Can you make up for years of bad money habits?
Even if you can’t, you can still substantially improve your financial health through lifestyle changes.
In your 20s, maybe you sometimes chose to spend all your money on clothes, jewelry over saving money and investing money. Perhaps there were too many days when you used your credit cards to pay for stuff instead of using cash.
You’re now repenting for the sins of the past, but the question is, can you undo the damage? Can you realistically start saving money now to have enough money saved up, let’s say, for retirement? Can you realistically reach the millionaire status?
While it would have been more advantageous for you had you started earlier, it’s quite possible to reverse some of the harm you did to your financial health in your younger years.
The goal is not to reverse those bad money habits, but to replace them with good money habits.
Lifestyle modifications, such as learning how to save money, paying your bills on time are examples of good money habits and can improve your financial health.
So how can you make up for years of bad money habits? Through tried and true money tips that you’ve, no doubt, heard about many times before.
Related Articles on best money saving tips to help you save more money:
- 5 Best Money Saving Tips I Wish I Knew In My 20s
- The 8 Dumbest Money Mistakes People Make
- 10 Best Ways to Save Money in 2018
- 9 Reasons Why You Will Never Be Rich
- 8 Financial Tips I would Give to My 20-year old Self
- How To Grow Your Savings Faster With Online Savings Accounts
How To Make Up For Years of Bad Money Habits:
Start saving money. You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating. If don’t have any savings now, take steps to start saving money now.
Even if you have very little to save, start saving now. One of the worst excuses I hear from people all the time is that they don’t have much to save. With this attitude, they will never save anything. To me not saving anything at all and living paycheck to paycheck, is just being irresponsible.
Watch what you spend money on. Tracking your day-to-day or month-to-month spending is one of the best ways to make up for your years of bad money habits.
Failing to track where your cash is going is what gets you into trouble. It’s easy to lose track of $3.5 on a caffe latte, or $5.50 on a Uber pool ride. These everyday little things end up costing more over time.
Tip: You can talk to a financial advisor who can review your finances and help you reach your goals (whether it is making more money, paying off debt, investing, buying a house, planning for retirement, saving, etc). Find one who meets your needs with SmartAsset’s free financial advisor matching service. You answer a few questions and they match you with up to three financial advisors in your area. So, if you want help developing a plan to reach your financial goals, get started now.
Change How You Spend Money. Do you have a tendency to buy things on impulse? Do you go on a shopping spree after a bad day at work? Or after a break up? These kind of emotional spending habits can lead to debt and can significantly impact your financial health.
Spend less than you earn. Just as you need to watch what you’re spending your money on, you also need to stop spending more than you earn.
Also, don’t spend money on unnecessary things. Some people also believe that if they start earning more, or get a big raise, they are justified to give themselves a lifestyle raise. This is a big mistake.
Put the credit cards away. It’s very easy to fall into the habit of charging everything on your credit cards. To break that bad money habit, use cash only when you go shopping. That way you’re not tempted to purchase more stuff and you can spend only with cash.
Stop living paycheck to paycheck. Living paycheck to paycheck is one of the examples of bad money habits. Living paycheck to paycheck means that you are always running out of money before your next paycheck arrives.
When you live paycheck to paycheck, the money goes to monthly expenses and you have nothing to save at the end of the month. To break that poor money habit, you need to obtain a part-time job, or have a side hustle, or ask for a raise at work.
Related: How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
Increase your Income. Increase your income is one of the ways to break that living paycheck to paycheck cycle. Changing your job is a good way to boost your income. If you like your job, but you feel like you should get paid more, then request for a raise.
Getting a raise is great because it doesn’t require to trade more time for more money, but a bigger paycheck.
The bottom line: Even if you’ve been less than virtuous when it comes to good financial habits in the past, now is the time to start to learn how to break bad money habits and work toward a better financial future.
You might not be able to become a millionaire or a multimillionaire, but with these examples of good money habits, you can make a decent living. Use these simple steps to adopt better money habits.
In the meantime, do the following:
- Make passive income by creating a blog. If you’re interested in earning passive income from passive income streams, then you need to create your own blog. It’s one of the best ways to make money while you sleep. Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 15 minutes and hardly costs anything. And there are several ways to monetize your website. Read our step-by-step guide on how to start a successful blog in 15 minutes.
- Start investing no matter how little you have. No amount of money is too little when it comes to investing – even if it’s only $5. That’s why an investing app called Acorns has been popular among beginner investors. Acorns takes your spare change from your regular transaction and save it and invest that change for you in a range of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It rounds up all your transactions to the nearest dollar. And once the spare changes stack up to $5, Acorns will invest it for you
Interested in learning how to save money? Find out how by reading these money saving tips articles below:
- 5 Best Money Saving Tips I Wish I Knew In My 20s
- The 8 Dumbest Money Mistakes People Make
- 10 Best Ways to Save Money in 2018
- 9 Reasons Why You Will Never Be Rich
- 8 Financial Tips I would Give to My 20-year old Self
- How To Grow Your Savings Faster With Online Savings Accounts