You should be more like me, saving every last cent, only spending where absolutely necessary, browbeat relatives into giving you things, hoard with the tenacity of Scrooge Mcduck, search relentlessly for bargains, keep records studiously, and never trust anyone or give 'loans' to your friends.
Remember, Ben Franklin wasn't kidding when he said "A penny saved is a penny earned".
Yeah, I'm a miser, what of it?
Oddly enough, with enough attention towards funds, and minimal use of change, along with "A little soon becomes alot." that quote makes much sense. There have been times where even having a roll of pennies have saved my neck. Anyway...
I do just about all that myself, except for the brow beating part, but yeah, loans suck big time, whether you're giving or receiving them (one of the many reasons I fear free money; with how I can treat others to paying me back, I fear they are capable of the same methods). As for tracking money, it helps to track your total value (in cash and bank), as well as an income tracker. Excel or OpenOffice are your best friends here. I made myself my own money tracking programs through Excel, and kept track of every passing cent. Helped tons when I was overdrawn for no reason, and traced my payments and values, lined them up with the most recent receipts, and BING! problem solved in less than 6 hours, and case closed in less than 12 hours after.
Now, regarding the tenacity of Scrooge McDuck, you gotta be stingy if you have to survive. Have a minimum allowable funds, and as strange as it sounds, set yourself a maximum value. As bad as having too little money is also having too much money. There are plenty of reasons, ranging from tax collection (too much money, you pay them), and people you're close to; you have too much, you're the resident loan-shark, and have to be a financial crutch for the group (or, in my case, being the only one with a consistent job, which unfortunately is losing it's foothold), I've been the financial crutch for my household, making up for missing funds when paying bills, shopping when there's a food shortage, etc. When you're the main breadwinner, you're going to need limits in both directions to minimize dependency, whether it's your dependence, or theirs.
Oh, and to be more like Scrooge, be sure to understand the mass of coins, just in case you intend to dive in and swim in a pool full of them.
Bad spending habits are just that, habits. You think it will go away when you're older, but if you've been doing it for years it might not. Better to deal with the habit now than do it when failing to break it will land you in serious fiscal hell.
And fiscal hell is the worst kind of hell. I've overdrawn once, and when I did it I felt like I was going to throw up. Nothing is more galling than knowing you screwed up with money.
Yeah, overdrawing sucks. When I had my first job, I was spending quite a bit, until I overdrafted due to conditions against my will (along with not being smart about public ATMs, which charge you for even looking into your account and not withdrawing anything. Let's not forget, long drives, and having to keep fueled.). I think I bottomed-out to around -$150-ish my first time. It was utter hell trying to recover from that, and took me nearly 2 weeks to a month to repair the damage, and scab over it with a safety minimum limit. After your first overdraft, it'll be programmed into your mind to become as spendthrift as possible (especially for recovery), as well as a total miser whenever possible; it also helps to carry cash on you as often as possible (use cash backs if your wallet is empty, provided you can afford to. There will be times where having cash on you will save your ass.). It does help to be generous sometimes, but you have to moderate that for the reasons above. Minimize dependency, but keep everyone you know favorable enough that when you need help, they can help you; especially considering any times you saved their ass (SEE: Loan/Free Money).
If you can keep track of your money well enough, you can turn what could possibly be the worst fate ever, into the best evidence ever of being screwed over, which can lead to either a suitable lawsuit, or a way to get your money back to it's original value. A recent incident I encountered made full use of everything I gathered and encountered (SEE: Excel). I was overdrawn in a rapid-fire motion, in an attempt to mimic my recent spending, and to my surprise, my bank account went from $100-odd to -$600-700 -odd. It really helps to limit and predict your spending, as well as save up, because when the fit hits the shan, you gotta be able to clean up the shan ASAP, and make it as if nothing happened at all in less than a day.
Oh, and to add to the BS of the situation, this happened near the end of a business week, meaning, if I was even a moment late, it wouldn't have been taken seriously. That's the kind of eye I keep on my funds. An excellent example to follow; and of course, don't share any of your bank or money info with anyone. I had to break that rule for a moment to provide example.
"Money's not the root of all evil, but the intention behind having or earning it is." Might as well end it on a quote. I forgot who said it though.
Oh, and if anyone's interested in my money tracking programs I made on Excel, I'll be more than happy to share them. Feel free to modify them how you see fit as well. I'll just need to clear out my info first.
EDIT:
I almost forgot. Banks can sometimes be total dicks, so you have to always be a step ahead of them if you intend to go on any mass-purchase or mass-deposit/withdrawl. Reason, they will try to take as much advantage over the situation as possible and siphon as much profit as they possibly can through legal loopholes. If you're more aware of your funds than them, they can't pull crap without you knowing about it. Plus, if you notice any unusual activity in such regards, it can actually give you a rational reason to at least threaten them with a lawsuit, which can give you the higher ground in negotiating either a fixer-upper with any flaws made to your account (restoring to original amount is generally a smarter option; remember, free money isn't always the best way; breaking even has the lowest odds of crapping up.), or if you out-smart the bank and notice any issues before they do, sometimes they can reward you for outsmarting them by noticing an error they either overlooked or "overlooked" (intentionally doing so to their advantage).
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Topic: Money Sinks (Read 3713 times)