How to Break the Bad Spending Routine and Shopping Wisely

Set long-term goals. Let me see---you are spending big money on such small purchases like the vending machine snacks, sodas or coffee? Well, here is a simple way to stop the habit. It is better to pick what you really want, like an emergency fund, getting out of debt, or a much-needed vacation. Tell yourself always this goal every time you like and feel tempted to spend money on not so necessary things. Then save your money in a safe place, like in a bank. In the long run, you will be able to enjoy your much hard-earned money or you are in a beach somewhere in Hawaii enjoying your vacation. Your habit breaking will be so rewarding.

Pay Cash Only. Avoid using credit cards as much as possible. You tend to overspend in using such cards. Make it a point to always leave your credit cards at home and always prefer to pay cash only or use debit cards for all what you buy.

Get Used to Shopping with a List. Most of us go inside a store with the purpose of shopping for just a few items and we end up with huge bags containing different shopping stuff. Fortunately, this situation can be fixed when you go shopping with a list. It is really up to you on how you will strictly follow the list that you have. Bear in mind to be honest with your list and jot down everything that you really need. If you are tempted to buy something not in the list, just make a note so that you can add it to the next shopping list.

Differentiate between your Needs and Wants. If you see a product, ask yourself first if you really need the product before deciding to make a final purchase. If you really need the product and are within your budget, then proceed and purchase it. However, if it is a want, give it a second even a third thought and decide on the impact if you purchase such product. Your purchases will have an impact in your life; be sincere about it and determine if the product you really want is worth the asking price.

If Possible, Shop with a Basket. It is better to avoid the trap of spending more when you take a cart when you shop. Taking a cart shows you have a lot to buy. Instead, grab a basket or simply just carry your items. The tendency is if you have a cart, you will be tempted to shop and shop as there is so much space to fill in your shopping cart.

Let another Person do the Shopping for you. Yes, this setup applied to me personally. Let someone else shop for you. Just do your shopping list and give it to someone you trust. You will be able to avoid the items that you will shop impulsively in the store if you stay at home.

Start a Cooling Off Period. This will help you a lot especially if you see a big, expensive item or gadget. Start a 24-hour cooling off period and it will give you enough time whether the item is really a need and if you can afford the said gadget. With reputation monitoring made easy, you can even review online about the item you most especially like to purchase. But if after 24 hours, you still think about purchasing it, then go ahead and buy your much-coveted gadget.

Bring Along a Shopping Friend. A shopping friend can be your buddy or a family member who can voice out their opinion if you are about to make a purchase. Make sure to shop only when they can go with you. This tip will be helpful for those who have shopping impulses. If you have a mobile phone with you, I suggest you can still go ahead with your shopping alone, but better call your friend if you are in a middle of the shopping turmoil.

Provide Yourself a Shopping Allowance. Check your budget and make a decision on how much you can allot for your own shopping allowance. Take this amount from your bank account at the start of the week or every month; you can spend it without any guilt feeling. Always remember that if the money is gone, the shopping also stops with no exceptions.

Study your Shopping Selections. Let us say you are in a store and falling in line in the cashier counter already. I suggest you study the items that you are about to buy. Check if you have all the items already that you plan to buy and also inspect if there are items that you should return or maybe purchase it the next time you shop. Continue editing your choices until you make a final decision about them. In that way, you will be able to go out of the store with a clear conscience.

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Some Money Lessons

Money is a choice and an idea. It is what you believe it is and the reality is it is telling you that it is. Money depends on what you think about it. If in your opinion money is fun to gain and you always love to talk about how to get better at it, then that is the role of money plays in your life. If you think that the topic of money is bad or evil and you should not talk about it, then that is the connection that you have with money.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that money is better or superior than another. It really depends on the choice of a person. Better ensure that you don’t automatically accept the money as a true choice as a basis on what you think and believe what money really is for.

If money is not important in your life, it follows that being rich isn’t that important either. Bring financially abundant will be a natural thing to do if the way you handle money productively is that important to you. Every person has the impending probability in shifting their desire towards money.

Money will not make you rich and it has the power to make you both poor and rich. Being poor, rich or middle-class is all just a question of mind-set. The way one handles money is showing the mind-set classification that a person has.

A good case of what I am illustrating is when a person suddenly obtains a big sum of money. If the person who receives that kind of money is poor, he will eventually end up as a poorer person and if he is a rich person, he will end up as a richer person.

Money problems cannot be solved by money alone. That is the reason why I just don’t lend money to anyone because I know that it would do more harm than good for both parties. Our relationship will eventually suffer in the end even if the intention is to help a friend in need. And giving money will not help either. It is better to advice your friend the ways to eliminate money problems in a proactive manner and is a more productive way to help someone also.

Let us face it that each one of us has money problems whether the middle class, the rich, the government, the poor, the elderly, the young, and even companies. It is the issue of no money or the issue of excess money. Bear in mind that we all have different financial situations and such situations have different scales of money problems.

The statement saying “money is the root of all evil” or “the love for money is the root of all evil” seems not to be correct, don’t you think? I think the said statements are not that accurate as compared with “the lack of money is the root of all evil”.

People commit crimes like drug dealing resulting to riots, emotional instability, perilous situations, deprived health care, ignorance because of poor education, and many more. It is a fact that people need to address the major needs in order to live.

What I know is that there is a connection between happiness and money, but money alone cannot order unhappiness or happiness. There are even unhappy rich people, and happy rich people, and happy poor people and unhappy poor people. However, there will be a temporarily feeling that not having any money will make one unhappy and getting more money will make one happy.

Being unhappy is not therefore, relevant compared to the wealth of the rich people and this thinking will make you stop in reaching your goal to be rich. One may choose the happiness level and it is useless to conclude to think that rich people are considered always as unhappy people.

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Paying Post Review

Over the years, blogging had evolved from personal level into huge moneymaking ventures. The idea and the convenience of writing what you like while earning is too good to resist, that’s why sites that offer paid blogging almost always receive a warm welcome among bloggers.

One of such site is PayingPost.com. Their site offers every blogger the great opportunity of monetizing their site. Sponsored review from their advertisers can be found on their site, and it is up to a blogger to choose which ads, products, sites, services or companies to review to fit their blog site. Bloggers are being paid to write their opinions and have the opportunity to earn money.

Advertisers on the other hand may find the site PayingPost.com as a haven to promote and reach millions of customers for the benefit of their businesses. Permanent backlinks on bloggers may prove to be the most effective type of embedding your presence in the World Wide Web where visibility is all that matters. Advertisers may choose the bloggers that fit their kind of business to promote into. They can choose which kind of promotional materials to use, whether it is announcements, press release or just plain review of their product.

Paid posting reviews benefit the advertisers and the bloggers, a relationship that has been proven effective through the years. Reciprocating and supporting each other through PayingPost.com proves to be a potent display of foundation through a better future of making money online.

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Setting Apart your Needs and Wants

Most of us don’t know the difference between our wants and our needs, so the tendency is we tend to live beyond our means. We sometimes feel the urge to buy something we think we need and most often than not pressure from family or friends or even the society tells us to follow our urges. And usually the realization comes too late when we only want and not really need what we already bought and spent for.

The basic examples of needs are clothing, house we live in, and food. These are man’s basic requirements in order for us to live. We need food for energy supplied in our body so that we can work or study effectively. We need a place to sleep in and we need clothes to wear at home, in the office or in school. Other possible basic needs are education, health protection, life insurance, transportation and other forms of leisure and entertainment for life balance. Living without these needs makes life more difficult and not worth living. So many people all over the world are living without these basic needs.

Below are the most basic needs that will help us live comfortably.

Food
Simple, nutritious food cooked at home is a need. Fancier food, usually cooked in a restaurant, is really a want. There are cases in which it is cheaper to buy food rather than cook, especially if you live on your own. The secret is to choose which option will give you nutritious food at the lowest cost.

Clothing
You need clothes that are clean, neat and are suited for your daily activities. You do not need expensive designer clothes.

Housing and Utilities
A room or a house big enough for you and your family, with simple furniture, a basic stove, small TV set and a telephone or a simple cell phone are needs. It is okay to rent a house if that is all you can afford to day. It is still a need to own a simple house eventually. A big house, expensive furniture, a home entertainment system and a sophisticated cell phone are wants.

Transportation
Enough money to be able to go to work and return home is a need. Owning a bicycle, a motorcycle or a car are usually wants. But there are cases in which it will cost you less to own a car than pay for a jeepney, a bus, a taxi or an MRT ride. When this happens, then the vehicle is a need. It is all right to buy it if you can afford it.

Education/Insurance
Education, health insurance and life insurance, especially if you have a family dependent on you, are needs. Higher education and better insurance coverage may fall into the wants category, depending on your status in life. If you wish to achieve more in your profession but cannot afford to enroll in a prestigious school, then you have the option to take short courses. In a very real sense, choosing what course to take and what school to get into is an investment decision. Quality education is not necessarily expensive. The cost of education must be weighed against what you stand to earn out of that investment.

When you acquire insurance, make sure the plan suits your objective and is consistent with your capacity to pay.

Leisure/Travel/Parties
We need a simple recreation to balance our life and help us copy with stress. There are many things we can do for free to keep our minds off our work and our problems. We can go to free public concerts or borrow books, magazines or newspapers and read them for leisure and for education. Many offices allow surfing the internet before and after office hours. You can arrange a gathering with friends by asking them to bring food for sharing, or take your bike to the park to catch the fresh morning breeze. It becomes a want if you start spending for a leisure activity.

Travel and big parties are only for those who already have passive income to spend. You should never use your active income to pay for a vacation trip or for holding a big party.

In the end, always remember that active income can buy only your needs. Passive income can buy both your needs and your wants. Never use your active income to buy your wants.

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