We all know that money doesn’t grow on trees, so taking care of your money is instrumentally important to the overall status of your finances. The truth is, however, that most of us are making mistakes with our money without even realizing it. Even those of us with the best of intentions for our financial picture are probably either doing something wrong or not doing something that could help to improve our finances. In this piece we will look at four common money mistakes that people make and how to fix them. If you find the information helpful, why not visit Discountrue's blog section for more?
Not using coupons
Coupons are free money. Period. Not using coupons is like throwing free money in the garbage – literally. Now, we aren’t talking about using coupons just because you find them and buying things that you would not otherwise purchase - that’s just plain wasteful. However, looking for and collecting coupons for items that you use regularly is a very wise money decision. Common items that everyone can use coupons for are hygiene and household products. These types of coupons that you can see in your Sunday paper and various coupon codes you can find at Discountrue should become a second nature to you whenever you buy anything.
Going on auto-debit auto-pilot
Technology is a wonderful thing. It makes our lives easier and helps to keep us on track with bill payments and more. However, setting up auto-debits for all of your accounts can lead to less awareness of your monthly expenditures. If your Starbucks card automatically reloads every time you drop below a certain threshold, you may not realize that you just reloaded your Starbucks card 5 times this month and may want to cut back on the latte runs, not to mention the caffeine. Try to use auto-debit features for bills that are set and do not change. Otherwise, set yourself up for paperless billing, but take care of the payment process yourself. The physical act of paying or reloading a card can help to keep you more aware of your cash flow, encouraging frugality and heading off billing errors.
Not taking advantage of employee benefits
Did you know that many employers will reimburse part or all of your monthly gym membership? What about help you pull out pre-tax dollars from your paycheck for medical or childcare costs? Many employers offer money-saving programs to their employees that go unused every year. Take time out to review with your HR department the types of benefits that you are eligible for and let no savings go to waste!
Not saving
This is by far the largest money mistake that people make. Not having a savings fund can be disastrous. You should be working towards having at least 3 months living expenses set aside at all times. That number can seem daunting to people just starting out, but if you don’t start saving, you’ll definitely never reach it. Start out by having a small portion of each paycheck immediately be directed to a savings account. Start with $25 a check if it’s all you can manage. You’ll adjust to accommodate the difference and then slowly increase the amount you’re saving. Doing this incrementally will make the redirected income less impactful on your day to day budget, but the savings will stack up!
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