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4 Useful Tips to Live Within Your Means from Kyle

Monday, September 26, 2016
This blog already moved to www.savingspinay.ph If you want the latest tips and stories on budget, savings, investments, productivity and making extra income go HERE instead.

 Hi everyone! Today we have an amazing article from our SavingsPinay Guest Blogger of the Month. 

Last week I received an inquiry from Kyle Kam whether I'll be happy to feature his post on SavingsPinay. I happily agreed knowing how this could add value to our readers. I have heard about MoneyMax.ph for sometime now and it's an honor that someone from the brand noticed the blog. Kyle will give us the 4 Useful Tips to Live Within Your Means.

Hope you enjoy the post that Kyle wrote for us!


You’ve probably received the advice “live within your means” before. The thing is that living within one’s means is largely subjective. Everyone has different set of financial circumstances, and therefore, living within their means will be largely different.

Between the differences in finances, there are a few principles when it comes to living within your means that still hold true, and here are some tips to show you how to live within your means.
Lifestyle traps

 The trap of lifestyle inflation is the biggest and least obvious one to spot and dealing with it is essential whether you earn a lot or less. The trend for most people is to spend a little more as their pay grades go up, rationalizing that it’s fine since they can afford it. There’s a difference between being actually able to afford it, and playing at being able to afford it.
The difference between the two is that you’ve actually got more income than you’re spending. If the case is you end up uneasy and waiting for payday, you can’t afford the lifestyle you’ve been trying to live.
Know your net worth

 Figuring out your net worth will give you a better understanding of how your finances are working for you. While your annual salary is a figure on its own, you’ll have to include other income streams in order to get your total net worth.

One formula for it – written by Burn Gutierrez – involves adding up your total assets, consisting of the following:
  • Add your: Savings + Retirement Accounts + Investments + Any Real Estate + Other Income Streams
  • Add together any outstanding debts you might have together. This includes constant bills, like credit card bills, insurance payments, loan payments and the like.
  • The sum from your debts must be subtracted from the sum of your total assets. If the result is negative, then at least according to Burn’s guide, you’re living well beyond your means.

Cash is king


 The thing about living on a credit card is that it’d be all too easy for you to rack up debt. Living completely on cash, or a debit card, ensures that you can only spend what you actually have.

A great many people think that a credit card is one way to prove that you’ve got the means – and there are times when a credit card is a great tool to have. That time is when you’ve got the financial responsibility to handle paying those bills full and on time every time.

Developing the habit of using only cash or debit means you won’t consider buying or spending unless you’re 100% sure that you have the money for it.

Success is relative


 A lot of things can define success, and much of it is just as subjective as the means you use to attain it. A large part of considering yourself successful comes from what you deem as the most important wants and needs in your life.

Figuring out what success means to you can allow you to make changes in the way you think about your money.

Overall


 Being able to live solidly within your means carries with it an understanding that there’s a time and place for spending your hard-earned cash, and a time for conserving and saving for whatever future goals you have.

A firm understanding of these will allow you to live within your means, but comfortably.

About our Guest Blogger:

KyleKam is from MoneyMax.ph, a financial comparison website aiming to help Filipinos save money through diligent comparisons of financial products.

Final Notes from SavingsPinay:

Thank you so much Kyle for making this wonderful post. I know you've shared some valuable information to all SavingsPinay readers too. To anyone who'd like to submit a guestpost you just like Kyle you can send me an email at izzaglinofull@gmail.com or message me via SavingsPinay Facebook Group.

This blog already moved to www.savingspinay.ph If you want the latest tips and stories on budget, savings, investments, productivity and making extra income go HERE instead.
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