3 money mistakes to avoid

We all know how hard life can be and how challenging it can be to manage money. Nevertheless, there are some mistakes one should never make. Avoid these 3 money mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to getting on top of your finances.

1. Treating credit as an emergency fund
The more time you spend without saving towards an emergency fund, the more you put your financial future under risk. What happens when you have another financial shortfall shortly after the one you just took credit for? You’ll have to borrow more money, and that means more debt to repay.
Once you start saving towards your emergency fund, don’t withdraw from it, and if you do, make sure that you put the money back.

2. Thinking you don’t need a budget
Having a budget is not only for heavily indebted people who are trying to regain control of their finances. If creating a budget from scratch is too overwhelming for you, consider using a tool like the Multiply Money App, which tracks your spend and categorizes it for you. One of the biggest advantages of tracking your spend is that you will be able to see areas where you are spending money unnecessarily or where you can spend less.

3. Skipping a payment
Perhaps you got too busy and now you skipped a payment when it was due as a result, don’t just put it off for next month. Skipping a payment can result in penalties and fees that you were not prepared to pay in the first place. Even if you make an arrangement to pay double the installment the following month, you will still have to pay an extra amount you had not bargained for. And if you don’t have money to make up for this shortfall, you’ll probably have to dip into credit yet again.

You might also want to read this blog post on practical ways to start saving money now.