Do you feel that no matter what you do, you are always struggling with your money? Like it is never enough. Only if could earn a little more, you would be okay. Right? Wrong! It is not how much you earn but how much you keep. We all want to be rich but there are many things we do, intentionally or lack of it, that pushes us away from achieving financial freedom and keeps us BROKE! Watch my video on my YouTube channel here. Here are my top 3 things to avoid or risk remaining BROKE: -
Avoid frequent eating out/ordering food- There is nothing wrong with eating out. Occasionally. Everyone splurges on something. But if you do the math, excessive eating out is literally throwing away your money down the drain. $15 spent on a meal daily is $450 per month, which is almost $5000 in a year. Another way to look at it is this. If you earn $15 per hour, you will have to work approximately 300 hours in a year to earn back that $5000 spent on food alone. It was a game-changer for us when we decided to look at our spending in terms of the hours that we would have to work. I don't want to work almost 1 hour extra every day to justify eating out. Not to mention that eating out daily can be extremely unhealthy. I am not suggesting that you live in a cave and live like a monk. I am suggesting that eating out or ordering food from a restaurant should be an event that you look forward to instead of your daily routine. For instance, celebrating your anniversary, a friend’s birthday, a promotion at work, a family get-together, your kid’s graduation, a date with your spouse or a loved one, etc. You get the idea. It should be a special occasion. Weekend bingeing is allowed to a certain extent if it is within your budget, reasonably priced, and the numbers work. Do not fall for instant gratification and, on the contrary, embrace delayed gratification. Your future self with thank you!
Avoid buying branded or expensive stuff such as watches, clothes, and shoes- A $30 watch shows the exact same time as a $300 one. A $100 wallet stores the same amount of money as a $1000 one. I know it sounds cliché, but you get the point. Stop equating expensive stuff with quality of life. These two are not always proportional to each other. Stop purchasing the most expensive clothes, shoes, appliances, etc. I used to be the guy who spent $50 on a T-shirt, $70 for a pair of jeans, and upwards of $100 for a pair of shoes without blinking an eye. Not anymore. While there is nothing wrong with buying your favorite brands on special occasions, it shouldn’t be the normal thing to do. Over the past few years, we have consciously decided to buy daily wear including clothes/shoes for work, gym, going out with friends, etc. from Walmart, Target, and similar discount stores. It does mean we have compromised on quality. On the contrary, we have found that generic stuff from Walmart and Target is equally good, if not better, than most branded stuff. And much cheaper which means more money in your pocket. And personally, in my experience, I have noted that clothes purchased from Walmart have lasted longer than the ones that I occasionally purchased from any big brand. Colossal waste of money!
P.S.- STOP TRYING TO IMPRESS PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT. Your friends and family do not care about the price tags. And those who care do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Avoid using the credit card and Practice Delayed Gratification- It simply means that you wait before making a large purchase rather than just putting it on your credit card. If you have saved enough cash, you can still put it on your credit card to gain extra points, but you wouldn’t need to carry a credit card balance because you can pay it off next month with the cash that you had saved. For instance, I waited almost an entire year before purchasing a $700 home projector to save enough cash, get a discount on the Memorial Day sale, and simultaneously practice delayed gratification. The feeling of delayed gratification fills your chest with pride because you feel like you have earned that purchase, you worked hard for it, patiently waited for the right moment, and behaved as a responsible adult instead of being a spoilt kid.
If a $1000 item is on sale for $750, you didn’t save $250. You lost $750 because you probably did not need that item in the first place. But you bought anyway thinking that you were getting a great deal and if you didn’t buy, you would lose out on something great. Let that sink in!
About the author
My name is Shashank Mittal. I am a licensed Realtor and a Physical Therapist in the state of Maryland. I and my wife love traveling. We both are CrossFit enthusiasts. Recently, I have found a passion for writing and sharing my thoughts on travel, real estate, fitness, and personal finance.
You can find me on IG @shashank_realtor and @boardingzonethree.
Follow on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/shashankmittal15.
YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@shashank_realtor
コメント