Sometimes, all it takes to master your money is to establish a few smart habits. In today’s guide, we have compiled 11 simple money habits you can adopt that will help you build long-term wealth.
1. Automate your finances.
We are living in an increasingly automated world. Certain aspects of your finances can be set on auto-pilot. Simply set up your accounts to automate certain tasks that need to be repeated each month. You only have to set it up once, and let it take care of the rest for you.
For example, you can send money automatically from your paycheck to savings accounts, investment accounts, and creditors. This virtually guarantees that all your finances are accounted for. Our brains try to fight us every step of the way and make us tempted to skimp on savings. Automated financing will free up your mind from greedy thoughts because you won’t even have to see the money moving around.
In addition to saving you the hassle of dealing with mundane bills and payments, automation frees up valuable time. You will be able to devote more time to the fun parts of life, and never have to spend time worrying over forgotten bills and unwanted overdrafts. In essence, automating your finances allows you to focus on the bigger picture and build wealth effortlessly.
2. Have specific money goals.
You need to know what you want in order to get what you want. Want that johor land? Plan for it. The key is to start your investing journey with both short-term and long-term goals in mind. Some common financial goals include: a new property, retirement savings, an emergency fund, etc. Once you have specific financial goals in sight, it will be easier to plan out your finances.
Here’s a tip: write down your goals for your annual income and net worth. Although you should be sure to keep your goals realistic, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. People are afraid to think big. But remember that if you think small, you’ll only achieve small things.
3. Invest ‘spare change’.
Investing is one of the most, if not the most, effective ways of building wealth. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a lot of money to get started in investing. Spare change investment apps are becoming more and more popular with the younger generation, who typically do not have much extra cash to channel to investments. They work by automatically taking the spare change you’re your purchases, round them up to the nearest value and put this spare change to work. They thus have the potential to be useful for younger, novice investors who have a more limited income and want to stay away from the complex processes and services rampant in the field of investment.
There are also apps that can act as financial advisors, termed Roboadvisors. These apps aim to demystify investing and make investing more simple and accessible for the layman. For a low amount of fees, these apps will help manage your investments by taking all the guesswork out of the process.
However, these apps might not be for everyone. Keep in mind the takeaway message. These apps are there to help you by pushing you to invest sooner rather than later. It helps you take full advantage of compound interest, which can transform relatively small but consistent amounts of savings into major wealth.
4. Cut out ‘the latte factor’
“The Latte Factor” symbolizes the high cost of small, periodic spending. It comes from the idea that if we added up the cost of our daily cup of latte (the unnecessary product or service we spend on every day), saved it and invested it, it would add up to an extremely large amount over time, and we would build up wealth significantly faster. In actual fact, the term “latte factor” is actually somewhat of a misnomer, as it covers a lot more just daily lattes.
Imagine: an RM 10 cup of morning coffee adds up to about RM 70 per week and RM 310 per month. This adds up to RM 18240 over a course of 5 years. If instead, you invested RM 310 per month and earned a 10% annual return, you would end up with RM 5300.87 in interest, bringing the real price-tag of what you are spending your money on to RM 23540.87.
Start by figuring out what your “latte factor” is and cut back on that expense. Then direct this extra money towards your savings or investment accounts. This keeps us from wasting our money on little and unnecessary expenditures that can add up to a lot.
5. Have some extra cash? Save it, not spend it.
Whenever you get any financial windfalls, whether it is a bonus, birthday check or just extra money, pretend it doesn’t exist. Develop a habit of putting any surprise cash to work and into your investment account. All this extra cash will surely add up. Establishing such a habit early on will help you tune your financial habits, helping you avoid lifestyle inflation whenever you get anymore surprise cash, especially if it is in the form of a raise.
6. Tell yourself you deserve to be rich.
One of the biggest blocks towards receiving wealth and abundance is the feeling that you don’t deserve it. Take this thought and throw it out the window. You need to believe in it, in the fact that success, fulfillment and happiness are the natural order of existence. Very often, this single belief of is what drives one to behave in ways that virtually guarantee one’s success.
The average person remains average because they expect themselves to. It is all a game of psychology. Most people don’t think they are worthy of great wealth. However, instead of believing you don’t deserve wealth, think “Why not me?” instead.
7. Spend at least 30 minutes a day reading.
Any successful person tends to have the habit of reading. They have the habit of learning: they teach and invest in themselves continually. Learning does not have to stop once formal education is over. In fact, many millionaires and billionaires are voracious readers. Warren Buffet was once asked about the key to success. He pointed to a stack of books nearby and said “Read 500 pages every day”. That is how knowledge truly works. Knowledge builds up, like compound interest, through reading.
8. Get yourself up earlier.
Another habit of wealthy people: they wake up early. Many billionaires start their days at 6, or even 5 am. A large percentage of them wake up at least three hours before they actually begin their work day. Although having the habit of waking up early won’t guarantee to make you rich, it can’t hurt, and it will most certainly make you more productive in your day.
9. Keep yourself in the company of success.
Who you surround yourself with matters more than you may think. We tend to become like the people we associate with. In fact, your net worth tends to mirror that of the people you often surround yourself with. It is generally agreed that consciousness is contagious. We expand our own thinking via exposure to people who are more successful, and this can catapult your income. So, join a cool high-end club to look for new crew to roll with.
10. Keep track of your spending.
You can’t build wealth if you are not keeping track of your spending habits. By tracking your daily expenses, you ensure that you are earning more than you are spending. If traditional accounting is not working for you, there are a variety of apps that can do this for you. Take advantage of spreadsheets to see your monthly spending pattern or even record your daily purchases and expenses in a small notebook or on your phone. You can’t cut costs when you don’t know what you’re spending on. You might even surprise yourself and find another “Latte Factor” that you can cut back on.
11. Prioritize your debt.
Not all debt is created equal. You need to effectively strategize and rank all of your debt in order of descending interest rate. The debt with the highest interest rates should be prioritized so that you pay less over the lifespan of your loans. However, this does not mean that you overlook all of your other debts. Be sure to still be paying the minimum repayment on all of your debts.
Another strategy is to rank your debt in ascending order and start with the smallest debt. This “snowball method” strategy works on the idea that for each debt paid off, you build more momentum, which gives you the drive to tackle the next biggest, and so on and so forth.
Whatever the strategy you use, it is important to know that you need to get out of debt as quickly as possible. Paying off your debt means you are taking control of your money, which helps you reduce stress, lower risks and have a greater flexibility in your finances.
Thanks for the really good info and tips. Now I know how to spend money wisely
BalasPadamI have to look at what is my 'latte factor'. Thanks for the tips!
BalasPadamSikit2 lama2 jadi bukit...nice info indeed kak eiza.
BalasPadambetul tu keep track of spending. jaga perbelanjaan diri dan keluarga.
BalasPadamTak kaya pun takpe, janji ada simpanan dan aset untuk masa depan kan.
BalasPadamWah very informative and inspiring! Saya sendiri selalu juga risau takut overspend tapi ni boleh jadi panduan yang berguna.
BalasPadamTerima kasih ya!
Tips yang bagus! Kekadang kita lupa nak keep track dengan spending sendiri. Tambah-tambah lagi bila nak ada anak ni, lagi la kena pandai jag spending. Thanks for the info!
BalasPadamGreat information. It's good to be more disciplined and prepared these days. As they say "better to be safe than sorry"
BalasPadamVery nice sharing. Menabung sekarang untuk masa depan. Biarlah orang nampak kita ni sengkek tapi kita ada simpanan. Bergaya tapi poket kosong tak boleh jugak.
BalasPadamThank you for the info! I've only started to save my "spare change" recently and it was such a surprise that I could save up to quite a sum by the end of the year - and only through my spare change! I've been through some hard times and have learned that saving up and having good financial planning (be it weekly, monthly, yearly or 10 years ahead) would help so much on the long run. Let's be smart and save up!
BalasPadamDalam zaman ekonomi yg mencabar ni, pengurusan duit memang penting. Salah cara pengurusan memang habis la kan.
BalasPadamThank you for sharing tips like this for young people like us who are new to earning and generating their own savings
BalasPadamPoint no 5 is very hard to follow. You know the feeling when have an extra money and suddenly got so many thing that we wanted to buy. Haha
BalasPadamhoho.. thia is very gd tips to know
BalasPadamSpend money?
terima kasih di atas tips2 yang berguna ini. Perkara pertama yg perlu ada dlm menyimpan duit adalah disiplin. Kalau disiplin pon out, mmg niat nak menyimpan pon akan kelaut.
BalasPadamTerima kasih atas perkongsian...rasanya setiap orang memang niat nak saving duit tapi kekadang mungkin banyak benda dia nak kena bayar, itu ini sampaikan nak makan pun susah. Heee macam uzu, uzu dah lalui zaman tu. Skrg mmg ada saving setiap bulan yang uzu simpan. tujuan saving tu nak guna masa kawin nanti ! sooo nak saving ni tak susah sebenarnya tapi struggle sikit lah hehe
BalasPadamPerkongsian yang bermanfaat. Kenapa tidak translate artikel ini ke bahasa melayu memandangkan blog ini menulis di dalam bahasa melayu. Next time translate ke, olah dengan pengalaman ke. Yukenduit
BalasPadamThanks for this insightful sharing and tips, I wish to learn more about this to make a better living.
BalasPadamCut out ‘the latte factor’--- i suka poin ni..sebenarnya penting untuk kita merancang kewangan..mcm saya kadang2 terbabas juga jadi selalu ingatkan balik tetang kewangan dan masa depan...fikir ttg tak tahu apa akan jadi ms datang buat kita lebih berjimat
BalasPadammemang sekarang tengah menyimpan duit. Tahun ni, tahun menyimpan duit. Alhamdulillah murah rezeki, job banyak masuk. Semua tu duit nak kena simpan untuk masa depan. Terima kasih sahring tips yang berguna ni
BalasPadamperkongsian yang baik. suka baca sebab banyak tips yang bermanfaat. TQ ya.
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