Declutter your spending

(what you need to buy and what you don't)

These days we may all feel like money is constantly leaving us, and as we turn to the notion of decluttering our spending, I am referring to the practice of becoming more AWARE of our spending habits and where our money is going. This can help us to figure out where we may be spending needlessly and try to focus in on how we can manage and encourage spending in the right way. Just to be clear, NO - I am not saying we cannot spend money, but spending money in the right way can be very liberating for us leading to a happier you and a happier bank account balance too! :)

Budgets - yes, not that sexy but important

I think we may all get scared or intimidated by the word budget, but creating one does not have to be an ominous prospect. Your own personal budget may be very comprehensive or perhaps less so, simply indicating your needs and then wants for the month or year. Always write it out in pencil, but maybe focus on things that you truly need and leave out the more frivolous items that are less important for you to buy. If travel is a huge priority to you, then consider saving or putting aside money for this, rather than perhaps ordering skip the dishes every night which can be a fast tracked way to burning through a lot of money. If your spending habits tend to be jumbled like a big ball of mess, this is the time to remove those things that are wastes of money from your repertoire, and focus your attention on spending in the right way on the right things.

Awareness is key

Sometimes, we can become completely unaware of where our money is going in general, and its important to stay accountable. We all love coffee, but if you make coffee at home this one small change can make a huge difference in our wallets. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some take out coffee too, but if it becomes an everyday or twice a day habit, this is going to negatively impact your wallet. Buying a coffee a day at a premium roaster for a year (are you ready for it??) will cost you $1,680.00 (yup you read that right). That’s a lot of money - if you cut this down to treating yourself to a deluxe gourmet coffee twice a week, you can happily bring that number down to $480.00. Still, $500 dollars is nothing to sniff at, but inching up to $2,000 a year on coffee? Not good.

Taking some time to declutter our spending habits can help bring into focus how and where we may be over spending, allowing us to create healthier spending habits and having the money to spend on the important things that will bring us joy and happiness - happy budgeting!