Being able to manage your personal finances is indeed very crucial during tough economic times. Managing your finances can be easier than you think if you are willing to commit yourself to it. Here are some things you can do to make sure that you have enough money to spend and do not have to borrow unnecessary.
Firstly have a budget for your expenses. Basing on your income, decide the maximum amount your want to spend and how much you want to save. Make a list of your expenses so that you can see your spending habits. Look at the list carefully to see if there are any items you can live without. For example, if coffee is listed and you can go without it, stop spending money on coffee. Try to decide what is necessity and what is luxury. What is necessary should have priority over what is luxury.
Have a good record keeping of your expenses. Keep your receipts and record down on a ledger book or any book what you have spent on for the day so that you can track on your spending habits.
Have a good look at your own personal lifestyle. List down what you like to do. Decide what is the most important activity in your life, and what activities you can forgo. For example, if you can continue living without going to the movies, stop going to the movies so that you can save money for something for important.
See if you have any unhealthy habits that are draining your pocket. For example, if you like smoking or drinking alcohol, try to stop so that you can save a lot of money for something healthier. There are concrete evidence to show that smoking and drinking alcohol can be detrimental to one’s health. If a person is unhealthy, he or she cannot work to earn more money. If you have any problem with you habit, do not be ashamed to admit it and get professional help as soon as possible. You can find you how much money you can save per year if you stop smoking or drinking by multiplying 365 to the amount your spend daily on your cigarettes or drinks.
Do not spend on anything that has no significant value or anything that do not really help you in any way. There may be people who rather go hungry to purchase something else that is of no value to them. For example, if you do not play computer games, do not waste money on a game console.
If you intend to purchase anything which is not really a necessity, make sure that you can easily dispose it off for some money. If the item cannot be easily disposed off, make sure that you can use it to generate some income.
Try not to use anything that can incur a fee even if it may provide some convenience to you. For example, do not simply use your credit card just because it is more convenient than using cash especially for small expenses. In this way, you can save on your credit card fees. Also do not write checks when you can actually use cash as you may have to pay some fees for using checks.