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Creating a budget and sticking to it is important for spending your money wisely, but there are times when certain money tips may actually be doing you more harm than good. Many people are under the impression that money-saving tips are always positive, no matter what. While it’s a nice thought, it isn’t the truth. What works for some in regards to saving money doesn’t necessarily work for others. [click_to_tweet tweet=”It’s important to understand the purpose of wanting to save money and then incorporate it into how it works best for you and your family.” quote=”It’s important to understand the purpose of wanting to save money and then incorporate it into how it works best for you and your family.”]
5 Money Tips that are Actually Harming your Budget
Buying cheaply made clothing.
This is something that all of us are guilty of, right? Clothes can be super expensive. It’s hard to process spending huge bucks on you or your kid’s clothes only to have them grow out of them within a few months…but, the truth of the matter is that there are some clothes that are just made better than others. If you buy your clothes at a store with the pants are only $4.99, that’s fine, but just be aware that their quality may not be up to par of other brands and you may be replacing or purchasing additional clothing items in the future due to being made cheaply. In certain situations, buying cheap clothes doesn’t always end up saving you money in the long run.
Heading to the grocery store without a list to buy items that are on sale.
Don’t do this! While it may be tempting to just walk about the grocery store aisles looking for items that are clearanced or discounted down to purchase for your weekly meals, it often leads to buying more than you budget allotted for. Think about all the items that are you walking by being tempted to put in your cart! Always make a list of items that you are going to buy before you head to the store, and stick to that list!
Use a credit card with low-interest APR to purchase larger items.
This can actually be good IF, and only IF, you are going to pay those items off in full once you purchase them. No matter what APR you get for your credit card, you are still paying EXTRA for that item because of the accrued credit card interest. Why work hard to get a great deal on an item to then pay it back in the form of interest?
Use layaway for those holiday purchases.
No, just no. While you may think that it will buy you time to pay them off, it typically just makes people forget to save money and puts a huge strain on your budget during the holidays. Instead of using layaway, create a savings system that you can put some money back each and every month to pay for your holiday gifts in full. Trust me that you will feel better when you plan ahead rather than buy and have to try to play catch up.
Signing a contract for a locked in rate.
Contracts seem to be more of a thing of the past and for good reason. Nowadays, there are so many companies out there that offer competitive rates and services that it can seem silly to be locked into a contract with any one company. Think of it this way…if you are locked into a contract, you take the chance of missing out on some great “new customer” deals that other companies offer. And why commit yourself to any one company for any length of time? There are always ways to find cheaper services out there that work for you and your budget.
While it can be hard to always know the best money tips that work well for you and your budget, it’s possible to understand that there are certain money tips that just aren’t good practice to follow. Some of them are learned by trial and error while others present themselves in a manner that one knows that they aren’t a valuable tip. Don’t let money tips that you think are helping you, actually be what is hurting your savings game. If you feel that something isn’t working, cut bait and figure out something better for you and your budget! You are the one that controls the outcome of your financial situation!
You have to be truly disiplined to use a credit card. It was something my Mom taught me long before I even had the money to open a checkbook that a credit card is a 30 day loan that comes due and must be paid in full at the end of the month. Therefore, I do get the protections that come with a credit card for buying online, but I don’t pay interest.
To do that we don’t buy everything on the credit card. We budget and use cash for more things than other people because even using debit cards you can spend more than you think you are spending. We deposit back change and extra cash that we didn’t use.
If you can’t be disciplined than you can’t use credit because the interest will destroy your financial plan.
As for cheap clothing it all depends on what it is. I buy lots of cheap t-shirts and they last just as long as the more expensive ones I’ve bought. However jeans I spend a little more on because they don’t last when I go cheap.
As for kids clothing my Mom has become and expert in buying quality clothing names for her great grandkids at thrift stores some with the tags still on them at cheaper prices than the badly made stuff you can buy at the cheaper stores. It takes time to find the right sizes, etc. but especially for kids where they do grow so quickly thrift stores are often a great way to get better names at affordable prices. I only wish she’d done this when we were children.