Blonde on a Budget had another great post on her blog, check it out! It’s about breaking bad habits. She read a LearnVest article and listed the habits that she has, and I thought I’d do the same. Check them all out right here. I’m thinking I might do some sort of series everyday on how I can improve all of these also.
- Impulse shopping—you should learn to buy what you actually need.
- I’m bad at this. I LOVE clothes and it’s hard for me to wear the same thing when I go out at night. I blame this on the fact that I think business clothes are so boring, and I have to wear them 5 days a week, so I like to mix it up at night time.
- Not asking for a raise when you deserve one. If you’ve never asked for a raise, check my tips, here.
- My pay now is good, but when I used to manage a clothing store, I made a pitiful amount of money, and it was shameful. I won’t even say the amount. But the people that I would hire would start out at a $1 or $2 less than me, that’s how bad it was.
- Thinking that investing can only be boring.
- I definitely don’t think that investing is as fun as paying off debt. It’s nice to see my debt shrink down to a tiny amount, but investing just seems so boring, and I can’t really reap the benefits for quite some time.
- Not having a firm grasp of your budget: what you can afford, what you can’t, when you can afford to splurge a little, and when you need to save for a while.
- I splurge too often. I need to control this.
- Not naming beneficiaries or having a will.
- I don’t have beneficiaries, or a will. I don’t have kids so I never think about it. But I do have a family, so I should have a will.
- Not saving a set amount automatically out of every paycheck.
- I’m guilty of this also. I just save whatever is left over pretty much, because I’m so into paying off my debt.
- Not having AAA if you own or rent cars.
- I’m not really sure what the plus of this is? Will someone tell me? Is State Farm not enough?
What are you guilty of?
Sarah @ 90 Percent B says
I set up a will last year because being a NJ EMT, they had lawyers come in for free and write them up. People thought I was crazy but I wanted to make sure my money, car, and furbabies were taken care of (God forbid). I also got a living will done in case anything ever happened so it will be easier on my family.
Counting all my star says
I wear business attire 5 days a week as well and when it's time to go out I never have any clothes.
Stephanie says
I'm pretty good about most of these. Unforunately I CAN'T ask for a raise since I work for local government and my salary is completely determined by a payscale. And I let my AAA membership lapse… the main advantage of AAA is that you can get a free tow (up to a certain distance) if your car breaks down. And you can get discounts on things like movie tickets and travel and such if you are a AAA member.I don't have a will yet since I don't have any kids yet. My husband and I are joint owners of most accounts and are one anothers' beneficiaries on accounts we own by ourselves(our IRAs, my pension plan at work), so he'd get everything even without a will, and vice versa.I just recently reinstated automatic transfers to savings. That gets suspended every summer since we have less cash coming in for those few months – we don't always have enough cash flow to cover both short-term and long-term savings during that time, so I prioritize our retirement funds.
Rafiki says
Charitable giving and setting up a will. Those would be my only too. I'm going to work on the will within the next couple years as my estate grows bigger. I do have beneficiaries for my accounts that have the option though. On the charitable giving I usually donate to some stuff when it is put forth but I don't donate to charity often. This is something I have to start working on now while I am feeling like I can't afford it because when I am able to I don't want to become a scrooge.
Jax says
I'm a lawyer…but have no will and no life insurance! AGH! What the?! I even WORKED at an insurance company. Good gosh. *head hung in shame*
No Spend Days says
Hi great post. Lots of things to think about. I need a will, & to stop impulse buys to!