next payday. There they go hocking their new leather passport cases and jewelry or borrowing money to tide them over until they get a hold of the next paycheck.
How can you keep track of your expenses? It can be dreary to be listing down all your expenses to the last cent but this practice works because it shows where your money went. It’s always alarming to discover you have spent money on stuff you could have done without and when you add these up you are shell-shocked at your over-spendingwhen you can hardly afford it.
Assuming you don’t owe anybody a dime, keep half of your pay out of sight. Try living on the other half and pretend there’s no money coming in. It’s hard but when you struggle with it, you find ways to live on that half by cutting corners and spin]giving up|foregoing[/spin] yourcustomary luxuries, simple these may be. Follow these tips and get the flair of living on half of your wages:
* Shop for clothes only when necessary but hunt for bargains and sales.
* You can’t live without your internet connection? Give up your cable guy.
* Don’t gas up your car. Take the public transport daily.
* Do you smoke? Give it up.
* Love sweets? Give it up.
Turn your thoughts to saving five percent of your paycheck. Stick to it no matter how it hurts. As long as you have a roof over your head, food on the table, and internet, everything’s right with your world and your leather money clip.