We have all fallen victim of the cash spurge as soon as we receive our salary or allowance. Once your account gets credited you automatically forget about how you promised yourself to be more prudent with your money. You go to your favorite restaurant for a treat, a night out with the squad, and of course a visit to your shopping cart. And before you know it, you are left with bills and other expenses with not enough money left.
Here are five tips on how to manage your funds.
- Make a budget
Creating a budget will not only save you from over spending, it will allow you know how much extra cash you left and if you need to cut your spending or work to earn extra for you continue to maintain your lifestyle. A budget also helps you prioritize and keep record of where your money goes. So you know if you can afford those shoes, or have to wait till you can actually afford it.
- Choose something to save for
Nobody ever went wrong from saving money. Choose something you need and put some cash aside for it. Your savings could be either weekly or monthly or even daily. You could choose to save for a car, a house, a vacation, or whatever it is you need. You need to remember that no amount of money is too small to start your savings with, and your savings never drop, unlike the value of the other things you’d rather spurge on.
- Track your spending
Keep tabs on where and how your money goes. At the end of the month, calculate the total amount you spend on food, transportation, hangouts, raves and whatnot, and then see how you can cut down these expenses.
- Make your priorities
With money, you just have to know what is important to you. You can’t keep spending excessively on irrelevant things and expect your bills to pay themselves from an empty account. You need to decide if paying your bills and saving for the future is more important to you or splurging on things that won’t matter in the next five years.
- Know your limit
This is a very important tip on managing your funds. Why? Because, cutting your coat according to your size will save you from a lot unwarranted stress. You can’t continue to live way above your means and expect to have spare cash for food let alone savings, if you are living a lifestyle you can’t afford. The funny thing about living above your means, is that at some point, people will see through your facade.
