But Why Is All the Money Gone?
It happens to me every payday: I get my paycheck, pay my bills, maybe get some groceries, and continue on with my life. Days, maybe a week later, I look into my chequing account and it just doesn’t seem to be the way I left it.
The money’s all gone!
Now I’m left calculating how much I’m going to need to survive for the new week before I can start this cycle all over again.
Do you ever find this happening to you?
You know you don’t have a debit card hacker, but you just can’t seem to figure out how you spent all that money.
It’s usually after I check my statement that I see that I have spent a lot of money. A lunch or dinner out here, a new outfit there, a cab ride when I was too lazy to take the subway, and all of those little things that tend to eat up your paycheck. This isn’t such a big deal if you can make it like this week to week while still enjoying yourself, but what about your savings?
We tend to forget about planning for the future when we’re enjoying ourselves so much right now. Unfortunately, we probably have goals, like paying off a mortgage, or even retiring one day, but those seem so far off that we push them away and instead buy a new outfit because we “needed” it.
The worst part of it is that all these little things, that tend to add up, usually are so meaningless to us after a short while.
Follow these tips to stop your spending cycle:
-
Take a good hard look at your paycheck and where it’s all going.
-
Set up budgets and stick to them.
-
Treat your paycheck like a big pie and divvy it up each month. Leave money for those things you love but also leave money for savings.
-
Make sure you divvy it up immediately. Don’t hope that you’ll have enough left over for savings at the end.
-
Keep yourself accountable. You want that new top? Save for it or don’t buy it. There are no in-betweens. What’s more important in the future is how you plan for it, not how you look when you get there.
With these tips you can finally have an organized and responsible life without having to spend another week stretching your cash with a dumbfounded look on your face. Take back control of your money and your life!
Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown is an Associate Editor at Goddess Connections for the Women Who Run It E-Mag. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Studies. She is a resident of Toronto and she has a passion for exploring topics on health and fitness, and enjoys writing stories about women’s issues. She also enjoys writing about business and how to build a career. When she is not working for Women Who Run It you can find her exploring Toronto, going for jogs, or simply enjoying life as a strong, empowered woman who runs it. Her goal is to share stories that help women of all walks of life take control of their lives and create balance with ease.