One of the biggest misperceptions that we have is that the more we earn, the more we’ll have.
Sadly, this isn’t always right and it ends up being “the more we earn, the more we spend”.
It’s a little trick that our mind often plays on us that when we have “extra”, we can afford it, or you can reward yourself for working harder or something similar. Have you heard this before?
We tend to spend a lot of time figuring out how we can earn more but there are two sides to this equation – addition and subtraction. And in my experience, the greatest change comes when we focus on the subtraction side.
Don’t get me wrong, we need to make sure the addition side is strong, but when you look at what you’re spending and become mindful of what’s going out of your account, you can really make some changes.
If you’re saving for a home, a new car, a holiday, a renovation, an investment property – anything, a great place to start is to look at your spending patterns.
Do you know where your money is going?
How long since you’ve done an analysis of spending?
Is it time to make a change?
If it is, there are some simple things you can do:
- Become mindful of your spending.
- Record and categorise your last month (or three) of spending and set a budget for the next three months and live on that budget.
- Take your credit card out of your wallet and leave it in a drawer at home.
- Withdraw your weekly allowance of spending money (including groceries) and pay for everything in cash.
- Find other ways to reward yourself for your hard work other than buying things and spending money.
- Sit down with your partner (or yourself) and take equal ownership of your financial position, set your goals and review them monthly.
So, it’s up to you.
Will you keep focusing on earning more?
Or will you focus on spending less?
Imagine if you did both…
