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When you stop overspending money, managing your money becomes super easy. Today you will be seeing exactly how to stop overspending in a practical way and how to manage your money in ways that won’t stress you. But do you even know what it means for you to overspend money? So…
What does it mean to overspend?
One of the major spending problems we have is overspending. And what does it really mean to overspend? To overspend simply means to spend without limits when you are not in a position (financially) to. When you overspend you spend without tracking how much you spend and end up spending above what you have (money) and what you can afford. This comes with a lot of consequences such as becoming short on cash as soon as you get paid or going into debt.
What it means to manage your money
When we hear the word “manage” it feels like we are asked to mise which gives a cheap and poor vibe. In the real sense to manage means to be in control of a situation. Hence, when you know how to manage your money it means you are in control of your finances. So to manage your money means to be in control of it.
5 simple ways to stop overspending your money
You can head over and read a more detailed list of 13 practical ways to stop overspending money. However, here are very easy ways to not overspend your money that you can start working on immediately.
1. Go out with less cash
Always make sure you go out with the amount of money that cannot fuel your spending triggers. Especially when your outing doesn’t require shopping or a pickup that money would be involved. Try to carry little money on you just so you avoid unplanned expenditures. This is one simple way to stop overspending.
2. Save loose change
Saving loose change is an effective way to save money and at the same time help you to stop overspending. The thing about loose change is this, at the end of the day or after grocery shopping for instance you feel you have extra money or more money. You end up spending it on unnecessary things thinking you got more money while in the real sense you don’t. Save that change lying around and it will save you another day.
3. Kiss credit cards goodbye
Kiss credit cards goodbye if you really want to stop spending money. Even without having a spending problem credit cards give you more debts and literally takes you further away from achieving financial freedom. To be honest not using credit cards is one of the fastest ways to be financially stable. I know the system makes it look like a credit card is a lifesaver or a necessity but in the real sense, it is not. It is the opposite of what it appears to be.
4. Stop emotional spending
You know the advice that goes don’t make a decision when angry or when happy. The same goes for spending money. Good news might reach you and the next thing you want to do for the celebration is to spend some cash on things that will make you happy. In those moments of excitement please don’t just start spending money. Celebrate by doing something not related to money. Or when you are bored/sad and the only thing that comes to your mind that will lighten you up must make you spend money. Since we know these are all spending triggers always take a moment to think of another solution than spending money.
5. Try a no-spend challenge
One effective way to cut down your expenses is by trying a no-spend challenge. The challenge is simple, you pick days you don’t spend a penny or you can go a whole week without spending money. Well, that will be after you’ve bought the necessary things you need for existence.
When it comes to money and our finances nothing is easy to do I was about to say a no-spend challenge is easy then I realized it is not easy. It means you become extremely mindful of your expenses and do things the way you usually won’t. It means saying no to your wants that over time have become needs. Doing a no-spend challenge is all about discipline it is not easy but achievable. Read this entire content for you to know what no-spend is all about and to try the one you can do.
Now that you have learned some easy tricks on how to stop overspending, managing your money becomes easy because you are in better control.
5 tricks to manage your money like a pro
This is a summarised list of how to manage your money like a pro. However, here is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to be your best money manager and the basic principles of managing your finances.
1. Automate your savings
In case you are wondering how you go about automating your savings. You need not worry because the process has been made easy all thanks to technology.
Some of the amazing ways are to automate through your bank, by creating a saving account that once your income shows up an amount approved by you will be deducted to your savings account. Or you can use apps, here are the best money-saving automation apps.
2. Do a “be sure” exercise
One way to know you overspend money or have a bad spending habit. is that you always end up having unused things you bought. You bought a thing and it’s still sitting around you haven’t used it. You have no idea when you will use it and have forgotten what you even bought it for in the first place. Well, you definitely have a spending problem however, I’m not here to tell you that. But you might need to consider knowing how to stop overspending money.
The “be sure” exercise as I call it could be given any name but this is how best I can describe it to help you avoid the above spending problems I just mentioned. Though writing a list will help you but it’s kind of limited as most of this wasted shopping doesn’t happen when you plan on shopping. They often happen when you are out, excited and something just caught your attention.
Hence, to be on the safe side take a moment and ask yourself some very important questions. If it is something you need at the moment or it can wait for later. Ask yourself if it’s really important or not? Is it a need or a want? If I make a one-time payment will it affect me or I’ll be fine for the rest of the month? Like ask yourself all the important questions just to “be sure” you won’t end up wasting money.
3. Track your expenditures
A lot of us have no idea how much in total we spend daily. Yes, we know what we do with our money every day. but we don’t know how much we spend by the end of the day. Being able to track your spending is the first and easiest way to start managing your money. As a matter of fact, it is basically what money management is all about. The knowledge of what you do with your money. Here is how you track your spending
How to track your money spending
Here is a simple way to track your spending if you’ve never done it. You are a step closer to managing your finances the right way.
- Have a pen and paper with you before you step out for your activities for the day. It doesn’t matter what activity you are starting with (like going to the gym, dropping kids at school or going to work). Have that pen and paper in your purse.
- Don’t try to be careful with how much you spend. Just spend as you usually would.
- Write down everything you spend money on even if it cost you just a dollar or less. Write down that cup of coffee, the gas you bought, the tip you gave and that ice cream to cool you off. I can’t think of all the many things we spend little money on every day but make sure you write them down with the amount they cost you.
- Don’t be too quick to add up your expenditure list yet. Make it the last thing you do before you go to sleep. Just to make sure you won’t be spending any more money for the day.
Doing this will give you exactly what you spend every day and you would be shocked with the total. It doesn’t stop there. Do this exercise for the entire week. What you spend on Monday won’t be the same as Tuesday and the day after. After a week then you can know your
4. Budget
In simple words making a budget or budgeting is creating a plan for your income and expenses. Are you knowing a good estimate of your income and know exactly what you plan on spending it on. Budgeting helps you manage your money the right way and will definitely help you stop spending money. Budgeting is not a natural thing you just know how to do it. Hence, here is a budgeting guide for beginners.
5. Invest like a pro
Investing like a pro doesn’t mean you have to invest a large amount of money. It simply means to do adequate research before investing your money. Know the risk you take, know if it is the right investment for you and put in money that won’t affect your life.
Making investments is wealth growth and you can’t plan on becoming financially free without growing your income. The first thing you must do when considering investments is to know the types of investments. So you can choose what will work for you. Then lastly is knowing how to make investments. You will need a lot of research in order not to make a mistake. When it comes to making
Conclusion…
When you stop overspending, managing your money becomes extremely easy. Therefore, work on your overspending habits and become in complete control of your finances.
