7 Bad Money Habits That Are Holding You Back

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If you want to take charge of your finances and achieve your financial goals, you need to avoid bad money habits.

Failing to identify and deal with financial mistakes can hold you back in life.

If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, or if you don’t know where your money goes, you may be dealing with bad money habits.

If this is the case for you, you don’t have to worry. All bad habits are learned, and so are the good ones.

All you need is the willingness to build new habits that will help you manage your money well and of course taking the necessary steps to help you let go of unwise money habits.

And that willingness starts from identifying any bad money habits that could be holding you back in life. That is why deciding to read this post was your first step towards getting rid of money-wasting habits.

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Go through the list, identify any financial mistakes you may be making, and then make it your goal to eliminate them from your life.

You don’t have to focus on changing all of these habits at once. Just pick the one you would like to start working on today.

You can always come back to this post, later on, to choose another one to work on. So let’s get right into it!

7 Bad Money Habits That Are Holding You Back

1. Impulse Shopping

The first bad money habit you need to avoid is impulsively buying things you didn’t plan to get.

I used to be guilty of this one.

Impulsively buying things without planning in advance can skyrocket your monthly expenses.

Even if you think you don’t really spend that much on impulse purchases per month, it could easily add up to a LOT of money per year.

When you buy a lot of things without planning, it may be super hard for you to save because you’re not careful with what you spend your money on.

So, if you’re someone who buys more items you didn’t intend to buy before entering the store, or if you randomly buy that cute product you just saw on social media on the spur of the moment, you have to drop this bad money habit.

2. Spending More Than You Earn

Listen, if you’re spending more money than you make, you’ll never move forward unless you drop this habit.

I know that sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you have to cover a TON of expenses. However, if you can afford to live within your means, start doing so.

This will help you take charge of your finances while avoiding racking up your debt.

Cut back some of the unnecessary expenses you find yourself wasting money on and create a monthly budget.

If you realize that the amount of money you’re making simply can’t help you cover all your expenses, then find ways to make more money so that you can meet all your monthly expenses.

3. Not Preparing For Emergencies

I’m pretty sure we can all agree that life is unpredictable. You never know what could happen tomorrow.

That is why you should not be spending all your money now while failing to plan for emergencies. You could lose your job, or your car or an appliance could break down.

The last thing you want in any of these emergencies is realizing that you don’t have enough money.

So please set up an emergency fund and make it your goal to save a certain amount of money every month for emergencies.

And if you’re thinking that you won’t be able to save that much every month, it’s okay. Setting aside a little bit of money for emergencies is better than not saving up any.

4. Shopping When Bored

Let’s be real; with online shopping and everything, buying things has never been easy.

If your favorite thing to do when bored is browsing online stores for things to buy, or if you go shopping every time you feel bored, you should drop this bad money habit ASAP.

A few years ago, I had just moved to a new city and had no friends. So guess what I did? I used retail as therapy which was a very bad idea. I was always broke, and I wasted a lot of money on things I couldn’t even use.

Shopping when bored not only increases your expenses and makes it hard to save but can also increase your credit card debt.

So make it your goal to find other fun things to do when bored instead of shopping.

5. Relying On Credit To Buy Things You Can’t Afford

Are you someone who constantly uses credit to buy expensive things you wouldn’t be able to pay for in cash?

Like those luxury bags, phones, clothes, and all? Well, credit definitely makes it easier for us to buy things we can’t afford.

You think that everything will be okay and that you can easily pay for these expensive items in installments.

However, if you’re not careful, you may end up paying high amounts of money in interest or amassing a high amount of debt. So be honest with yourself and avoid buying things you can’t afford on credit.

Related: 10 Good Money Habits That Will Improve Your Finances

6. Spending Too Much On Food

Ordering in more often, eating out a lot, or ALWAYS meeting your friends at restaurants can easily increase your expenses.

To keep your finances in control, meal prep every week and make your own food at home.

Also, when you go to the grocery store, make a list of things you need and stick to it.

In addition to this, find fun ways to spend time with friends without spending a lot of money at restaurants.

There are also countless food blogs on the internet. Trust me; you can easily prepare your own food at home instead of spending sooo much money on food every day.

7. You Don’t Know Where Your Money Goes

Do you find yourself wondering where all your money went?

Well, this is because you’re not keeping track of your expenses. Every single time you spend money on something, keep track of that expense.

This doesn’t have to be hard because you can easily find an app to help you keep track of your expenses.

In addition to keeping track of your expenses, you should also go through your finances every week.

I know that this seems like such a boring task, but going through your finances more often will help you understand your spending habits and whether you’re sticking to your budget or not.

So always keep track of your expenses, and never procrastinate going through your finances.

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