Whether your budget-managing methods are massively failing or the overly consumerist society is to blame for your budget getting thinner and thinner by day, one thing is sure – no matter how much money you earn or how well thought out your saving plan is, you’re repeatedly going through a wasting-money-melodrama, a very nerve-wracking money haze if you will. Are we right? Sure we are. The subjective feeling is that the money is being wasted with no purpose or end plan, and it’s exhausting.

Luckily, there is a way to put an end to your twisted money habits (at least for a period), and get things in order. With just a little luck and a lot of careful planning, you may develop a healthy spending pattern that will not only save you money, but stop you from ending up with a bunch of things you don’t even need.

Let’s get down to identifying your troublesome spending habits, and help turn them into profitable manners.

Identify money leaks

What’s a money leak, you ask? It’s all that money you withdraw from your bank account and end up unable to identify/recollect what you have spent it on when you’re reviewing your bank and/or credit card statements.

Finding your money “leaks” is one of the most challenging parts of getting a grip on your finances, but it’s a step that will lead to a healthy turnaround. Be advised, it’ll take a long time before you really get this under control, but you’ll manage.

A perfect example of a money leak is entering a supermarket and buying a few items just because you “might need them” but don’t really have the necessity for buying them. Or, waiting for one store to open (the one you actually need to purchase from) and entering another where you spend a hefty amount of money on random items you never needed to buy in the first place.

Take a month or two to select items you’ve been buying over the course of 60 days that you didn’t actually need, but bought them anyways. Then, try to figure out what your most common spending triggers are. Once you identify them, you’ll be able to let go of them and prevent the unnecessary spending. Also, consider keeping a spending diary.

Stay on top of your earnings

ATM-ing around makes us all oblivious to how much money we actually spend in a day or a month. With cash in hand, we can see and feel the money slipping out of our hands and stop before we spend all. However, when kept on a card, the money is visually non-existent, which is why we can’t really keep track of it.

To avoid getting a heart attack at the end of the month, check your e-banking account regularly so you can stay on top of your spending and always know how much money you are left with.

Invest in quality

Usually, hoping to save a buck, we go for cheaper items, thinking they’ll last just as long as overpriced ones would. However, paying more for something usually means getting more in terms of quality.

Investing in overpriced items shouldn’t be a lifestyle nor a reckless spending method, but it should be considered a smart, long-term investment.

For instance, buying cheap building material for your house will leave you with a lot of additional fixes and changes that will bring additional, repeated costs. Buy the material that’s of high quality from the get go and save yourself the headache later. Investing in cheap car parts to save up is a very reckless move as they’re not only unsafe but will break in a month or two. Instead, make sure you buy recommended quality auto parts and enjoy your wheels for a long time.

Obviously, not all items need to be expensive to end up serving you great. Still, when you are brainstorming on the things you are to spend on, just think of it this way – if you made a cake with ingredients of fishy quality, would that cake be as tasty as if made with top ranked material? Exactly.

Saving money (or at least not spending recklessly) isn’t that big a deal if you approach it with a healthy attitude and a spending vision. Build your plan head on, and see what happens. Good luck!