The biggest reason for budget failure is that you did not take the time to address your greatest financial weakness. You need to identify what that is, and then come up with strategies on how to deal with it. My greatest financial weakness is eating out. I am lazy and even though I stay at home, I still never feel like cooking. My husband’s biggest weakness is electronics. Fortunately he rotates on wanting big purchases about every six months. For some people it may be massages or beauty treatments. It may be a new wardrobe for every season for you or your children. It may be movies or sports games. The list can go on and on.
It is important that you sit down and look at your spending and decide what your greatest weakness is. If you are married your spouse will need to determine his as well. Once you have identified it you will need to determine the best way to control it. The first step is to switch to cash only for those purchases.
It is important to realize that when you look at your financial weakness and change it, you need to do so gradually. It is similar to a diet. You are more successful if you know you can “cheat” or have permission to eat sweets on certain days or at certain times. It is also important to limit how much you can spend, and stick to that amount.
You may need to be accountable to someone. If you are married, your spouse is the perfect person to be accountable to. If you both share the same weakness you may need to find another source that you can report your spending habits to. This will help you to maintain the goals that you have set.
You do not need to quit spending money on your financial weakness; you just need to limit how much each month. If you find that you are compulsive spender you may need to get help and avoid stores all together. However most people do not have this problem. It is usually just a matter of disciplining yourself.
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