Developing Good Spending Habits

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How can I develop better spending habits?

Developing Good Spending Habits

Developing good spending habits is something that, alas, many people have to learn the hard way. In our credit-crazy society where instant gratification and delayed consequences rule the day, it is all-too-easy to blow our hard-earned dough on empty purchases. The best way to develop better spending habits is first to just say, "No!"

Say no to zero-percent financing for the first six months. Say no to buy now, pay later deals. Say no to paying with credit cards at the burger joint's drive through. If you don't have the cash on hand to make the purchase, don't make it—at that particular moment. Instead, set a short-term goal and set up a household budget to meet that goal.

Budgets are not about denial. They are about achieving the goals we set--getting the things we want without putting our family finances in jeopardy. For a cheap, easy-to-read, easier-to-use guide to setting up a simple household budgeting, check out "The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Living on a Budget" by Peter J. Sander and Jennifer Basye Sander.

   

Comments

3/9/2008 10:27:07 PM
Myself said:

Can't help but suggest that not everyone actually overspends because they use the 0% offers.
We've used them quite effectively to postpone necessary repair costs to investment properties. In doing so, we minimized interest paid, and more money in our pockets as a result.
Not to mention that since we follow a budget pretty closely year after year, we are now effectively receiving about $675/yr, simply by making purchases that we already were going to make anyway (groceries, gas, cable, phone, etc.).
Then again, we carry $0 in credit card balance any month (aside from what may be borrowed for 6-12 months for investment purposes). I guess it's "idiots" like us who kind of skew the credit card averages, since last year we borrowed over $30,000 in order to receive savings by using the 0%-2.9% offers from CCs. :)




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