5 Money Habits You Need To Follow Now
I’m a millennial and a minimalist. I know these terms are overrated. I’m all about savings, improve my credit score, and watch my spending. But I didn’t attain that behavior until recently. (Shout-out to marriage life) It’s all started 2 years ago, right before I settle down with my best friend.
But hey, this isn’t about me. This is about you. Yes, you —who does not know that there are some money habits you need to be accustomed to in order to better your finances.
Alright, let’s get to it.
- Track your spending: I use to read innumerable articles on spending, but never really explain how to watch my spending. You need to not only watch your spending but to also track it. It’s easy to do that. The easiest way to go is to use your smartphone (like I do). And for every purchase you make or every bill-pay, write it down. I prefer to round the amount to the nearest zero.
- Use your credit cards wisely and pay them monthly. I have to admit, I wasn’t well educated about credit cards and their useful purpose. I had to learn all that by myself to a point where I become scared of using my credit cards. And I learned it the hard way. You don’t have to be afraid of charging your credit cards—your credit can’t increase if you don’t need any or if you never use it. In other words, you have to show the banks you’re using your cards and pay them monthly. It shows responsibility and ownership. What you do, you make some purchases on your credit cards (not all purchases folks) and pay them out before the due date. I repeat, before the due date.
- Open an online saving account. If you don’t have one, get to it right now. There are few reputable online banks you can use. And hey, I like the high-yield interest ones. You don’t want to get a penny or ten cents at the end of the year for interest on your money. Use an online bank that gives you more to keep your money.
- Invest part of your income. You want your money to make more money right? If you’re not investing some of that income than you’re not smart. And I thought you were! Even it’s $20 a month. Start investing now. I start putting 3% of my income away to a retirement plan recently. I decided to do that after I learn that I should do that. Often times we don’t do the right thing simply because of lack of knowledge or awareness. So now you know that you should invest some of your income. Invest for the days ahead.
- Automate your bills. I always read about automate savings. They don’t usually mention automate billing. I highly recommend that if you have fixed overheads such as rent, phone bills, electricity, and hospital bills. If you know exactly how much they will be every month, just automate them. Make sure you have a separate bank account just for bill-payments ensuring that you have enough money to cover them monthly —because you don’t want to be hit with those overdraft fees.
Remember, when you know better, you are able to do better. It’s time to better your finances folks.
