Exercising Financial Restraint Leads to Financial Security
It is generally agreed that if you want to live longer you have to exercise your body. Likewise, if you want to have financial security during that life you have to exercise your self-control. Having the ability to walk away from a purchase, being able to wait until you have the cash before you buy, or simply having the boldness to just say no are all key elements to living a thrifty life.
Do you want to learn how to control your spending? Learn not to rely on your “plastic”. Don’t carry your debit cards and destroy your credit cards. Choose to pay for items with cash instead.
When you have to hand over cold hard cash for something, you will most likely to take your time before deciding if you are really willing to go ahead with the purchase.
Learn to budget you money well. You may find it helpful to label different envelopes with what the money placed there will be used for. Some of the categories could be food, gasoline, the house payment, etc. You may also have an envelope for things you would like to buy. Exercise self control and don’t buy the item until you have saved up enough money in the envelope.
Another way to develop your self-control is to set up a waiting period for purchases. Three days would be ideal but you should wait 24 hours (at least) before following up on a purchase. If you still want it and just can’t live without it after the waiting period (and you have the money already set aside), then it is probably a good purchase for you to make.
It is also a good idea to be accountable to someone, in most cases your marriage partner, although others prefer not to discuss financial matters with their mate . Don’t hold anything back from this person. Give them detailed information about your economic situation. You need to be able to contact this person at any time knowing that they will be there to support you. In the moment that you feel like you are going to make an impulse buy, call them for some moral support.
The most important step is learning to avoid impulse buying so that you can carefully plan your purchases. This is the best way to be in a position to plan your financial future and how you will achieve your goals. Once you have developed financial restraint, you will be able to avoid buying things that don’t fit into your plan.
While is isn’t always easy to say no to things, by learning to exercise financial restraint and by getting the needed help from your accountability partner, it will quickly become second nature.
