How to Handle Money Better Each Month
Learning how to handle money is a process. Don’t be too strict with yourself – instead, start incorporating the following tips one by one. This way the change won’t be too drastic, and you’ll always be able to adjust the things you find don’t work for you.
Set up a long-term plan and revisit your finances in 6 to 12 months, after implementing the tips. You’ll likely find you’ve learned how to handle money much better than ever before. And if you can't wait and need help now, see how Utah title loans can help.
Tips for How To Handle Money
1. Take A Look At Your Spending And Identify Necessary And Unnecessary Expenses
The first step is to take a look at your bank statements, identify which lines of expense are the largest – and figure out which of them are necessary, and which of them are not.
Things like rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, are things that everyone spends money on. They’re necessary expenses (don’t believe any advice on how to handle money that calls for canceling insurance).
Things like cable, subscriptions, memberships, apps are not – find a way to minimize them.
2. Set Up A Budget
Allocate a certain percentage of your money to the monthly expenses. The ideal budget should allocate no more than 50% of your income to necessary expenses, no less than 20% to your savings, and the rest to wants.
But if you need to adjust the percentages, keep in mind that you should prioritize savings over wants.
3. Shop With A Shopping List To Avoid Unplanned Expenses
Small expenses of $5-10 are something we often don’t pay a lot of attention to – but they tend to pile up at the end of the month – sometimes even to hundreds of dollars.
Decide what you need before your trip to the store and stick to the shopping list when in the store. Browsing and overthinking is how you overspend.
4. Plan Large Expenses In Advance
Set up sinking funds for things like planned doctor’s visits, vacations, and even Black Friday. Same if you notice your tech isn’t working as well as it should, start saving up beforehand. You’ll have an easier time getting a new fridge or a washing machine that way.
5. Give Yourself An Allowance
Learning how to handle money doesn’t mean never having any fun again. No one can live in a state of constant deprivation.
Instead, give yourself a monthly allowance you’ll need to stick to. Do you want new clothes? Use the allowance. Do you want to go out with friends? Use the allowance.
It’s the money you budget under the “wants” category.
(Just make sure you don’t go overboard and budget in too much. Saying “no” to yourself is also part of learning how to handle money).
6. Start Saving
Even if you do nothing else, do this – start saving for an emergency fund. Even if you have trouble figuring out how to handle money on a day-to-day basis, if you automate your savings, you’ll soon have the cash to fall back on.
While figuring out how to handle money and reaching financial stability should be your ultimate goal, you cannot build wealth unless you have a solid foundation. An emergency fund will act as that foundation.
How To Handle Money In An Emergency
Imagine being suddenly hit by a medical expense, or a car repair, or a wiring problem at home. Having an emergency fund would let you easily cover the emergency without busting your budget. Without it, you’ll have to scramble to get cash together. This is also a big part of knowing how to handle money correctly – knowing when to take on debt.
What you need to figure out is how time-sensitive your problem is. If there’s a risk that the situation could escalate and become unfixable or cost you more in the future – you might want to look into getting a title loan, dealing with it ASAP, and paying the loan off later.
Why A Title Loan?
A Utah title loan is easy, accessible, and fast – making it an optimal solution to an emergency. As long as you’re over 18, outright own your car (i.e. your car title is in your name and with no lien against it), and have some sort of an income to pay it off – you’re eligible.
You can apply for Utah title loans even if your credit is bad – or outright nonexistent!
The application procedure lasts typically around 30-45 minutes, and you get the cash the same day if approved.
How Do I Apply For A Utah Title Loan?
Applying for a Utah title loan is easy, as long as your required items – your car, the car’s lien-free title in your name, your government-issued ID – are in order. Just go to the website and submit the online form. A loan representative will contact you when the form gets processed and set up a meeting.
Take the required items to the meeting for them to assess and determine if you qualify for a title loan. If approved – you’ll finish the easy paperwork on spot and get the cash!
Follow our tips when wondering how to handle money.
Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.