Don’t allow these habits to pull an “April Fool’s” on you! You need to realize there are some daily spending habits which might be causing you to remain in debt or even rack up more without you realizing it. Do not let these fool you into complacency. You have determined you are going to get out of debt, have reassessed your finances and figured out how to tackle your debt to reduce it. You have been following your program for several months but your overall debt does not appear to decrease. It is possible there are some small spending habits you are subconsciously committing which can be sabotaging your efforts. You could be in the habit of committing these acts without realizing how they are negatively impacting on your overall financial picture.
Some of the more common habits include:
- Impulse items – you are in the checkout lane after carefully sticking to your list of needed items when you spot a pack of gum or a candy bar and you automatically add the item to your shopping cart. It’s “only 99¢” and this will tide you over until you get home. This is one of the most difficult habits to break first because it is a habit and second because compared to your overall debt what is 99¢? Unfortunately, if you do this on a regular basis it will add up quickly!
- Buying things you don’t need – just because an item is on a terrific sale to the point where the store is almost giving the item away does not mean you have to buy it! It might only be $1.99 reduced down from $80.00, but do you really need to buy it just to “save money?” Are you really saving money or getting a “great deal” if you don’t need the item? Remember all those $1.99 items add up and this money could be used to pay down some of your debt or building an emergency fund!
- Buying things you already own – very similar to buying things you don’t need is buying a duplicate of what you already own. Even if the item is at a tremendously reduced price buying it is not saving you money but costing you and prolonging the length of time you will be in debt! Besides do you truly need the item if you already have one?
- Not counting the “small things” in your debt reduction plan – “it’s only ¢¢” but all of those “¢¢s” add up quickly! If you find it difficult to break your habit of buying the small things, force yourself to record each purchase you make whether it is 1¢ or more. This will be tedious but well worth the effort once you can see in “black and white” where your money is going! After seeing the total of all your small things you will be able to realize how quickly this adds up and how much faster your overall debt would be reduced if this money was used to pay off your debt.
While these might seem like minor spending habits, even the smallest habit of spending money is still spending money which could be used to pay down your debt!
Submitted by Kathryn Shrader
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