10 Habits that keep you Poor

Where you stand financially is more than just how much you make and what you spend. Your finances have a lot to do with your habits. Not just your habits with money but your habits of day-to-day life.

What many people fail to realize is that everything in your life is connected in one way or another. That means everything in your life has something to do with your finances weather you know it or not.

Good money management starts with good habits and reinforcing these habits with other good habits in your life.

Today I will be sharing 10 habits that keep people poor. Most of these habits you probably don’t even know are affect you financially.

One

being untrue to yourself

Trying to be something you are not hurts you financially in a major way. We all have someone in are life that always has to have (shiny things in life) most expensive virgin of everything. You know the fancy house, car, vacations etc.

Yet some of them can’t afford the fancy life they are trying to display, or they are struggling to keep it. So why do they live a life they can’t afford?

They live a lie, and by living a lie they will stay struggling when it comes to their financial health.

You have to be true with yourself and your finances. Buying what you can’t afford is a major reason why you are living paycheck to paycheck and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Buying homes at the top of your budget is only going to make you work more hours and more days to make the payments.

You just bought a house that you will never be able to enjoy till you retire or pay it off (whichever comes first).

Buying a car that you are paying the equivalent to a house payment every month is money down the drain. The amount that you are putting in you will never get back (the price tag on the car dropped the minute you drove it off the lot).

Two

Being in the wrong circle

You know the saying birds of a feather flock together? This is true when it comes to most everything in your life but especially when it comes to your finances.

If you notice rich people hang around other rich people. If you want to have healthy financial habits, you need to surround yourself with people that have good financial habits or people that are making good financial choices (or changing their habits like you).

Having people around you that don’t want to better themselves will hurt your progress. I know it’s hard from some people to walk away from their so-called friends (I really don’t have a problem in this area) but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to better yourself.

I have a saying ” I will not be stagnant for no one!” If I am trying to get to level 10 and you happy on level 5 (you got to go) I see you when I see you. No one should hold you back from the life that you want to live and having a life that is healthy financially for your family. If someone in your circle is always negative and talking down to you about bettering yourself then they shouldn’t have a place in your life.

Three

To many cookies in the Jar

So, I have a few people that I know that have a new business every time I see them. You know your friend that has money in all the wrong places.

Doing way too much with your m0ney is never a good thing. If you want to have financial stability you must focus on one thing at a time. If you want to invest do your homework, Look into all the different types of investments. pick two or three that you may want to invest in and learn about them. Once you figure out where you want to place your money make a plan and stick to it for a while, before you move on to something else. if you want to start a business, work on that business tell you have it up and running and making income before you add another business.

Brands start with one product and build from there. They don’t put out 50 million things at one time. You should not be putting your money all over the kingdom in the sky to see what falls first.

Four

Trying to get rich from a job

Stop thinking you are going to get rich from your job. Know the difference from a job and a career. Businesses make the owner rich not the worker. If you need more money, there are a hundred different ways to make more money. Never depend on one source of income (if you are trying to be rich). Rich people are rich because they have more than one source of income.

If your goal is not to be rich but to live a simple life than learn to live with in your means. Or learn to live under your means.

You can live off less if that is what you want. There are people that are living of less income more and more these days.

If you want to live a life, were you work less or retire early you can look into the following lifestyles:

Slow living

Minimalist Lifestyle

Simple living

Van life or skoolie lifestyle

Tiny house living

Five

Not paying your bills on time

If you are living paycheck to paycheck and you’re not paying your bills on time and in full you will never get a head when it comes to your financial health.

The first thing you need to do is know what you have coming in and what you have going out. You need to make sure that the first thing you do with your paycheck is pay your bills. If you have more going out, then you have coming in then you need to eliminate expenses that you don’t need or can’t afford at the time.

The worst thing people do is live in the late fee cycle. Late fees and reconnection fees will eat you alive and most poor people struggle with this daily (I know I did for a long time).

Six

Payday loans or check advances

Where do I begin? This is a cycle that has no end, we do these loans thinking that they will help us get a head, but they don’t. You get the money to pay your bills, but you have to pay the money back with interest. So now you have to pay the money you borrowed plus extra.

If you don’t have the money to pay your bills you won’t have the money to pay it back or pay the extra. This is how they keep you borrowing you will always come up short in one way or another.

Getting advances on your check is just as bad. Yes, I know it’s money that you already maid and you are just getting it early but as soon as your check hits they take it from your check. Before you know it most of your check is gone when you get it.

Now every week you are taking money from your check and you’re not getting financially better. This is a bad habit; you will never have money to put away or extra money because you will always owe.

Seven

Making financial decisions out of frustration

This is a bad habit that I personally know all too well. I had done this for years and I have found that when you try to make decisions when you are overwhelmed it never ends well.

You see if you are not making money decisions with a clear mind you tend to just pick the first thought that comes to your mind that seems like the quick fix. Yet, it’s not a fix at all or it’s just a fix for the moment and within time you will end up right back where you started with the same problem.

To Truely change your bad money habits you need to have a level head. You need to take time to find out where the problem is and then take time to come up with a plan that you can follow. When you are planning make sure you have check list that you can use to follow your progress.

This will allow you to see what is and what is not working and adjust your plan if you have too. Yet never do this when you are frustrated.

Eight

Not giving things time- or looking for quick fix

Rome was not built in a day. Getting your finances to a healthy state will take time and will not happen overnight. Trying to rush things or not giving a plan or system time to work before you move on to another idea or plan (or giving up altogether) will keep you financially in turmoil.

I use the 30-day rule, this is where I have a start date of a system or routine that I plan to implement. I give myself 30-days to see if it is a habit that I should keep. At the end of the 30-days if it’s working, I just keep doing it. If it’s working somewhat but could be better, I make changes. If it’s not working, then I remove it and start something else that may work.

Nine

Being afraid to fail

No one wants to fail, but we do and it’s okay. Failing happens and you have to learn to use your failures as a lesson. Just because you try something, and it doesn’t work the first time doesn’t mean you have to give up (and you shouldn’t).

Not trying to change or rethink your habits hurts you in the long run. It keeps you stuck in unhealthy habits. Many successful people have failed at one time or another in their life. The difference between them, and you are that they keep trying and they ended up winning.

Ten

Not going over your finances on a regular

Even if you make a budget or financial plan that is working you still need to make it a habit of going over your finances weekly or biweekly, monthly and every three to six months.

If you don’t have a budget or financial plan you need to make one and start combing through your finances. Part of your budget or financial plan needs to be checking your finances and making changes if you need to.

Just like a business you should be making financial reports on where your money is going. How much have your income changed (if you got a raise or a second job or lost any income) any new investments, or if you have cashed out any investments. What goals have you reached or are you on the right track.

Staying on top of your finances is key to a being financially healthy. You just can’t keep it on the back burner. Make time to go over everything that has to do with your money. I do an audit at the end of every month. I write down what I spent my money on along with my monthly bills and make notes. I also write down when I get raises and bonuses from my job and how much I have in each of my money market accounts. I write down any extra expenses that I may have come up for the next month as well. This keeps me on top of my finances at all times.

Well, that’s all that I have for today, I hope this helps you on your journey.

Thank you for reading Everything Frugal.

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