Looking for some motivation to help you get your financial fitness up to speed? Try some of these tips from mint.com to build a positive financial mindset, that will help you build your wealth.
How does money make you feel?
Step one in building your financial fitness is understanding how money makes you feel, and how that influences how you spend it.
Do you feel like you have money just to pay bills or do you freely spend it, thinking you’ll start saving for retirement ‘one day?’ Money itself doesn’t have any power, but how you use it and how it makes you feel does.
Tracking your money decision thoughts, even for a day, can raise your awareness and help change your mindset.
Focus on yourself, rather than comparing what others have
Social media can make you feel like everyone else has a perfect life. With so many images of people travelling, buying new houses, clothes and cars, it can be hard not to feel like you are not keeping up.
However, remember this is just a snapshot of the poster’s life, and you don’t know what sits behind the surface. It may be that the person has saved really hard, and sacrificed a lot to get their dream holiday, or they may be paying off a credit card. Their financial goals may be quite different than yours.
The only person that you need to compare yourself to – is yourself. Focus on your own financial goals to build the life you aspire to.
Don’t be too hard on yourself for past financial mistakes
While you may have made some financial mistakes in the past, you are not your mistakes. Whether it was a one-off spending splurge or a few missed bills, most of us have had some money blips in our financial history.
So, rather than lamenting the fact you didn’t buy a house when prices were low, think about what you are doing to get on the property ladder now. Focussing on the positive helps you to keep moving forward, instead of being stuck in the past.
Turn your bad habits into good habits
If you often pay your utility bills late, try to change that habit. Paying your bills on time saves you money – as you are not incurring late payment fees or penalty interest. It also helps to develop your abundance mindset, as it’s a great feeling knowing you have the money to meet your commitments (and that what’s left after paying them is yours).
If you are not sure where your money goes, another good habit to develop is to have a budget, and regularly track your income and outgoings. Regular reviews can help you identify when you are going off track, so you can make some adjustments to your spending.
Make sure you enjoy your money
While having a budget is a sound tool for helping you achieve your financial goals, enjoying your money is just as important. Paying bills and saving for a rainy day are must-do money habits – but so is ensuring you spend some money on things that make you happy.
If you don’t build fun into your budget, you’re more likely to end up blowing it. So pay the bills, put some money into your savings – and go and buy that new shirt or enjoy a dinner out. You’ve earned it!
By working on a positive money mindset, you can create good financial habits, and achieve financial fitness.
