Taking control of your finance …key areas to focus

When it comes to your money, you basically have two vital areas of focus: your income and your expenses. On the income side, you’re dependent on a number of external factors such as the economy, your employer, your tax rate, your industry, and all that.  These external factors can sometimes work against you, making it difficult to make strides in increasing your income in order to improve your financial condition. On the other hand, your expenses or your spending is for the most part, completely under your control.  Since you control your spending, you can definitely make giant strides in this area so that you can increase your spending or your savings rate.

Though, sometimes there’re some aspects of your expenses you cannot control.  For instance, maybe you have medical needs that are beyond your control and eat into your income each month.  With that said, the majority of your expenses such as housing, food, entertainment, auto are all adjustable and under your control.

This is a very important aspect of finance to understand clearly. The point is that you can improve your financial life, whether it is by paying off your debt or boosting your savings, by improving on this area that you have complete control over. The only question is how far you’re willing to take it and whether or not you’re willing to exercise a total control over your expenses.

Firstly, housing because recently the cost of accommodation has made the whole thing worst where too many people are living beyond their means when it comes to the home they live in. Most people spend entirely too much on housing. More so real estate is very emotional and you can easily get caught up in the idea of living in a certain home despite the large expenses it represents. 

Remember, housing is an expense, nothing more.  As such, you have to keep it low, just like any other expense.  Take strides today to get yourself in a better position with your residence. Get your monthly housing expense under control!

Next on the list is your car or transportation expense.  It’s crazy that  so many of us have large auto payments each month.  It’s time to quit  caring about what you drive and get a car that is reliable and nothing  more. If you can, sell your expensive car, pay cash for the next one,  and do what you can to keep it moving. Those that use the public  transports should also look a way to cut their cost.

When it comes to food and entertainment, this is all about lifestyle. 

How often do you eat at a restaurant each week?  Do you eat out for  lunch at work on a regular basis?  It’s time to start controlling how  much you spend on eating out.  When it comes to groceries, get more  efficient at planning meals and buy only the necessary items for those  planned meals.  With regards to entertainment, this is pure  discretionary spending. Cut all of it out of your month if you’re up for  it.

These three areas will jump-start the control process of your expenses.

You can get into other areas such as clothing, dry cleaning and so on.

but master these three large categories will make a significant impact  on your financial life.

Remember, you may not be able to control everything about your income due to a lack of available opportunities, but you can definitely control your spending.

TIAMIYU ADIO ISMAIL