Changing A Habit Can Save You Money

Personal Finance

Changing A Habit Can Save You Money

24th July 2009

The saying goes it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. How true this is especially when it comes to people and their habits. I learned something valuable in the last 24 hours and how it can save me money in future. Very few of us like the idea of taking stock of our bad habits but they may be costing us money. For example, my brother smokes. He buys a pack every three days and when you add up the dollars he spends in a month, it really comes to quite a sum of money. I have a tendancy of spending money on impulse and that also adds up to several hundreds if not thousands in a month. So I observed my wife Helen yesterday and realized she has a habit I need to adopt that will save me money.

Personal Finance Since I am impulsive, I am also impatient. If I see something, I want it now, I do not have the patience to wait for a sale or to save money for it. I read very fast and generally I am hasty. However, my wife Helen is the opposite. She takes her time to carefully plan and read things and she is not hasty at all. This personality trait has meant Helen has more in savings than I do, as embarassing to admit as that is. She is more liquid than I am in terms of cash because on paper or in assets I have more but when it comes to hard cash, Helen takes the trophy.

The point I am trying to make is that just recognizing that one has a bad habit or a problem and then quantifying that bad habit into dollar value, no doubt shows how our bad habits cost us money at the end of the day. In these difficult times it is important to budget and learn to save as much money as possible. Some of our habits are the cause of our financial misery and as the motto of my blog says Financial Intelligence Is the Key To Financial Success so this means you should be learning all you can about money. Believe it or not our habits define our lifestyle and the lifestyle we lead is also measured by the dollars we have, money.

So as hard as it may be or as unimportant as it may seem, the only way to make a change is to take action. Here is what I advise you to do:

Step 1

Jot down your bad habits

Step 2

Quantify your bad habits into monetary value

Step 3

Calculate how much you would save if you changed or stopped just one of your bad habits

Step 4

Take Action!

"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things." - Eric Butterworth

Comments (12):

Dexter Says: So true I had a gambling problem that nearly cost me everything | 07.24.2009 |

Jenna Says: Thanks Kev this is really true. @Dexter, glad you saved yourself in time | 07.24.2009 |

Percy Says: I too make some hasty decisions without carefully planning and it has cost me in the past. Thanks for the article Kev, you live and you learn! | 07.24.2009 |

Anne Says: Wow you caught me out Kev, I shop on impulse too and usually when I feel down | 07.24.2009 |

Mary Says: Bad habits are hard to get rid of but I like step 4 | 07.24.2009 |

Dylan Says: Now that's a touchy subject most of us would read, agree but then not do anything about. You are right Kev, it's take action or remain stuck in the rut | 07.24.2009 |

Tina Says: Ouch, bad habits are really a touchy subject but I never before thought of putting a price tag to them. Turns out they really are costly | 07.24.2009 |

Viv Says: This is really interesting Kevin | 07.24.2009 |

Saul Says: Difficult as it is it sort of tells the truth of how one wastes money without even know because a habit becomes one's nature | 07.24.2009 |

Olivia Says: It's so good that you learned something from your partner. I guess moral of the story is observing those around us can teach us something about ourselves | 07.24.2009 |

Sarrie Says: This is true it forces one to reflect | 07.24.2009 |

Robin Says: Very good article and the quote is also befitting | 07.24.2009 |

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Changing A Habit Can Save You Money

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