By: banknerd.ca Posted: April 30, 2011
In this day and age it comes at no surprise that people find it difficult to save, or even decrease their debt. I would go as far as to say that despite knowing the negative outcome of spending outrageously, we still do it. How I see it, the only time we start making the right changes to out finances, are when we either get deep in debt where it is necessary to make the changes, or some kind of financial problem arises to make us understand that if we do not make changes now, then we will have absolutely nothing to change. Ultimately, my point is, unless we hit "rock bottom" so to speak, we will never learn. The only problem that lies with that is we reach a position where it is quite difficult to climb out of. I would not go as far as to say it is an impossible situation, but definitely one that we should avoid if we can. How do I learn good spending/ saving habits without going into debt?Aside from learning from your mistakes, the best way to learn how to spend and save is to watch those closest to you. Ask them for their advice, and what they may have done in their past as they were growing up. For example, my dad at a young age began to instill in me the concept of saving, and how important it was. When he was a young adult, he never though about saving. In fact whatever he earned, he spent at a moments notice. It was not until he realized that the way he was living was not something that would get him through life in the long run. He explained to me that in the end, it is important that you have your fun, but not do it at the expense of your future. I took his life lesson to heart and always save a portion of my income, regardless of what unexpected expenses come up. Well that's why there is an emergency fund, but that's a topic for another day. It may seem trivial, but if you look back on yourself, you may realize that there were plenty of situations you could have avoided either from your own experience or even experienced from your loved ones. It may seem like I am preaching here as if I am perfect, but that is not the case. I have made my own mistakes despite having knowledge of what to do and not to do. In the end sometimes you never really learn unless you face the situation for yourself, but like I said it can be avoided. This is exactly why I love finance blogs; people share their experience and advice to others allowing them to learn from their mistakes, and hopefully avoid making it themselves. It is truly great that someone can go on their computer and find someone willing to share their life lessons with each other despite not knowing them personally. With that said, we need to remember the importance of managing our spending, and making constant deposits into our savings to ensure that we have a well planned out future.
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