With the way the economy seems to be moving with the rise in costs of gasoline and food; people’s budgets are being put to the test. The most unfortunate part of that is that it is likely that things will turn worse before they start to get better.
These circumstances are causing people to have to spend more money so; they are looking for ways to save money. The problem is that these things are causing more people to make money saving mistakes. It would seem that saving money should be pretty simple, but, there are many misconceptions. The five mistakes that will be covered in this article are below.
- Stop spending
- Buying for cost
- Seeking a quick fix
- Denying yourself
- Not making a fundamental change
Mistake Number One – Stop Spending Money
Believe it or not when you stop spending money to save money you are making one of the biggest money saving mistakes. Some people take this the wrong way and instead of just stopping their spending on non-essentials they even stop spending money on regular maintenance items which; can end up being costly in the end.
A good example of this could be that if you skip routine visits to the dentist, you could acquire serious dental issues that will set you back, but, had you gone to the visits it might have been prevented. Not getting the oil changed in your car regularly could end up costing you an engine replacement somewhere down the road. The solution; spend a lit extra to prevent spending a lot later.
Mistake Number Two – Buying For Cost and Not For Quality
When it comes to money saving mistakes this is another that happens on a regular basis. People will buy a cheaper product thinking they are saving money and doing the right thing. The truth of the matter is that in the end spending a little more on a better product will probably save you more money; because you won’t have to buy a replacement when the cheap one fails.
Think about it this way; if you buy a cheap hammer that keeps breaking and you keep replacing it how much are you going to end up spending over time? If you buy the hammer with the lifetime warranty and it breaks you get a replacement so you save all the replacement costs.
Before you make a purchase do you research; yes price should be a factor, but not the only factor. Look at reviews, warranties, and replacement policies before making the final choice.
Mistake Number Three – Looking For the Quick Fix
When trying to save many people will often just start cutting things out of their budget thinking it is going to solve their problem and do it quickly. When one thing doesn’t seem to work they find another and just keep going. They have the right intentions, but, they are making one of the worst money saving mistakes.
Why this usually doesn’t work is because most people are not in a financial crisis because of one thing they have done; this is usually a result of an ongoing occurrence. If you can grasp the fact that saving money isn’t something that is going to be solved in a day and commit to the process you will be able to save yourself a lot of frustration.
Mistake Number Four – Denying One’s Self
If you are trying to save money and you are denying yourself of everything you enjoy you are making it a very painful experience. The reason that this is one of the top money saving mistakes is because most people will put off even trying to save because they don’t want to put themselves through the pain and suffering of doing it this way.
It doesn’t have to be painful, work at cutting the costs on things that you might just be paying too much for at this time; look for better deals.
Mistake Number Five – Not Believing A Fundamental Change Needs To Be Made
Saving money can be compared to a diet when we look at this step. You can say you are going on a diet, but, unless you know what you need to do and know what changes you need to make it isn’t going to work. By thinking that one can learn to save without making life changes is making one of the biggest money saving mistakes.
Most people that make this mistake think that saving money can be approached as a short-term problem and be fixed in a short amount of time. The only thing this approach does is make it into a long term problem and really never gets resolved.
By understanding that you have to make fundamental life changes in the way you spend money; you will obtain much greater results in your savings efforts. Approach it as a long-term and ongoing situation; not a short-gap easy to fix problem.
If you can relate to these five mistakes and make the necessary changes to start saving money; your financial future will be in great shape.