In order to provide security and a decent standard of living for you and your family, you need to break bad money habits. They can prevent you from reaching your financial goals and set you up for failure. Some habits, when left unchecked, could leave you stuck in a cycle of financial struggle. Let’s explore these habits and how to break free from them. Let’s look deeper at the ten money habits that can keep you broke.
1. Lack Of Spending Discipline
One of the biggest culprits that keep people broke is a lack of spending discipline. It’s like a leaky bucket—you earn, but the money slips through holes of unnecessary expenses. Consider an individual who splurges on gourmet coffee every morning. What seems like a harmless $5 treat totals up to $150 per month, $1,800 per year. Conversely, brewing coffee at home could cost pennies daily, freeing up funds for more important financial goals. You get several bad spending habits that are not in your budget, and your money will melt away.
2. USING YOUR EMERGENCY FUND FOR NON-EMERGENCIES
Emergencies are those life and death situations that can alter your life forever if you’re unprepared. You can’t protect yourself and your finances if you keep dipping into your emergency fund. Once you start an emergency fund, make regular contributions to it and don’t touch it unless it’s an emergency.
3. You’re Not Paying Yourself First
A typical money trap is paying everyone else—landlords, credit card companies, utility providers—before paying yourself. This habit leaves little for savings or investments. The individual who follows this pattern often lives paycheck to paycheck, struggling to build wealth. Aim to save or invest a portion of your income before you pay your bills. It might be challenging initially, but you’ll thank yourself later. Ultimately, it would be best to work for yourself, not bill collectors. Put your name at the top of your budget to pay first.
This poor spending decision can add up quickly and cause you to run out of money fast. The more you spend on non-essential items, the less money you have left for essential items. No matter how great they sound, avoid all discounts, sales, special offers, and rewards. Before you purchase anything, take a moment or 24 hours to think about how much you need or want this item.
Impulsive buying is a fast track to an empty bank account. The thrill of a sale or the desire for instant gratification can lead to purchases you don’t need or can’t afford. If you’re buying a new pair of shoes every month, consider whether it’s necessary or a want. Instead, save for long-term value or invest that money for a higher return.
4. Selling Your Time For Money Is Your Only Income
If your only income comes from selling your time—a salaried job or hourly work—you’re caught in a cycle that limits your earning potential. There are only 24 hours in a day, after all. Consider building passive income streams, like websites, YouTube channels, or online businesses, which could generate money while you sleep.
Cultivate spending discipline and avoid unnecessary expenses.
Improve your skills and seek opportunities to increase your income.
Show dedication and hard work at your job to boost your earning potential
Acquire financial literacy to understand how to make your money work for you.
Prioritize paying yourself first to build savings and investments.
Curb impulsive buying and focus on long-term value.
Surround yourself with financially secure individuals for positive influence.
Seek passive income opportunities to break free from trading time for money.
5. Lack Of Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is critical. It’s not just about earning and saving money but understanding how to make it work. A person who isn’t financially literate might save, but without investing, they lose the potential for compound growth. Start reading financial books and blogs, and consider speaking with a financial advisor. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to money.
Not keeping a record of your money
Financial literacy is critical. It’s not just about earning and saving money but understanding how to make it work. A person who isn’t financially literate might save, but without investing, they lose the potential for compound growth. Start reading financial books and blogs, and consider speaking with a financial advisor. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to money.
Not keeping a record of your money
This ties in with the concept of budgeting.
If you don’t know where your money goes and how much your bills are, and who they are payable to, how can you possibly keep on top of your finances?
The reality is, many are aware of their major expenditures, but the smaller ones slip through the cracks and end up eating away at our finances. By keeping track of your finances and writing down exactly how much you need to pay, and to who, can help you budget for the rest. Also, by keeping a close eye on your money ensures that if there is fraudulent activity on your account, it's identified and dealt with straight away.
6. NOT SAVING EVEN WHEN YOU CAN AFFORD TO
Failing to prepare for unexpected events is one of the most common bad money habits to break. Paying yourself first by saving money before you spend any money is the best way to protect your finances and reach your goals.
The difference between poor people and self-made millionaires is that the latter make a habit of saving regularly. After all, the more you can save at an early age, the more wealth you’ll accumulate. So whether you’re saving a rainy day fund, for retirement or for a big ticket item, it needs to start today.
After you’ve set a budget and begun to track your spending each month, you should start to put money away each month towards an emergency fund. Most financial experts recommend that you save between three and six months worth of expenses in an emergency fund so that you have something to fall back on should an unexpected bill pop up.
Once you’ve established a budget and stashed away some money for an emergency fund, your next focus should be saving for retirement.
Whether that is salary sacrifice, paying off your mortgage early or investing in property, the long-term goal should be how you plan to pay for your retirement when the time comes.
By automating your savings, you can save more without even thinking about it. Don’t wait to “have more” before you start saving. No matter how tight your current budget is, you can always find ways to trim your expenses.
7. Living beyond your means
It’s a simple bad money habit, and also one that many of us do. If you’ve sat down and worked out a budget, put money for bills and general living costs aside and don’t have anything left for food, you’re living way beyond your means.
Or maybe you live paycheck-to-paycheck, live off credit, continually exceed your budget, buy impulsively or daily to save? Or all of them?
You’re spending more than you earn. Living beyond your means immediately puts your finances at risk by increasing debt, not having enough for bills, and not being able to save any money. This is a fast-track way to being, or staying, poor.
8. Lack Of Earning Power
Next up is a lack of earning power. Sticking to a low-paying job or not seeking opportunities to increase your income means you’re likely to stay broke. It’s a harsh truth, but money often flows towards skills and value. If you’re not improving your skills, you’re not increasing your value, and you’ll find it hard to earn more. A diligent approach to continuous learning and career growth could help escape this vicious cycle. You must raise your value to employers through skills, knowledge, experience, responsibilities, and education to increase your earnings power.
It can be tempting to hike up the budget, or even throw it out the window altogether, when your pay goes up, especially if it's a substantial increase to your income. Sure, there is no harm in raising your standard of life when you can, or treating yourself once in a while, but constantly raising your budget and spending can see you run out of money just as fast, even if your income has risen along with it.
It’s important to keep expenses and spending at a constant level while looking for ways to increase your income or gain a passive income to help boost your overall wealth. Financial success means different things to different people. It might mean achieving millionaire status, owning your own home, or even living debt free.
The trick to financial success is being able to manage your money… and that’s where your good or bad habits can play a vital role. The lesson from all this is to spend less than you earn, save the difference and when you have sufficient saved, start investing.
Planning your future, budgeting for the present and staying on top of your finances will allow anyone with any income to reach the ultimate goal of financial freedom.
Not only will you have a nest egg to fall back on if an unexpected expense comes your way, you can also grow your financial freedom and even build the retirement lifestyle of your dreams.
One of the key ways to build real wealth is to invest…
