5 Excuses Financially Savvy People Never Use

By Randell Tiongson on April 11th, 2016

 

Financial planning and management – it sounds like a daunting task. It’s already one thing to earn money, and it’s another to actively manage it and ensure you’re planning your finances properly.

You know that saving is important, and yet you’re always counting the days until payday because nothing’s left in your account anymore. You know that investing is a great opportunity to grow your money, and yet you keep holding it off because your salary is insufficient. You know you want to retire on a beach and drink cocktails or beer every day, and yet you haven’t started saving up for retirement – a time when you won’t be earning an income anymore.

Financial planning and management – it’s a daunting task, but everyone needs it. You might have the friend who seems like he has his finances in order. You may know of a colleague who manages to travel quarterly and yet doesn’t look like he’s starving himself to save. These people are the type to emulate; they’re financially savvy and have their finances in order.

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Hoping to become one of them someday? You can start with changing your mindset and avoid making excuses. Here are 5 excuses financially savvy people never use:

I don’t know where to start

With the boom of the internet, information is more accessible at present day than it has ever been. A simple online search will give you the exact information you need. A person can spend hours on the internet each day. Why not allot a little bit of it to become productive?

The solution: Simple searches such ‘how to save my income’ or ‘what is a good investment’ are a great first step. The internet is a place that seems to have an answer for everything. Are you planning to open a bank account to stash your savings? Check the websites of different banks before going to local branches. Are you planning to apply for a mortgage to buy your first home? Use comparison websites, such as MoneyMax.ph, to learn a little more about home loans before you settle for one.

I’m busy

We all have 24 hours a day, but some people seem to get more things done than others. It’s about prioritization. When you say ‘I’m busy’, this means you’re not prioritizing that particular task.

The solution: To start, write down one financial goal you want to achieve per month. This can be tracking your expenses or saving X% of salary. After, write down specific steps you can do to achieve that goal. Now that you’ve written the steps, it’s time to prioritize them. If you want to save 10% of your salary, you would have to prioritize this over buying that artisan coffee or trying the new speakeasy bar that just opened up.

It’s difficult

Doing what is right is usually difficult to do. A specific example is buying a new pair of shoes. It’s much easier to do that to open a bank account. When you buy shoes, you have multiple payment options – cash, debit, or credit. When you open a bank account, you have to fill up and submit forms, IDS, and what have you. There’s no argument as to which one’s easier to do; however, what is easy isn’t always what’s right.

The solution: Start small so that action doesn’t seem so burdensome. Do you want to save a percentage of your salary? Why not start with saving 5% first? 5% of a Php 18,000 salary is only Php 900. Do you want to start investing? Why not read 500-word blogs about it first? The more you get the hang of a particular action, the less difficult it becomes.

I don’t have money for that yet

This is definitely one of the most common reasons why people forego financial planning and management. There’s a misconception that it takes huge amounts of many to start wealth-building.

The solution: As mentioned earlier, start small and shift your priorities. You can open an investment account with Php 5,000 or Php 10,000. The amount doesn’t matter at the start; what matters is you take the first step. Couple that with a changed mindset – prioritize saving over spending. If you put saving first before spending, you’re going to be saying, “I don’t have money to spend”. That’s much better than saying, “I don’t have money to save”.

Y.O.L.O.

You only live once. So why save for the future and live a miserable present? However, you can find a balance. YOLO doesn’t mean you quit your job, travel the world, and figure it you. Why not travel and work at the same time? You can save your vacation leaves to travel or take part-time work in whichever country you’re in.

The solution: Find the balance between fun and practical. This can be hiking during the weekend to explore the outdoors instead of spending it in the mall. This can be having a potluck dinner with friends instead of dining in a restaurant with outrageous mark-ups. The key is to find a balance. Be practical and have fun at the same time. Save for your future self without sacrificing your present self.

Financial planning and management – it’s a daunting task, but everyone needs it. Taking the first step is always the hardest, so why no start by changing your mindset, slowly but surely. Say ‘goodbye’ to the excuses above, and challenge yourself to reach your money goals. Sooner or later, you couldn’t believe the excuses you used to say in the past because you’ve already gotten used to financial planning and management that it becomes easy and automatic.

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It’s time to be an empowered investor! Join the biggest investment conference of the year – iCon2016 this May 28, 2016

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Visit www.icon2016.info for details.

 

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5 Excuses Financially Savvy People Never Use