….Where is YOUR money going?

Due to the rise of inflation from the political spectrum, low economic state, etc. We find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck. For some, this is nothing new, and for others, I’d like to say: Welcome Aboard.

I first want to remind you that this article is solely a discussion, not a legal nor economical advice. This is mainly to help you rethink your finances in this crazy economic cycle. In the previous article, I mentioned about the difficulties of investing, and even if this was a wise choice or not. This article, we be discussing the concept of: Self-Control.

I know you must be thinking: “This is a dumb discussion…” However, is it? How does the lack of self-control impact your finances? These are questions to consider. We will start reminding ourselves the meaning of “self-control”, which simply means to control oneself, restrain oneself, resist oneself, etc. Now, we will discuss an example of an individual that lives paycheck to paycheck.

This is ONLY an example, but the concept still applies. Imagine an individual take home $2,000/monthly ($24,000/annually). Each month, the individual gets $500/weekly. Rent is $700/monthly, Utilities around $150/monthly, Groceries around $200/monthly, Insurance (Rental, Auto, and Health) at $400/monthly. Gas around $150/monthly. So if we do the math, we add these expenses up to a total of: $1,600/monthly. We then take $1,600 and divide by 4 and we get around $400/weekly on expenses. This leaves us with $100/weekly ($400/monthly) to save or “play with.”

Now you may be thinking: “This is waste of time, what am I? 5?” No, this is not to teach you financial literacy. This is the problem I am addressing: You have to work 5 days a week, 8-10 hours a day. The self-control issue is in this example: “I am tired, I need some coffee…” Now, you find yourself going to get coffee from a cafe, energy drink, Reese’s candy, donuts, fast food, etc.

Now you find yourself struggling to pay your bills. What is important is to consider what you are buying during the week. It is a difficult habit to break since we are greedy for satisfying our wants instead of our needs. That $400/month left over from the expenses, would have turned into $4,800/annually. So, consider what you could do with $4,800, you could get enhancement procedures (LASIKs, Veneers, etc), Pay off your loans, invest, etc. So, in the meantime, look at your monthly income, look at your monthly expenses, and then remove items that you don’t need. This will help you make it day by day in this crazy economic cycle that are find ourselves in.