This advice came from Nolene Parboo, senior manager of savings and investments of Standard Bank, who explained that often when it came to money, consumers opted to focus on investments or buying a house instead of assessing their overall behaviour with money.
“Fast food habit runs don’t threaten our finances, but the cumulative effect of bad spending habits can be the difference between rich and poor,” she said.
Parboo went on to provide suggestions to help modify spending behaviour and boost finances, with the first being to cut out unnecessary costs.
These include expenses such as morning coffee runs and having multiple clothing accounts which have interest payments.
“Consider cutting down on some of your retail accounts; this will not only help you save but will also improve your wealth significantly in the long run,” Parboo said.
Another point Parboo mentioned was cutting down on luxury services and rather opting to save the money for retirement. Additionally, consumers should focus on the important things and not what they can do without.
Parboo stressed that, by examining spending habits, it is possible to have a positive impact on finances in a rather short amount of time.
“Try applying these tips for at least a month and see what a big difference you can make to your finances by making small changes every day.”
Other suggestions Parboo mentioned include:
- Never go shopping without writing a shopping list beforehand; make a careful plan of what you need to buy before you go and stick to it
- Implement the 50/30/20 rule. From your after-tax salary, allocate 50 percent to essentials and 30 percent to financial planning leaving 20 percent for ?????
- Sometimes the decision not to spend on risk management tools such as medical, car, disability and life insurance, can put you under financial distress in the long term
- Avoid buying a new cellphone, laptop or tablet every year, and don’t fall into the trap of having five contracts; just the add-on fees alone will cost you
- Prevent spending your entire salary or most of it before you have put some money aside for savings.
Also read:
Consumers encouraged to take steps to save up
Tips on how to save to meet financial goals
