One Step at a Time: Saving and Spending Money

Hello dear readers,

A lot of us might have experienced financial complications already regardless of ethnicity, gender and even economic status in life.  Financial difficulties often occur because of different reasons. Some of the most common reasons are unexpected expenses, overspending, improper financial management and discontentment in life. Proper saving and spending of money are essential to help prevent and aid these financial difficulties.

For us teenagers, it can be quite hard to manage money especially if most of the money that we have are from our allowance. With the extensive products and services the market has to offer, it can be quite hard not to be persuaded. This week, I realized a lot of things regarding financial matters. Some of them are listed below:

1.) Save as much as we can.

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Whenever there`s a chance not to buy something, then do not buy. Many of the things that we buy aren`t really basic necessities but wants. I realized that if we control ourselves in buying even the smallest things, we`ll be able to save small amounts of money. When these small amounts of money are combined, we might even be surprised at how much we can save if we can only stop buying unnecessary things.

No matter how compelling a product or service may seem, ignore them unless you need them. These products and services will most likely be available for a long time. Don`t be compelled to avail these things
unless you have thought really well that you`ll spend money for these things. Let`s take into consideration how these things will benefit us. With this, I`ll share with you the next realization I had.

2.) Plan before spending.

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Whether we`re buying the simplest things to the more complicated ones, we must think carefully and thoughtfully on how we`re going to spend our money. There are many times we can just go to the stores and buy whatever we can think of at the moment. This is a common practice but this can also trigger overspending. Having a single notebook which we can use to write any financial matters can also be a great idea (as for me, I use my planner which has a budget section to sort my savings and expenses).

Planning before spending will greatly help us in saving money. We`ll be able to determine which types of products and brands suits our needs and budget. By planning, we`ll be able to get the best products and services we can have, prepare ourselves for other upcoming expenses, allot our money properly and avoid several trips to the stores. 

Planning and budgeting are very useful to manage our finances well. These are essential things to do if we aspire for a healthy financial life.

3.) Prioritize the items in our shopping list.

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Prioritizing the things that must be bought will help us determine the importance of each item we think we need to get. By prioritizing, we`ll be able to meet our immediate necessities and we`ll be able to have more time allowance to think things through whether those things listed at the bottom of our shopping list are really needed or not.

If we have a specific item that we would like to acquire, it`s best to save money for them instead of compromising the significant things that we must purchase first. Even if it takes time and patience, we might even feel grateful and appreciative after buying the thing that we like because buying something that we really like after waiting and saving for it for a long time is like achieving a goal. It`s not only an indication of having self-control, but it`s a one step forward in achieving better and greater goals.

Prioritization will help us know the things we should really focus on. It will help us prevent the possibilities of acquiring things we don`t necessarily need.

Financial complications are sometimes inevitable. This is also the reason why we must take saving and spending money properly, management of finances and budgeting seriously. Money isn`t everything but because we need to have money to acquire certain things, we need to handle them thoughtfully and carefully because we have no guarantees that we`ll have enough in the future.

These are just some of my thoughts about financial matters. I also often experience financial challenges like most people that`s why organization, proper management and self-control are really important things to consider. 

How do you save and spend money? If you have any tips regarding saving and spending money, you may share your thoughts in the comments below.

If this somehow helped you, please share them. If you would like more "One Step at a Time" posts, follow this blog or the social media profiles below for updates. Thank you for reading. Have a healthy financial life! 

- Graceful Mist

If you have any comments, suggestions, requests, and/or questions, please leave them in the comments` section of this blog post. Thank you.