This is where good organizational skills come into play; you must keep all financial records and documents in one place.
Rushing around frantically to locate an important piece of paper wastes time and often results in you overlooking an important bill that needs to be paid.
Keep electronic copies of bills or file hard copies of them in a designated expense or creditor file.
You could also keep a record of all your expenses on a simple excel spreadsheet which you can print and file away at the end of each month. This will ensure that you keep abreast of your spending and can quickly refer to your files should any dispute, query or issue arise.
What about that moment that arises when you see something that you really want? Well, here’s some solid advice from my dad.
When I had just started working, he used to say to me. ‘If you see something you really want, wait three weeks, go back and look again, if you still want it, wait another three weeks’.
The idea being that if you still want it a few weeks later, then fair enough get it, but in my experience more often than not, one loses interest by that time.
And those larger purchases? Well, the old adage ‘if you want to eat an elephant, cut it into small pieces’ rings particularly true. If you don’t really need a bigger home or new car- rather let things be as they are.
As with all matters in life, common sense must prevail – if you don’t need don’t buy it.