Enough is Enough – How to Stop Wasting your Income
Budget (Photo credit: Tax Credits)
Who reading this has wasted their pay packet on something ridiculous, delicious and decidedly decadent in the last month? Those who didn’t raise their hand are either very well disciplined or lying through their finger-tips. The question around budgeting is always asked, stomach in throat, met with some trepidation and delayed commitment.
Do people really budget? Nobody can attest to a majority budgeting trend, but a quick Google of reveals 1,170,000,000 search results for a common phrase like how to budget. People WANT to budget, people just like you are searching for new ways to save themselves from squandering their hard earned cash on quick fixes and gratifying extras no one really needs. But how? How can you move beyond hmm’ing and ahh’ing about sacrificing the things you love now, to experience something you’ll always remember later?
Cut the Chaff
Are you a coffee addict? A sushi sweetheart? Do you find it difficult to get through the day without a treat from the bakery down the road? Notice all of these luxuries are food related and there’s a reason for that – we spend too much on buying our lunches, slamming coffees and indulging our sugar rush to truly save any money. Three coffees: $9 – $12. Sushi lunch: $10 – $20. 3PM Life-Lines: $5 – $10. At the most, you might be spending $42.00 on your own food indulgences. Per day. $210 per week. Even if your entire weekly work-time expenditure is half of that, it’s still too much.
Take the Bus
Do you like the comfort and convenience of a Taxi, after a particularly long and challenging day on the grinder? You wouldn’t be the first and certainly won’t be the last. Although, this needs to stop. You’re paying $20 plus for a ride that would cost around $6 on public transport – it might take longer, you can’t laze about and chat on your phone top note, but cutting back on taxi fares will soon see you saving extra dollars that are needed elsewhere. Like paying off your debts.
Shop at a Farmers Market
Supermarket fruit and vegetables are easy to source and immediately available, organised neatly with price sticks and occasionally packaged in such a way that the environment almost quivers with dread. It’s almost clinical and extremely expensive. Supporting and visiting a local farmers or grocers market will ensure you treat your body to wholesome, fresh produce, grown in Australia and save you money later on too.
Consolidate Your Debts
Forming a strategy to save money often steals into the debt control zone, drilling down what is owed against what is coming in. This is where the professionals come in. A budgeting and debt consolidation specialist will explore the ways in which you will retain a small of amount, combining debts and eliminating high interest rates – and its interest rates that commonly suck up spare change. Need more information? Seek all answers here.
Remember, it’s easy to waste money. What are your stumbling blocks on your quest for a swollen savings account? Let us know in the comments.
About the Author: Nitin Mehta is a finance consultant.
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Category: Financial Planning
