Decision Faker: Why Bad Money Habits Plague Your Money-saving Efforts

Saving money isn’t just about making a lot of money and spending little or staying under that umbrella but also translates into curbing your bad money habits and making sure that certain decisions don’t curtail the ultimate goal of living comfortably.

The alternative, of course, is living from paycheck to paycheck, not being able to pay bills on time and certainly not having the will or ability to save money, with that last one being the real downer in this entire discussion.

Sometimes bad habits are hard to spot, such as someone who has been dubbed an emotional spender, for example. Emotional spending means you’re spending for no real reason of need, but rather you’ve focused on spending money based on feeling a certain way. If you get a bonus, you spend it on something that you don’t need, perhaps even lavish and unnecessary.

You can also classify emotional spending or buying just to keep up with trends when, again, you don’t need it. You can look to cell phones, cars and other products that find themselves on that list, such as buying a smart phone that was just released when the one you bought for a few hundred dollars less than a year ago is perfectly fine, and simply doesn’t need to be replaced.

What is another way you’re wasting money and exhibiting bad habits?

How about forgoing saving money when you have a plus side amount leftover versus spending it on something that can wait, such as a vacation? You also can’t overlook money wasted when you are seen by friends and family as someone who has money and saves it, but they’ll continue to ask you for loans. The bigger mistake some make is allowing people to borrow money from them, even though they never get it back or repaid. Being a nice person is one thing, but if you’re loaning out cash and not getting it back, that wouldn’t be considered a smart money move.

Perhaps the worst money move you can make is assuming and using credit cards as if they’re your own. That doesn’t mean the name on the card isn’t yours but rather using credit cards to pay other bills, which is only going to add to debt even though in the short term you’ll be out of a bind as far as paying on time. Credit cards can’t replace cold hard cash, and if you have to use a credit card to pay a bill, you should be focusing on getting rid of the bill rather than this vicious cycle you’re on.

Bad habits can’t help but hold you back until you do with them what needs to be done: quit.