Cash advice: Break your bad money habits

Changing your ways could leave you quids in…

We’re all guilty of bad habits – having that extra biscuit at 4pm, or telling ourselves we’ll go to the gym tomorrow… but many of us have also fallen into bad habits with our finances which could be wasting our cash. Money expert Jon Paul Kelly* has five tips on how to break them for good.

1 CURB YOUR IMPULSE SPENDING

Everyone buys things ‘off-plan’ now and again. Still, the next time you pick up an extra item in a store, whether it’s a skirt or a juicer, ask yourself if you really need it. How many other skirts do you own that you don’t wear? Will you really make the time to make a fresh fruit juice every morning? If the answer is no, don’t buy it. If it’s yes, sleep on it. Giving yourself time to think it over will often solve any need-versus-want dilemmas for you.

2 Don’t ignore coupons and deals

There are plenty of supermarket coupons and online deal codes out there that could cut a large chunk out of your spend. But they’re sometimes tricky and timeconsuming to find, so it’s no wonder many of us just can’t be bothered looking. And having to cut them out of a paper, or download them from the internet, can seem fiddly. But it’s well worth spending some time looking around for the latest deals and offers, as they really can pay off.

3 MAKE A LIST FOR THE SUPERMARKET

Are you guilty of shopping without a list? This particularly bad habit means you’re more likely to buy things you don’t need – especially if you go when you’re hungry, or have a little one with you who’s skilled at pester power! To cure this habit, work backwards – plan all your meals for the week, then list what you need to buy. Write it down – that way, you’ll be more likely to stick to it.

4 Avoid one-click buying online

It’s all too easy to log on to Amazon, Tesco or, indeed, any shopping website, browse the goods, find something that takes your fancy and press the ‘ buy now’ button. Just one click means that what you’ve had your eye on will then be winging its way to your home, if you’ve already saved your card details on the site while making an earlier purchase. But too much convenience can sometimes be a bad thing. Next time you browse a shopping website, don’t save your card details, as it takes away your chance to think twice about making a purchase.

5 SWITCH TO A PAY-AS-YOU-GO PHONE

If you’re not a heavy mobile user, pay-asyou-go can be a much cheaper option than a contract. You’ll only pay for the calls, texts and data you use, and can also limit your usage – and your costs – accordingly.