Have you ever imagined yourself searching for a travel website, scrolling through the options for the vacation places to visit, and purchasing them as soon as you choose the best one? Well, the good thing is they are all part of ‘imagination’ because you’re broke, and there’s no way you can do this.
Honestly, isn’t this the most common problem in the startup world? You have a decent job, you can eat three meals a day, your bills are paid accordingly, but no matter how long you work, how much money you receive, you’re broke.
Believe it or not, you cannot blame anyone but yourself. Yes, the problem is YOU. You might be one of the many people who fall into the trap of these 3 common money mistakes that people make.
And unless you do something about it, you’re going to end up in the exact same situation you’re in for the past several months or years. But if you identify the problem, and learn the solution for each mistake, then your money would be a little bit bulky, and your tummy is a little bit more full.
You Are Succumbing to Lifestyle Inflation
As soon as you start earning extra income, you also begin to spend more money on things you usually don’t buy. You have this weird fallacy that rich people tend to buy these lovely things, and then you add, “If I had the money, then why won’t I stop myself from buying one of those?”
Here’s the thing, rich people are rich because they have enough money. On the other hand, you have just enough money to save for future investment or emergency funds. If you use this extra money to buy whatever you want to purchase, you will no longer have the funds when you need it the most.
What you need is Awareness. There’s this theory called “Hedonic Treadmill” ,where an individual’s level of happiness remains regardless of the situation they’re in whether they face positive and negative life events.
Apply the same thing to your lifestyle. No matter what your life looks like, always remain joyous and satisfied in the small things you own.
You Don’t Save Up
A little uncommon knowledge to people is saving money doesn’t mean buying as many things as you’d like for yourself. It’s literally the opposite of the word, ‘saving.’
As people receive their monthly income, they spend it on unnecessary items they see in the store or expensive food that their peers have recommended. At the end of the day, your money won’t see the sunlight once again.
This is why it’s essential to create a safeguard mechanism that protects you from impulse or spendthrift shopping. Imagine you’re paying all the internet companies, the streaming websites, food deliveries, and thereof, yet you won’t take any portion for yourself.
The secret is to save at least 10% to 15% of your income for yourself, whether for future use or emergency fund. Just keep a portion of the money.
Let’s say you earn around $2,000 a month. Always think that you’re just making $1,700, so you’ll have this mindset that that’s the only amount that you’re gonna have to spend. Cut off your expenses. If people were able to live the minimum lifestyle, you could make it work!
And just a bonus tip, if you’re one of the few people who have debt, or should I say those who went to college, then you can make use of the strategy called “debt snowball method.” It is where you prioritize paying smaller loans before moving towards the ones with bigger those with credits and interests. Doing so can help you get used to paying off all of your debts and get the satisfaction that your debts are slowly moving away from you.
Falling for Consumer Traps
I’d lie if I said I haven’t fallen for any of the consumer’s trap I see on the tv commercials or online ads. This is an incredibly insidious way of creating a mindset that you needed something just because they look exceptionally attractive to you.
When you see a tech-review about this latest gadget online, and the way that they promote it is undeniably tempting. So what you did was go around the brand’s website and immediately click the ‘checkout’ button. You go around all day not thinking about the money you spend, but the excitement of receiving what you order.
Come to think of it, you went your entire week without that latest gadget, and you’re doing pretty fine. Only if you just haven’t watched that tech-video, then everything would still work well for you, plus you’re a hundred(s) dollars richer!
So the best thing you can do is to eliminate this trap while you still have the time. When you see tempting ads, immediately remove them from your recommendations, block the website, or hide the posts. Put this thing to an end! And it’s not just about resisting urges, but actually deleting everything that can disturb your peace.
You might be surprised how learning to avoid succumbing to lifestyle inflation, saving up, and keeping away from the consumer’s trap can help answer your question, ‘Why don’t you have enough money?’.
