You can literally break free from this lifestyle with these 5 personal habits.
Actually most people don't do these things and therefore also get a mediocre view of their lives and money. So if you want a less stressful life with greater joy, then you should work with yourself to create good habits about your finances.
I have gathered 5 of the most important habits that can form a really good foundation for your future financial situation. It is practical advices that you can already start today.
When you start these, they will create a positive chain reaction and you become more aware of your choices, wishes and needs. In fact, it's about creating space for a new beginning where a strong personal finance is the foundation.
1. Have a budget
Often when we start to earn more, our spending tends to follow suit. This is known as lifestyle inflation. It can be a mistake to allow our spending to increase if we get a pay rise, because then we are back where we started.
The journey towards a better financial situation is to increase our savings rate - the amount we save as a percentage to our earnings.
We can do this by creating a budget. Budget templates can be found online, but we alter them specifically to our situation - for example some of us prefer to spend our money eating at restaurants, where as some prefer buying clothes. It's not about changing what we enjoy, but just managing it.
It is good to aim for at least a 10% savings rate though, which should be reflected in our budget. If our earnings are above the national average, then maybe strive to save 20% or more. Some early retirement experts are saving up to 90% of their income!
Budgets can be made quickly on mobile apps and PC software, meaning you can update it wherever. Also, some companies will automatically update your budget via live bank transactions, making the process automatic.
2. Have role models
Role models help keep us focused, teach us and help motivate us.
Humans are designed to need role-models in order to learn from, we desire to be led by example in how to behave. This is generally talked about when referencing children, or when people have been influenced by negative people. Society forgets that even as adults we need positive role models.
A role model is a person who makes you want to grow and be a better person, too. One way to find positive role models, particularly one's who will guide us to a better financial situation, is bloggers. A personal finance blog can help us keep focus on our goals. They can take us on a journey of greater understanding in the field, and with great tips and sharing experiences, will keep us on track.
Being a reader of a good blog can also lead to a two-way relationship, too. Many bloggers will take the time to read comments and reply to our questions. I do this on my personal finance blog.
For example, when financial independence is a goal of yours, there is a lot to learn, but equally a lot of collaborative advice - a kind of community.
3. Create a savings account
A separate account is necessary in order to better our financial situation. Trying to save money in your current account will take not just lots of discipline, but logistically it is difficult to keep track of, even if you do have good intentions.
A separate savings account will be more motivating. We can easily track it and see it accumulate each month, giving us a nice pat on the back for our hard work.
Savings accounts will also reward us with more interest than current accounts, meaning our savings will grow faster. The extra couple of percent in interest can add up to a lot over the year.
Savings accounts are not to be confused with investing, though. There are lots of low-risk ways to get an even better interest rate than a savings account, but usually this is a less liquid option. Savings accounts are for emergency funds in case of a disaster. This is extremely important for our financial situation as well as our stress levels to have a safety net.
4. Affirmations
An affirmation is a phrase (or a set of phrases) that we repeat to ourselves each day in order to reinforce a message. The message can be specific to money or general positivity.
The idea here is that by repeating the message each day, we can improve our thought patterns and fake it 'till we make it.
These thought patterns being practiced means that when we are faced with adversity in our daily lives, we can dig ourselves out of it easier. We are equipped of knowing how to reinforce belief into ourselves and remain confident in difficult situations.
Being brave is key to being a successful entrepreneur, or even earning more from a side hustle, for example. Our belief will mean we take opportunities as they come, and also we will be better equipped to spot them when they do.
We can think of our self-belief as a muscle. Each day we can do a work out by repeating our phrases, and the muscle will grow stronger.
Lastly, when trying to better our financial position, consistency is key. We need to make small efforts, daily. Whether it is being frugal each lunch time or learning investing from a course. The affirmations will help us stay track to remind us of what is important.
5. Be active
In order to better ourselves financially, we need to be healthy. Our thoughts, beliefs and attitudes make up our mental health, but this isn't where it ends.
Body-mind connection is the influence that our physical body has over our mind. And vice versa!
Unhealthy habits of not getting enough exercise or getting too little sleep will ultimately be our downfall. Unhealthy living can have consequences from our thinking being slowed down, our decision making being driven by negative emotions such as fear, and limit the our memory and ability to learn.
All of these are of course crucial to performing daily tasks well, spotting business opportunities and generally managing risk.
Getting enough sleep is vital, but this doesn't mean waking up at noon. Waking up earlier is a great way to function better that day. We have the chance to be not distracted before the world is awake.
Stress can also be relieved effectively through exercise. Raising your heart rate through exercise can help make us more stable in our mood and hormones. Again, this is key to rational decision making so we don't go over budget or make bad investments.
Being in good physical shape will undoubtedly improve our self-esteem and confidence, too. To be proud of our bodies is to go into work with our heads held high and give us the belief to take opportunities as they arise.
