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4 Smart Spending Habits to Develop ASAP

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When people talk about making smart financial decisions, they almost always discuss money-saving tactics. Of course, finding ways to cut back or cut down on expenditures can make it easier for a person to manage their debt and pay off bills. However, the reality is that developing smart spending habits can prove just as beneficial. Indeed, learning how to be a savvy consumer can do wonders for your long-term financial stability. With that in mind, today we’ll explore four smart spending habits that everyone should work to build right away. Check them out here:

Stay Patient

Have you ever felt compelled to make a purchase? Or have you ever bought something on a whim and then regretted it later? If so, then know  that you’re not alone. While impulse buying is fairly common, it is nevertheless a bad practice –– particularly for people on a tight budget. Given that fact, it’s important for all consumers to exercise patience when considering their purchase options. Give yourself at least a few days to review serious purchases and never rush to buy a product or service you don’t need.

Engage with Businesses

Modern businesses value customers that reach out and engage with them. In fact, they value customer interactions so much that they may be willing to pass along discounts or special offers to consumers who communicate with them. For example, pharmacy customers might be able to earn discounts simply by filling out a survey about their last shopping experience. If you’re looking for a good deal, don’t be afraid to speak directly with local businesses.

Become Brand Blind

Attachment to a certain brand could end up costing you hundreds –– or even thousands –– of dollars in unnecessary upcharges over a long period of time. Whenever possible, ignore brand names and advertising messages and compare products and services in an objective fashion. Often, you’ll find that the “name brand” is overpriced or over-hyped.

Maximize Positive Impact

Believe it or not, your spending power can go a long way. That is, provided you know how to stretch it. Whenever you’re making a purchase decision, be sure to consider how you can get the best bang for your buck. For instance, purchasing a piece of equipment might cost more than renting it. However, if you use that product on a regular basis, purchasing it will end up costing you less than renting it again and again. What’s more, consider how your purchases will affect others. Don’t ever forget that even a small act of charity can make all the difference for someone else. Keep that vital money lesson in mind the next time you’re faced with a choice of how to spend your hard-earned capital.

A Simple Plan to Get Rich 

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Do you worry about money? Do you think there just isn’t enough for you and your family? Do you wonder how you will ever provide for your family?

If you have these concerns, you’re not alone. Scarcity thinking is prevalent all over the world.

Although this line of thinking may seem realistic, it’s a misinterpretation of economics.  In a democracy, there are plenty of financial opportunities for anyone who aspires to be wealthy.

Let’s talk about some simple ways to transform your financial situation–and, perhaps, even become the millionaire next door.

Lower Your Expenses

Look at some of your expenses. You might find you could easily save money by not buying things that you don’t need.

You could also save money by getting the same products or services from another vendor who has lower overheads and can pass the savings on to you. Sometimes, too, you might pay more for brand-name products or services rather than considering the value they provide.

Adopt a DIY Approach

You can take your frugality up a notch by learning how to do things yourself rather than buying them.

For instance, let’s assume your family loves hummus, almond milk, garden burgers, cauliflower rice, and cold brew coffee.

The reason you buy these things is that you imagine that they are difficult or time-consuming to make. This is not true. You can find plenty of recipes online to make all these favorite foods from scratch. Even cold brew coffee is simple to make at home.

Ironically, what you’ll discover is the food you make from scratch is cheaper to make because you can create a large batch. And it will taste better too because you’ll be using the best quality fresh ingredients with no additives, fillers, food dyes, or preservatives.

Increase Your Income

How do you increase your income?

You could try working longer, and harder at your job to earn recognition and a promotion… but this isn’t the best way.

A better way to increase your income is to work smarter. You can work smarter by developing routines to increase your productivity, and you can work harder by incrementally increasing your skill sets. With so many online courses available on almost every conceivable subject, it’s only a question of applying yourself to a course of study that will increase your value in the marketplace.

Balance Your Budget

If you’re not balancing your budget, it’s not because of a lack of information on how to do it, nor is it a lack of tools, such as access to good budgeting software. It’s also not a lack of time because once you set up your budget all you have to do is consistently track it and make any adjustments when necessary.

The reason you don’t budget is not that it’s difficult to do, but because it’s emotionally draining. It’s not pleasant noticing that most of your income disappears rapidly.

The trick to getting good at balancing your budget is not to take it personally. How distraught would you be if you had to balance a budget for someone else to help them rebuild their financial life? You would look forward to helping them get a grip on their finances.

Without a budget, you have no idea what’s happening with your money. Of course,

you’ll notice that it’s disappearing faster than you like, but you would have no idea where it all went.

Final Steps

Saving more money every month, incrementally increasing your income by improving your marketable skill sets, and budgeting your money so that you know how much is coming in and going out will not make you rich. But it will help you get over that terrible feeling that you don’t have enough money to manage all your expenses. You’ll stop feeling poor.

If you aspire to be wealthy, then the next step is to learn how to generate passive income. First, save up enough money to invest. Then choose an investment that you find interesting and learn the investment skills you need to do it well.

How to Make Your Money Stretch Until Payday

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We’ve all been there. Funds are low, payday seems years away, and in that moment, you feel like you might not make it. Waiting for payday can make your days feel grey and dull, or it can make it feel like time is at a standstill, especially if you’re struggling financially, or have debt that needs to be paid.

Thankfully, there are ways to make your money go further and to help make those last few days before salvation a little bit more bearable and less stressful. Here are some of the top ways to make your money stretch as you wait till payday.

Set a Spending Allowance

One of the first things that needs to be done when trying to last till payday is to take stock of your current finances and figure out how much you have left. Once you have that, you should be able to work out how much money you can spend each day. Now with this limit in place, you need to prioritise the essentials that you need to spend it on. Food will be your main concern, so make sure you budget that into your allowance, as well as bills and utilities.

When following an allowance, it’s vital that you stick to it and avoid unnecessary payments. It is always best to underspend one day and let the leftover funds rollover to the next than it is to overspend and find yourself trying to cut down on the next day.

To help keep you on track, it may be worthwhile keeping a record of everything you’re spending with a spending diary, so that you can be held accountable. By having these records, you can more clearly spot patterns and spending habits that you should try and break.

Use Discounts When You Shop

If you do have to go shopping during this time as you wait till payday, it’s important to try and get the best deals you can find. Shops usually drop sales between Wednesday and Fridays, so it’s always good to shop then and be sure to go towards the end of the day, as there’s more chance there’ll be produce in the reduced aisle that the store wants to get rid of.

When online shopping, you can also get great discounts through coupons. These can reduce the prices on your goods and some can also be used in conjunction with each other to stack deals and reduce the price even further. Also keep an eye out for free shipping, as this can drastically reduce the prices of online goods.

Try Free Activities

When some people are low on funds, they feel they’re unable to have fun and enjoy themselves, as socialising is usually a costly pastime. However, it’s important that we remain active to boost our mood and general wellbeing. That’s why it’s a good idea to do free activities.

There are plenty of free things people can do, too, depending on where you live. You can always go to the local park, hike in a forest or other nature reserve, check out some free museums or even just have people round for movies and snacks. You don’t have to break the bank to have fun and see friends and doing this can really help make the days till payday pass quicker and become more bearable.

3 Fun, Simple and Powerful Ways to Teach Young Kids About Money

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For parents, the message and motivation is simple: if you don’t take the time to teach your kids about money, then something or someone else will — and those lessons are likely to be financially costly and emotionally painful.

What’s more, unlike talking about that other subject (yes, you know the one — birds and bees and all of that stuff), discussing money doesn’t need to be uncomfortable or awkward.

Instead, talking to your kids about money can be fun and interesting — not just for them, but for you, too. Here are three suggestions:

1. Take your kids food shopping and make them part of the process from purchasing to paying.

Understandably, most parents who take their young kids food shopping have one clear goal in mind: get in and get out as quickly as possible, and with a minimum amount of whining, complaining, and “if you don’t start behaving right now then no TV for a week!” threats.

However, one way to get kids interested in the experience and boost their budding financial literacy, is by coaching them to be part of the process. Help them understand how similar products have different prices, and why some products like milk and butter are cheaper than others like imported fruits and pine nuts. And when it comes to paying, help them see — or better yet, let them handle — the transaction, so they can start understanding how the system works.

2. Use rewards and incentives to help kids pay themselves first.

In the financial world for grown-ups, a new and better way of looking at saving these days is to “pay yourself first”. In a similar sense, you can help your kids appreciate this fundamentally important aspect by using rewards and incentives for them to save more and spend less.

For example, if Santa Claus had your child on the good list (even after that “incident” with the grape juice) and handed him or her a $20 bill at Christmas, then you might offer to match their savings dollar-for-dollar after two or three months. Or, if your child has their heart set on something that costs more than they have available — like a new bike — then you can offer to help them reach their goal if they take the lead by being a smart, diligent saver who pays themselves first.

3. Stop giving allowances, and start giving commissions.

The time-honored practice of giving kids a weekly allowance is well-intentioned, but can actually be counterproductive if it encourages kids to believe that when they get older, a regular dose of money will magically appear.

To avoid setting your kids up for dismay and disappointment — and maybe some big financial losses later in life that are rooted in a sense of entitlement — stop giving allowances, and start giving commissions. For example, you can give out a basic amount for completing normal, age-appropriate chores (for 5-6 year-olds, this might be making their bed in the morning each day and putting away toys after play, for 7-8 year-olds it could be tasks like helping around the house, and so on).

It’s also important to tie commission to performance. If your child over-delivers and goes above and beyond, then boost the amount with a one-time bonus, or give them a raise if it’s something they’ve been doing for a while. Conversely, if they don’t meet a basic standard, then let them know that it’s going to cost them. Make sure that the message is consistent and clear, like a giant full-color banner from the Landmark Sign Company.

The Bottom Line

Teaching your kids about money doesn’t have to be difficult or full of angry statements like “money doesn’t go on trees!” Instead, it can be fun, interesting and most importantly: very profitable for your kids, and indeed, for your whole family.

4 mistakes every real estate investor makes which you can avoid

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The real estate industry is very lucrative only if it is done properly. It is possible to become rich in the market but it won’t be easy. Most real estate investors make certain mistakes that result in losses. Avoiding the following mistakes can help you make money in the real estate industry.

1. Overpaying

One of the biggest mistakes most first-time real estate investors do, is paying too much on a property. The essence of any investment is buying at a low price and selling at a higher price. Therefore, you will only make money in the real estate industry if you get a property at a good price. However, if you buy a property at a higher price, your investment on return will be significantly affected because the property will appreciate very little. In some cases, you might even make a loss

2. Lack of a good understanding of the market

This is another major mistake most real estate investors make. Understanding the market means more than just knowing the neighbourhood. You have to understand the underlying demand of the particular market you intend to invest in.

For instance, if you like investing in the off plan property in Dubai, you will not be successful if you don’t understand the market. If you want to resell, who are the potential buyers?  You should understand what the potential buyers are looking for.

The off-plan market is one of the latest trends in the Dubai real estate industry. Some of the top developers are getting involved in the off-plan market. For example, there are several Meraas off plan projects in Dubai such as Sur la Mer townhouses. If you are interested in completed projects, there is a rich selection of apartments for sale in Palm Jumeirah where you can invest and expect a high ROI.

3. Failure to do Due diligence

Before you put your money on any property, you must be willing to go an extra mile to perform due diligence. The failure to research on the property, the neighbourhood and the market in general is an intolerable error that may cause loses. However, it is a mistake most real estate investors make and they end up stuck with a property that is a money loser.

4. Lack of strategy

Having a transactional view of the real estate is another mistake some investors make. Like any other type of investment, you need to create a plan and stick by it. If you don’t have a viable investment plan, you might make a mistake of buying the wrong property just because you were offered a good deal.

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We left our home in Sydney, Australia many moons ago in May 2012 and, other than a brief stint back in Perth for Christmas and a wedding in early 2014, we have been travelling the world nomadically ever since, running a business from our laptops and we’re here to show you how to do it!