Do you have any idea how influential your spending habits can be? It can make or break your financial situation. That’s not an exaggeration!
Some people believe that if they can only earn enough money, they can improve their financial position. Without a doubt, earning more money can help. But ultimately, it’s the way you spend money that will make a difference – whether that’s good or bad, it’s up to you.

Like if you’re earning $4,000 a month and your expenses reach a total of $4,500, what do you think will happen? You’ll have a deficit of $500. Where will you get the money to pay for that? You’ll use debt! Most likely, you’ll be using your credit card to pay for it. If you keep living this way, spending beyond what you’re earning, you can quickly accumulate a lot of debt. Since credit cards have a high-interest rate, it’ll be harder to pay it all off. The finance charge of your card will keep making your balance grow.
That’s how your spending habits can ruin your finances.
But if you can make sure that your spending is under control, you won’t have to worry about your finances. No matter what happens, your good spending behavior will lead you to make the right choices. Even when you’re in the midst of a crisis, you‘ll find a way to make smarter choices like saving more. Just like how the savings rate increased to 33.5% in the midst of a pandemic. Your habits will shape how you make decisions about using your money.
3 spending habits that create extra money for debt payments
With the right spending habits, you can reach any financial goal that you set your mind to. Like if you want to pay off your debts, your spending behavior will help you achieve that.
How? If you use the right habits, you should be able to create extra money to help with your debt payments. The more you can add to your monthly payments, the faster you can achieve debt freedom. Not to mention the savings you’ll get when you pay it off faster. You won’t have to pay a lot of interest when your debt is paid off quickly.
So what are the habits that you need to develop to shape your spending behavior?
Stick to necessities
This is a great habit to have. When you train yourself to stick to the necessities, it will be easier for you to avoid overspending.
But before anything else, what does it mean to stick to necessities? Ideally, these are the expenses that you need to survive. So if it’s not necessary for your survival, you shouldn’t spend on it. Whatever you don’t spend can be added to your debt payment fund.
Of course, there are things that may not be necessary for your survival, but you still have to spend on. These are usually the expenses that will help you earn more. If that’s the case, then it’s acceptable. Because whatever you spend will be earned back. Think of it as an investment. Even if it means buying something that’ll make you productive and profitable, then consider that a necessity. Just make sure it’s real and not just an excuse in your head to make spending on a want acceptable. Be disciplined in this restriction so you can maximize the funds you’ll get for your debt payments.
Use coupons
In one survey, 88% of the respondents revealed that they used coupons for shopping in 2020. If you really want to get that extra funds to pay off your debts, get used to coupons. This is one of the spending habits that will help you save on the usual purchases that you make. So even if you just stick to the necessities, if you use coupons on top of that, you’ll end up saving more.
Admittedly, the use of coupons can be tedious. You have to be very organized. There are a lot of coupons to choose from and it can be confusing at times. But if you get used to this, it’ll be easier over time.
Live on a budget
Let’s be clear about this. Budgeting is not exactly one of the spending habits. But this is part of this list because it affects how you spend your money. Your budget plan can shape the decisions you make about spending. If your budget shows that you don’t have enough extra money, you’ll be more careful about your expenses. You’ll find it easier to say no to spending.
To make this work, you have to ensure that your budget plan is updated. That means it has to be aligned with your current lifestyle. That’s how you can be sure that it supports what you really need at the moment and shows what your true financial situation really is.
Spending habits that can keep you in debt
Without a doubt, good financial habits will help you improve your personal finances. It won’t just help you with your financial situation. It will also allow you to develop a certain level of resilience. Your habits will allow you to grab opportunities and steer your decisions to where you know will only benefit you.
That’s something that you should really work on. Your spending habits are just one part of it. But it’s not just about what you should be doing. There are also bad spending behavior that you need to correct if you really want to reach your goals – like building extra funds for your debt payments.
If you don’t want any of your goals to be compromised, make sure you avoid these spending habits.
Impulsive spending
This is probably the worst kind of spending. It’s reckless and out of control. When it comes to your finances, you never want to lose control. You always want to know where your money is going. You want to make sure that every time you spend, it’s for a purpose.
Impulsive spending doesn’t have any of that. It’s not planned and it’s mostly based on your emotions. That’s dangerous because it can quickly make you accumulate a lot of debts.
Spending before saving
The other habit that you need to change is spending before saving. Some people take a look at their income and remove everything they need for expenses. Whatever’s left is then set aside for savings. If there’s anything left at all. That’s the wrong way to do it. If this is how you deal with your income, you won’t save anything. You won’t be able to build the extra funds that you’ll need to pay off your debts.
What you should be doing is to treat your savings like a bill. That means you have to determine a saving goal each month, then fund that first. Whatever is left, that’s what you’ll use to spend each month. If that’s your attitude, you’ll soon strengthen your finances because of the amount of savings that you’ve put aside.