Most people are feeling the pinch as inflation rises and the cost of goods keep going up. Studies Have shown that 75% of people in the United States are on a monthly budget but bad spending habits can destroy your monthly budget and financial well being so we have detailed the five worst bad habits that will destroy your monthly budget.
TAKEOUT / EATING OUT
You need to be realistic on how many time a month you go through drive thru and get that morning coffee or going for beers after work with the boys these small bills can really start to add up. Most important have you budgeted all these transactions with the money you budgeted for groceries? If not these transactions will definitely destroy your budget and needs to be added into the budget or you need to limit the amount of times you go through drive thru.
MONTH EMERGENCY FUND
When things go wrong they happen in threes, we all have are sob stories where the old AC unit breaks down on the hottest day of the year, or dropping your phone on the side walk, or you need new tires. Life is going to happen and when it does we need an emergency fund to help offset the cost because the monthly budget may only have $200 for miscellaneous items. An Emergency fund is so important as you don’t have to incur debt or pay high interest rates as we can repay back the emergency fund till the next time.
CREDIT CARD INTEREST PAYMENTS
If you have a credit card balance every month this habit will stretch your budget or can even break your budget. You need to make sure your credit card balances are paid off in full and if this cant be done you may have a need to increase your income and not pay only minimum balances as credit card payment will be on your budget forever.
ENTERTAINMENT
You have to be honest with yourself on how much money you spend on entertainment every month and allocate enough money in your budget for entertainment. If you find yourself going to the bar, movies and buying the latest madden game you may have to cut out your spending to stay on budget.
STREAMING SERVICES
Big question is have you allocated enough money in your budget for streaming services from Netflix, Amazon Prime to Spotify. You may find that you can lower membership tier to save cost or really think if you need to have all these recurring subscription fees if you are going over budget.
