We all have bad habits, especially when it comes to money. We have spending triggers that cause us to spend money unnecessarily and we have wants. Breaking bad money habits is essential to sticking to and managing a household budget.
There is a theory that it takes twenty-one days to either break a habit or form a new one. During this thirty-one days series, I challenge you to break a bad money habit you may have.
Do you keep putting off calling your utility providers to reduce your monthly expenses?
Do keep premium channels but only watch seven channels?
Are you underinsured?
Do keep a budget in your head instead of writing it down?
Do you have a vice that is draining your budget (smoking, drinking, gambling, etc)?
These are only a few of the possible bad money habits we can develop over time. Determine what your bad money habit is and work towards breaking it for the next twenty-one days. Habits are not easy to break, especially the bad ones.
You can determine your bad money habits by looking over your budget and determining where you keep spending your money, or you can ask someone close to you what your bad habits are. Once you have determined your habits, take ownership of them, figure out how you can avoid this habit, and set a reminder to yourself to work diligently to stop this habit.
If your bad money habit is a vice, seek help stopping this bad habit. My husband is a smoker and I understand how difficult it is to break a vice, if the vice is something that you truly want to stop, seek help. If the vice is something that you are not ready to let go of yet, pick another bad habit to break first.
Baby steps. Remember that it takes baby steps to reach any goal, including breaking bad habits and developing new, better ones.
If you are really struggling with breaking a bad money habit, replace it with a good money habit. For example if you consistently blow your budget purchasing lattes from Starbucks, replace the habit with purchasing gourmet coffee at the grocery store and brewing your own at home. Or add salt to cheaper coffee to make it taste better (it really does work!).
Whatever your bad habits are, take ownership of them and start working towards letting them today. Your budget will thank you.
What are some bad money habits that you have be able to break in the past?
Check back tomorrow for another post in our 31 Days of Real Life on a Budget series!
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Money controlling you? I know the feeling. My family has been living this real life on a budget for a long time and I can tell you that there's never a perfect season, but with a few changes you can start to reign in your money issues.
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I keep having this same conversation with a friend of mine! I don’t know why people resist being financially responsible when it could free them from the chains of debt and misery! To look in one’s checkbook, see money in the account and think it can be spent on whatever sounds fun despite bills coming due is beyond ludicrous! Those bills then get pushed off until a new paycheck arrives, and things just snowball from there! So Sad.
The biggest bad money habit I have broken is:
IGNORING the problems! I’ve learned to suck it up and move forward and it’s only made our lives easier!
Yes, ignoring the problem never helps solve it! 🙂