Adopting good financial habits means taking the steps needed to take control of your finances. If this is new to you, start small until you get to where you want to be. It may not be easy initially but don’t give up. Mastering financial management is the key to a wealthy life and future.
How many times have you decided that you were going to get your money right? We generally think about how we handle money when we go through a financial setback or are about to make a major purchase. What if you changed the way you interacted with money, not out of desperation but because it was a priority for you?
Waiting until you have a need for a good credit score or substantial savings is like working backward. The goal is to prepare yourself so that unexpected expenses or opportunities, don’t turn into financial emergencies. We generally think about improving how we interact with money in 3 steps: saving, budgeting and paying down debt. While the first two mean a change in behavior and creating new habits, with consistency they can be mastered. Getting out of debt, or developing a debt-free lifestyle can take a bit more effort.
Because debt for most is a safety net of sorts. When you can’t make ends meet or have a financial crisis, it’s the go-to solution. Once it spirals out of control, it becomes a pay-the-minimum and deal with it later situation. The problem with this thinking is that until you develop a plan to eliminate debt, it doesn’t go away.
