Managing your finances becomes easier once you find spending habits that greatly suit your lifestyle. Whether you want to achieve financial freedom or want to get out of debt, everything starts with developing healthy financial routines.

In this article, we listed eight spending habits you can easily do to get better at handling your finances.

It’s all about realistic budgets

Everyone tells you to create a budget, but sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned. This is why when allocating money for your expenses, always try to come up with more realistic budgets.

A more realistic budget considers your monthly net income and your monthly expenses. You can also have a little bit of allowance for unexpected expenses. However, you should try not to think about this allowance and focus on spending according to the budget you set.

Never forget about cheat days

It’s completely normal to get tempted to spend on luxurious things such as clothes, shoes, or even a new car. So when coming up with a budget for, say, a month, always consider having “cheat” days.

Cheat days are when you allow yourself to buy some things that you want, with the money you saved to reward yourself when you feel like you deserve it. These days can also save you from emotional spending. The trick is not to get too strict with your finances, so you lessen the possibility of overspending.

Organize your expenses

Tracking your expenses is one thing, but have you tried organizing them? Organizing your expenses gives you an idea about your current spending habits.

Save your receipts and write every purchase down to the smallest ones in a journal or install an expense tracker mobile app. A categorized expenses tracker allows you to see how exactly you spend most of your money, recognize habits you can improve, and see how your small purchases pile up. These apps also have expenses summaries and assistive graphs that make it easier for you to review and adjust your expenses accordingly.

Think thrice before making big purchases

Big purchases should always be a big deal, even as you become more financially secure. When making huge purchases, always try to think thrice or more: is it really necessary to purchase this item now? Is this purchase in your priorities? Will this purchase be worth its use? This verifies whether you can put off this expense to make way for others that are in your priorities or not.

This is especially true if you plan to use your credit card since you have to consider your bank’s interest rates and payment terms.

Never forget about small expenses

They say one of the most tricky types of expenses are the small ones because they can more easily go unnoticed. For example, one takeout meal might only cost a couple of bucks, but if you choose delivered food all the time, you might not realize how its cost is accumulating. It’s not that you shouldn’t get food delivered; it’s just a matter of staying aware of how you spend your money.

Tracking and categorizing your expenses, as mentioned beforehand, helps you see these small expenses as they pile up.

Invite friends for bulk buys

The next time you shop, how about trying to check if any one of your friends would buy items from the same seller? Bulk buying can save you the item’s shipping fee or make you eligible for discounts or vouchers that would cut your expense even further as shops usually require a minimum spend to avail these promos.

Always look for sales, discounts, and cashbacks

Always check for different sales such as clearance or holiday sales because stores tend to cut as big as 70% off their prices during this time. It’s also good sense to try to hold off a purchase when you can if the item might be put on sale soon.

There are also limited-time discounts you can avail of to save more from your purchases. A good way to stay updated about a shop’s latest promos is to subscribe to their email newsletters or follow them on their social media accounts. You can also try finding apps that give you cashbacks every time you purchase in their partner stores.

Cashbacks are a small percentage of the money you spend for buying in an online shop. This reward is credited to your account and can be withdrawn as cash or be used for online shopping as well.

Build up your savings no matter how slowly

One of the most important steps towards financial freedom is increasing your savings. Allocate some of your money to your savings, no matter how small your deposits might be. In turn, it creates a healthy habit of saving, which you can continue as your income grows.

In addition, your savings can contribute to your emergency fund, retirement fund, or other future expenses.

Manage your finances

Being good with money is not as hard as you think. Yes, it might be challenging to change old habits at first. But over time, you become more accustomed to being financially aware. With a bit of discipline, as you continuously practice healthy spending habits, you would be able to manage your finances a lot easier.