Have you ever had to go without a necessity? Maybe it was food, water, or utilities. No matter which kind of suffering you’ve endured, they’re all not fun and can leave us traumatized.
I grew up poor and had no insight that there was any other kind of life. I thought that was just how things were and life was a constant struggle. There was no one to teach me about finances and I was destined for failure.
However, I ended up crossing paths with an amazing money book that completely changed my life! I learned that life is what we make it and not merely what happens to us. By learning which habits were stealing my dreams, I quickly cut them out! I wasn’t going to allow anything to get in my way of success!
Here are 7 spending habits that will keep you poor and steal your dreams.
Alcohol And Cigarettes
Addictive substances, like alcohol and cigarettes, are extremely dangerous because they cause us to do irrational things. When we ‘just need to smoke’, we can end up spending our last few dollars on cigarettes.
Recently, my husband and I went to a convenience store near our local laundromat. The door had a sign that said $8.68 for a pack of cigarettes. My jaw completely dropped. I cannot believe that people are paying these ludacris prices for something that is killing them!
I think we all know cigarettes are expensive, but what about alcohol? People can get whole cans for a dollar. Surely, something like that isn’t stealing their wealth. Think again! People become reliable on these type of substances which causes them to buy more and more.
I once lived in a very bad neighborhood and the neighbor was an alcoholic. He would get up before nine and begin walking to the liquor store. He was unemployed so he would drink all day. Then, he and his wife would argue almost every night about money and his drinking. It was an extremely toxic relationship and I’m happy to be out of that part of town!
Let’s say he only drank a 6 pack every day (although I’m sure it was more) at a price of 5.79. These would be the long term results:
- one week: $40.53
- one month: $173.70
- one year: $2,084.40
- 10 years: $20,844
Of course, this doesn’t account for taxes and inflations. This is also considering he’s sticking to just the one 6pack every single day. Plus, it’s worth mentioning the amount of money being spent on alcohol would be more than double (47,441.84) if invested at an interest rate of 12% for those ten years. How much money are you really wasting on these things?
Watching TV
Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good movie every now and again. But there’s no way I could possibly sit and watch tv and chase my dreams. And neither can you. (Unless your dream is to be the person who watched the most shows.)
Although TV is entertaining, that’s all it is: entertainment. Entertainment always costs money. So the real question is: how much are you spending on something that does not make you money?
There are people who spend hundreds of dollars per month on this luxury and believe they cannot live without it. Children are glued to their screens and they’re not beneficial. By removing the TV from your schedule, you’d be surprised how much time you have to put toward making extra money.
Impulse Buys
Did you know? Buyers are 13% less likely to make impulse buys on a planned shopping trip and are 23% more likely to impulse buy on an unplanned shipping trip. [1]
Companies know exactly what they’re doing and spend intensive hours trying to figure out what causes someone to buy more products in their stores. The key? Impulse purchases!
The next time you go into your local Walmart, I want you to look at how everything is laid out. Have you ever notices where grocery stores place milk and eggs? In the back of the store! This forces you to walk through the entire store just to purchase a necessity. What are the odds that someone will be able to go past all that merchandise without being tempted to buy something?
Another way companies try to get you to impulse buy is by sticking items at the register. Usually, people spend a few minutes waiting at a register to be checked out. By placing items here, a customer is more likely to purchase something while they wait. As a mom, it’s almost impossible to go through the registers without my child asking for something.
When you create a list or a plan, it’s a more likely possibility that you’ll stick it. You’ll end up saving time and money by using a written list when shopping. If you’re trying to save more money, this will definitely do the trick!
Related: Habits Of Successful People That Attract Wealth
Refusing To Learn
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
-Eric Holler
We live in an amazing worth where everything is changing. A little less than 50 years ago, the first mobile telephone was created. In less than a lifetime, we went from zero cell phones to iPhones! If that’s not crazy enough, the internet is less than 40 years old!
In a world of such constant change, we have to be learning all the time about the new things coming our way. But not only that, learning about the traditional, foundation truths from long ago set you up for massive success also.
Don’t neglect to learn, because this is the one habit that will completely change your life.
Trying To Impress People
This is an area that can be so tempting for some people. It makes us feel good when people recognize us for something we have or did. The only problem with this is many people go overboard. They begin to feel their possessions are a measure of their self-worth which couldn’t be more farther from the truth!
People do ridiculous things to impress people. I personally know people who would never drive an older car or wear the same clothes for more than a year. But do you see how these mindsets can cause poverty?
Instead of saving and investing for their future, they’re wearing their financial freedom!
All material items won’t last forever and don’t get me wrong – I want you to have nice things. But I also want you to build wealth and be free from financial stress. If your finances are perfectly fine and you’re completely financially secure, then spend it up! However, the reality is many are living above their means and are accumulating debt at lightning speeds.
If you can’t spend cash for it, then go ahead and skip the shopping trip.
Not Budgeting
Call me crazy, but I absolutely love to budget! I love seeing the potential outcome I can have with my money. I’m literally spending money on paper. But the best part is I can always change it. If I write my whole budget and I’m not satisfied, I can tweak it until I am.
Have you ever budgeted your money? If so, what did you enjoy about it? If not, what’s holding you back?
When you sit down and take inventory of what you’re receiving and spending, you’d be surprised at how much money you actually make. When my husband and I began budgeting, it was completely life-changing. We barely had any money at the time so planning to make the most of it helped us so much throughout the years.
Think of all the fights you’ve encountered that happened because of money issues. This substance can literally tear families apart. But when it’s managed correctly in a way all parties agree to, it can create stability and joy.
I can honestly say creating a budget was one of the best things we ever did as a family.
Credit Cards
If you know me at all, then you know I absolutely do not like credit cards or debt of any kind. Interest rates a ridiculously high and I really don’t like paying someone else money. I want to keep my money so why in the world would I sign up to give a major company my money? No thank you!
There are many people out there who will tell you having a credit card is completely fine as long as you pay them off at the end of every month. When you do that, there’s no interest added. However, I think people should stay away from them altogether.
I was 19 when I got approved for my own credit card and can you guess what I did? Yup! I maxed it out immediately. I was stuck paying that bill for almost 2 years. We were really poor and just had our first baby. Making those payments were incredibly painful for us and we decided we would never do that again.
Also, there were many studies done that prove people spend more money when buying with a credit card. Why? The part of the brain associated with pain lights up when people pay cash for things. It’s actually painful to spend money. Duh! But those who pay with a credit card don’t have anything happen in the brain. There’s no pain related to it and makes spending large amounts easier.
People tend to think of the future as something that may not exist. But that kind of mentality can really hurt someone and ruin their future. In fact, many wealthy people have a lot of money because they knew the future was coming. They invested for the long term, sacrificed in the present, and kept the end result in front of them.
When we make payments on credit card, it’s almost as if we’re throwing money behind us. The thing we’re paying on is no longer new, used up, and certainly not worth the same amount of money as when we first ‘purchased’ it. To add insult to injury, we’re paying more than what it was originally worth because of large interest rates. Talk about a scam!
Still not sure if these companies are out to steal your money and future? Credit card debt is more than $1 trillion and consumers paid nearly $104 billion in those fees and interest rates in the 12 months period of March 2017-March 2018. [2]
Did you catch that? Not millions, but $104 billion. That’s $104,000,000,000 made in a one year period from American consumers. Tell me again that a credit card doesn’t cause financial trouble. These are real families paying this money. Cut it up and cut it out!
The spending habits we’ve discussed that you need to avoid if you want to create more income in your life are:
- cigarettes and alcohol
- binge-watching TV
- not making learning a priority
- trying to impress people
- not budgeting
- using credit cards
Do you have any experiences with the spending habits that will keep you poor listed above? Please share them with the rest of us! The comment section is below!
References:
- https://www.invespcro.com/blog/impulse-buying/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/19/consumers-paying-104-billion-in-credit-card-interest-and-fees.html
I have been operating in 3 of these areas! I grew up in a (fairly) wealthy family (middle class..but could afford whatever we needed and most of what we wanted!). My mom was never good at managing money, always forgot her list, and was a huge impulse buyer. Unfortunately, I have adopted that bad habit! And we try to budget but are awful at sticking to it. I am also lulled by the expectations that come to me via social media about how I “should” look and how my house “should” look. So, I am constantly tempted to buy new home decor, new clothes, style my hair differently, try new diets, etc. It has been detrimental for our bank account. Now we are at this all-time low where we need to reinvent our worldview basically. This post was well timed. While I knew things were bad, it was really helpful to actually pinpoint WHAT my bad habits are so I can work more efficiently in changing them! Thank you!
You’re welcome. I know exactly what you’re talking about because I feel that same way sometimes. We don’t have money and we refuse to use credit cards. I don’t think people actually understand that we can’t go out. They may assume that we don’t want to spend time with them, which is not true. Plus, I know that this is only temporary. However, I believe the key to being successful with carrying out budgets is having a good ‘why’. My reason for being wise with my money is for my children. I don’t want them to endure not having necessities. I pray it all works out for you!