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What Are Spending Habits and How Do We Break Them
Author and speaker John Maxwell once said, “If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits, or change your dream.”
Most people have a dream to one day be in an economic situation with money in the bank and bills that are paid that allows them to live a big and generous life. Unfortunately, many of the habits we hold onto as adults, whether they were ingrained in us from our upbringing or created while we were on our own, keep us from achieving the financial goals we have set for ourselves. Maxwell’s quote illustrates the fact that we cannot hold onto both poor spending habits and dreams of being debt free, as the two so often come hand in hand.
So what are some troubling habits that you can find ourselves repeating, even while making real effort to work your way out of the monetary situation you’re in? It might be helpful to scan your spending diary to look for any repeated patterns you can identify. Are you finding that you are nearly always eating out at lunch rather than bringing your meals from home? Are you stopping on the way to the office to pick up a latte from your favorite coffee shop every morning? Is your grocery bill sometimes much larger than you feel it should be? Do you spot charges on the weekends that often come from department stores, where you make clothing purchases that you might want, but maybe don’t really need. Are there purchases in your life that you feel you simply cannot do without?
Experts say the easiest way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Rather than buying lunch at work every week, challenge yourself to learn to cook a new meal from a genre you’ve never explored before and box it up for the week. There is a world of culinary excitement out there just waiting for you to discover. Rather than making a pitstop for coffee, learn to make delicious brews at home and throw it in a thermos to drink on the go. Don’t go grocery shopping right after work when you’re hungry and will be making impulsive choices, but make it a habit to do that chore after a meal on the weekends. When you feel that itch to go on a shopping binge, grab your running shoes and go for a long jog instead. Every time you come up against a purchase that you feel is a “must-have” take a look at your spending for the month and see if there is a way you can find a cheaper alternative, or even better, cut it out entirely.
Each bad habit you can replace with a good one will put you that much closer to your goal of financial freedom. While these changes may seem to only make a small impact, together they are like bricks in a wall, slowly but surely building you a strong defense against the dangers of thoughtless habits that will ultimately lead you away from your dreams. So take a look around, replace those unhelpful habits in your life with ones that empower you and watch your financial view brighten more and more every day.
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