There are a lot of money mistakes we commit in our daily lives that goes a long way to affect us directly or indirectly, these money mistakes are things we do not necessarily take notice off but engage in them and see them as a normal lifestyle. Here are some money mistakes we should take notice off to improve our financial life next year.
1. Reckless Spending
Among some of the money mistakes, we commit in our day to day activities is reckless spending, unbudgeted spending is one that will always keep you broke at all times, most people turn to spend money on things they do not need but things they want to directly do not affect the lives. Buying the latest smartphones will drain your pocket because smartphone manufacturers will at all-time introduce into the market new phones and if your quest to keep up with the trend will lose many funds in this regard.
You should also be conscious of the things you buy online because shops will all the time offer discounts to the products, you do not buy them because they are cheap but rather the ones you need.
2. Lacking Awareness of Financial Markets
To be able to make the right decision on your finances you should know how the financial market works in the country you reside, you will have to understand government financial policies because they greatly have an impact on your finances.
Consider bonds that are guaranteed by your government, most of these bonds usually gives a much higher rate of interest. As compared to that of most traditional Term Deposits and regular saving schemes.
Also focus on the insurance policies you buy from companies, first of all, look at the policies and make sure the returns you will justify your investment. With these considerations, you will avoid some money mistakes we commit regularly.
3. Making Late Investments
Most Ghanaians and especially the youth consider investment as the reserve for those who are accomplished, but the earlier you start your investment the better you can ripe the benefit.
You can focus on mutual funds and pension plans, the mutual funds come in three different forms, High Risk, Medium Risk and Low Risk, it is a secure investment option where banks and financial institutions utilize your money to buy stocks. Under pension plans, you will need to invest early to have a bigger share of returns in the near future.
4. Not Diversifying Income
One of the major money mistakes we commit is focusing on just one source of income, most people solely depend on one source of income, diversifying the income avenues will make financially stable because if one side fails the others can help you survive.
Network marketing and starting small businesses can provide extra income for you, there are a lot of marketing companies available like Max International, Herbal Life, Longrich among other companies that rely on network marketing to sell their products, this will not require you to leave the office of your original job but rather deliver to customers on agreed terms and location.
5. Household Waste
Some of the money mistakes mostly also occur at home, these are basics things we do not take notice off but it harms our pockets, some of these habits include electricity wastage and not cooking at home. We turn to pay a lot for electricity bill because we do not turn off appliances when we are not using them, we also do not cook at home with buying outside we spend more than cooking.
This is one of the major money mistakes we undertake in the house which need to be considered.
6. Separate your funds
Separating your income or funds will help you avoid the money mistakes that are associated with spending from monies that you already have plans for. Money for rent should be different for school fees the same as transport from utility bills. When you do this you can clearly account for your spending and know how to improve and reduce unnecessary spending.
7. Unwanted Travel Expenses
Traveling is a good experience depending on the motive for the travel, but one of the things that may deceive you on your way are the good things you see on your journey, you may be tempted to buy but when you do this then your budget will also escalate for the trip, you can book online for the trip if it’s available to avoid the stress of spending on transportation to buy ticket ahead of time.
8. Seek financial advice
Most people can easily talk about other things about them but not about the challenges they are facing with their finances, the is a saying that sometimes a problem shared ends up getting solved, be quick to seek financial advice mostly from friends on how to manage your funds, this will help you avoid basic money mistakes in your daily life.