My blog focuses on Financial Literacy/Money. Like money aspects of life, you success with money comes down to habits. Good ones will propel you forward while bad ones will hamper you. The following contributed post is entitled, How Quick Money Habits Will Hold You Back.
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Quick money habits are unfortunately common these days, as people chase a better lifestyle, instant gratification, and relief from stress. However, attaining more wealth takes time, and chasing quick money will only lead to more problems. This includes more debt and increased stress. From an unaffordable lifestyle to no emergency fund, here are some examples.
Emotional Spending
One of the worst things for your wallet is emotion. Clever supermarkets and online retailers know the power of emotion, which is why they encourage impulse purchasing. Any financial advisors worth their salt will always advise you to think about every purchase and always shop when you have a clear head, a plan, and a budget. Excitement, stress, and even happiness can drive more purchases as they can grant temporary gratification, but only the seller wins.
Unaffordable Lifestyle
When you have more money, you spend more on luxury. However, quick money, such as loans and credit cards, can quickly spiral your spending habits into something very unaffordable. For example, you might buy a new couch, then decorate the living room to match, and a new TV looks like a better fit! It’s easy to fall into the trap, and then you will end up owing more money than you can reasonably afford to pay, all because you want to keep up with the Kardashians!
Quick Money Habits Leave You Vulnerable
On average, there are around 836,000 cyber fraud reports made to the police each year in the US, costing Americans over $12 billion. There are some steps to take after being scammed, but you can prevent it altogether. A focus on quick access to easy money makes you susceptible to getting rich-quick schemes and other scams. While they seem promising, they rarely work in your favor. Shifting to a budgeting mindset reduces your reliance on unsavory income.
No Emergency Fund
Having an emergency fund and a financial plan is a powerful fallback should something bad happen in life. You never know when you will lose a job, split up with a partner, or need emergency medical treatment. If you are always chasing quick money with no real savings to speak of, then you won’t be covered should life’s tragedies fall upon you. This is also likely to play on your mind and can be a great source of stress as you make your way through life.
Poor Financial Decisions
There are many mental problems that come with chasing fast money all the time. You can come to believe that bad money issues, such as large debt or sudden costs, don’t happen to you. And you can also reprioritize money. For example, you may think that spending lavishly is justified because you want a better life. But you don’t really make the best decisions, and debt will add up. This can cause decisions that spiral, causing issues like bankruptcy and bad credit scores.
Summary
Emotional spending is an undesirable outcome of quick money habits that can be detrimental to your financial health. You can also become susceptible to money losses through online scams when chasing quick cash, and over time, you will make more and more bad financial decisions.
