I overheard a conversation between two people who were discussing a high ticket item one of them had just purchased. One was criticizing the other that he paid too much and should have waited until the price dropped or shopped around for a better price. The other one defended himself saying he didn’t want to miss out and that it wasn’t a big deal because “money comes, money goes”. Of course this made me think how many times people, including myself, have made excuses like this for excessive spending.
Sure money does come and money does go but if more money is going than coming in then there is a problem right there. We all like to have nice things and it doesn’t mean we can’t but frivolous spending doesn’t have a place when you want to create wealth and achieve financial freedom.
When it comes to how people look at money, you can have two extreme sides to the spectrum where one side just wants to hoard money while the other side just wants to spend it like crazy. Somehow there needs to be a balance and that’s where a budget comes into play. If you want to save money then your expenses have to be less than the income you have coming in.
I have found that it is much better to live under your means than beyond your means. You will definitely sleep better at night not having to worry about all the bills you are behind on.
You may be thinking it’s not always easy to maintain self control where money is concerned. It’s true it isn’t easy, but you can manage your finances by sticking with a budget and keeping your expenses lower than the income coming in. You should also include an amount that can be put aside for savings or a rainy day fund. Because when it rains it pours, and you don’t want to be drowning in debt when that happens.
According to personal finance expert Suze Orman, majority of people don’t spend more than one hour in a year planning what to do with the income they are receiving. If you want to save money for investment purposes or to keep as an emergency fund, you have to plan where exactly the money you receive is going to go otherwise you won’t get anywhere…and will end up just like others over their heads brushing it off as “oh well, money comes and goes.”
I know from my own experience that when you are on a tight budget, it’s even harder to stretch that dollar. It doesn’t help either if cost of living is high. The only solution is to try to get more income coming in and keep the spending under control by looking for sales, using coupons and store discount cards. Otherwise for sure money goes and goes, drowning you in a money pit where you desperately need rescuing.
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