Many people fail to realize the importance of disciplined saving while for some who do, they simply failed to apply it to their lives. Disciplined saving is very important, and in fact is a must if you wish to be in control financially and to achieve financially freedom and security.
Disciplined saving is simply controlling your urge to spend on things that you really don’t need and in most cases, keeping yourself from spending too much on your wants. Disciplined saving is the opposite of impulsive spending which hits a lot of people. Impulsive spending will hurt you in more ways that it helps.
However, as much as disciplined saving could help you in a lot of ways, it also has some down sides. There are times that it won’t work on your favor. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of disciplined spending? Read on and find out.
The advantages of disciplined spending far outweighs its disadvantages. Here’s some of the advantages of disciplined spending.
1.) Disciplined spending gives you more control over your finances. A person falls into a financial trap when he can no longer control his finances or worse, he’s being controlled by his finances because it has gone out of hand such as running short of budget, spending too much, and getting into debt. If you control your expenses, you can allocate it in the best possible way and you can keep your self from falling into financial traps.
2.) You exactly know where to put your money if you discipline yourself in spending. Budgeting is very important irregardless of how much do you earn. Many people fail to realize the importance of budgeting and setting the right priorities once they start to earn more than they used to be. The result? They fail to move forward. You have to be smart when it comes to your finances and one very effective way to do it is to have a budget. If you have a budget, you’ve already solved 50% of your financial woes. The remaining 50% is all about sticking to it.
3.) Your savings will increase drastically with disciplined spending. Savings is very important in building your financial foundation and securing yourself financially. If you don’t spend a lot or if you discipline yourself by spending only on the right things, you’ll be efficient in your expenses and be able to save more. People who don’t have discipline in spending rarely save. The result? They can’t secure themselves financially.
Those are just few of the thousand advantages that disciplined spending brings. However, here are its disadvantages as well.
1.) Since disciplined spending requires thinking things over before doing some action, it will require lots of effort and energy on your part. It could be a source of unnecessary stress and may also cause you to lose focus on other things. You may have the tendency to overdo things and making small things a big deal such as petty expenses. If you have to buy a few candies or have a snack, don’t be too strict.
2.) Thinking too much can lead to analysis paralysis and the result? You may fail to get the best deals. If you go to malls or other stores, sometimes they are putting up things for sale and at a much cheaper price. Because its not on your budget for that time, you keep yourself from buying it. The moment you bought it sooner or later, it got back to its original price. You could have saved more if you broke your principle or better yet, used your common sense.
3.) Spending is psychological and so is disciplined spending. If you’re too strict on yourself, you may not enjoy the fun that spending brings such as eating good food, paying for leisure or getting the stuff that appeals to you, etc. Be a little loose and don’t be too tight. If you are, you’re finances will take control over you. Though its in a good way but its still not working in your favor.
The point of disciplined spending is to couple it with common sense and responsibility. Spending brings joy, there’s no doubt about it, but too much spending leads to catastrophic losses while being too strict when it comes to spending leads to an unhappy or dry life. Put everything in moderation and in balance.