In an era where the cost of living continues to skyrocket it can seem as though taking control of your finances is an uphill struggle. Moreover, it seems that no matter how hard we work, our paycheck never quite manages to pick up the slack. In an age of corporate wage suppression where the businesses that employ us deliberately keep our pay low to insulate their bottom lines it seems as though all the overtime in the world isn’t enough to help us take control of our finances. We all know that using a good household budget template and actually sticking to it is one of the best ways to right the ship financially, however much we earn, yet so few of us find that we’re able to stick to a budget month by month and year by year. No matter how much we know it could improve our lifestyle and make our lives easier, it’s just not something we’re able to commit to.

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This isn’t because we’re lazy, indolent or even terribly well organized… It’s because we’re human and as such we’re predisposed to frailty. As noble as our intentions may be, our nature can keep us from achieving our true financial potential in the following ways.

Fear

When it comes to money many of us can feel paralyzed with fear. We can feel the need to bury our heads in the sand and hope that everything will blow over. This is a perfectly natural impulse, but it’s an impulse that needs to be fought. Instead of running from your fear, dive into it and own it. Immerse yourself in that which scares you the most and it will cease to exert the same power over you.

Spiraling debt

Many households encounter debt of some sort, whether it’s student debt, loan repayments, credit card debts or simply the home’s mortgage. Debt is a reality for most 21st century families and it needn’t cripple your finances. It’s simply a matter of ensuring that your debts are properly managed.

A key component of this is prioritizing your debts. Of course your mortgage and maintaining the roof over your head should be your number one priority. Fail to manage this debt properly and you may find yourself in foreclosure. If this happens your last line of defense may be an attorney like www.DicksonLegal.com/real-estate-law/foreclosure. Fighting the urge to bury your head in the sand and getting in touch with your creditors can make it much easier to come to agreeable terms and manage your finances more effectively. In some cases a consolidation loan can make juggling your debts far easier and prevent you from being unable to budget.  

Impulse spending

Finally, it’s in our nature to set up psychological effort / reward systems for ourselves. We work particularly hard on a project, we treat ourselves to something nice. We put in a lot of overtime one week, we buy ourselves a new designer purse at the weekend. While reward systems can be an effective way of keeping ourselves productive, they can also lead us to impulse spending which can derail any budgeting attempts. By all means treat yourself every once in a while, just make sure that you factor it into your budget.

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