Budget Concerns

Are you constantly spending more than you had planned? Have you exceeded your budget yet again? Heres help In this articleBurn your credit cardBeware of schemesShop carefully at salesAvoid impulse buyingDont build collectionsDont presume its an investment Burn your credit card Avoid carrying your credit card with you. Its true, ready access to money makes us spend a lot more than we would have without the credit card. So before stepping out of the house, leave your card at home. If you find something you like, you can always go back for it. Chances are high though that you will forget about the item as soon as you get home, with the result that youve stopped yourself from spending money yet again on something you dont need and will probably never use more than a couple of times. Alternatively, substitute your credit card with your debit card, so you can be sure that you are at least not spending money you dont have. Beware of schemes All of us have come across schemes wherein if we buy something for a certain amount, we get something free. A good rule of thumb would be to ask yourself, if you saw your free gift at a shop, would you actually buy it? If you wouldnt, then you dont need it. Yes, you could use it if you had it of course, but, once again, you dont need it. Also, dont think of it as a present you can pass on to someone else. That will only cause you to pile up the junk in your home. Shop carefully at sales Avoid the temptation of splurging at sales. Just because something is available at half price, doesnt mean we buy two of them when we only need one. Most of us shop a lot in the belief that by doing so, we improve our standard of living. But this is not the case. If you buy 3 shirts instead of buying one, your standard of living is not going to improve - not even by a notch. Avoid impulse buying Make a list of things you need, and concentrate on only buying things that are on the list. This will help you avoid impulse buying, which is where most of us spend our hard earned money. Have fewer things, of better quality. Dont build collections Spending contributes mostly to the feel-good factor in the short run. If you buy five tops, chances are that you will really enjoy wearing just one or two of them, while the others will hang mostly unworn in your closet. What a waste! Get out of the habit of buying things to have more. Every time Sapna would go shopping and would see something she liked, she would buy 2-3 of them. Who knows if they would be available again? Now if you are a particular shopper and rarely find something you like, it makes sense, but if you like almost everything every time, there is really no need to buy more than what you need. Just buy what you came for, and when you need another one, you can get it at a later stage. Dont presume its an investment Parents like nothing more than buying multiple encyclopedia volumes for their children. However, spending so much money is more of a waste than an investment as salespeople may want you to believe, because your child is really not going to refer to all those books. Most information is available on the Internet, so it makes sense to invest in a few well-illustrated and colourful encyclopedias on specific topics that are of interest to your child, like perhaps history, or the solar system.

Are you constantly spending more than you had planned? Have you exceeded your budget yet again? Here's help

Burn your credit card

Avoid carrying your credit card with you. It's true, ready access to money makes us spend a lot more than we would have without the credit card. So before stepping out of the house, leave your card at home. If you find something you like, you can always go back for it. Chances are high though that you will forget about the item as soon as you get home, with the result that you've stopped yourself from spending money yet again on something you don't need and will probably never use more than a couple of times. Alternatively, substitute your credit card with your debit card, so you can be sure that you are at least not spending money you don't have.

Beware of schemes

All of us have come across schemes wherein if we buy something for a certain amount, we get something free. A good rule of thumb would be to ask yourself, if you saw your free gift at a shop, would you actually buy it? If you wouldn't, then you don't need it. Yes, you could use it if you had it of course, but, once again, you don't need it. Also, don't think of it as a present you can pass on to someone else. That will only cause you to pile up the junk in your home.

Shop carefully at sales

Avoid the temptation of splurging at sales. Just because something is available at half price, doesn't mean we buy two of them when we only need one. Most of us shop a lot in the belief that by doing so, we improve our standard of living. But this is not the case. If you buy 3 shirts instead of buying one, your standard of living is not going to improve - not even by a notch.

Avoid impulse buying

Make a list of things you need, and concentrate on only buying things that are on the list. This will help you avoid impulse buying, which is where most of us spend our hard earned money. Have fewer things, of better quality.

Don't build collections

Spending contributes mostly to the feel-good factor in the short run. If you buy five tops, chances are that you will really enjoy wearing just one or two of them, while the others will hang mostly unworn in your closet. What a waste! Get out of the habit of buying things to have more. Every time Sapna would go shopping and would see something she liked, she would buy 2-3 of them. Who knows if they would be available again? Now if you are a particular shopper and rarely find something you like, it makes sense, but if you like almost everything every time, there is really no need to buy more than what you need. Just buy what you came for, and when you need another one, you can get it at a later stage.

Don't presume it's an 'investment'

Parents like nothing more than buying multiple encyclopedia volumes for their children. However, spending so much money is more of a waste than an investment as salespeople may want you to believe, because your child is really not going to refer to all those books. Most information is available on the Internet, so it makes sense to invest in a few well-illustrated and colourful encyclopedias on specific topics that are of interest to your child, like perhaps history, or the solar system.