3 Habits That Will Instantly Make You Better With Money
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Let's be honest, you clicked on this video because you want to get better with your money and you don't want to read a book. I got you. Although if you do want to read a book, I got you too. Just saying. In this video, you're going to learn three simple habits to instantly help you get better with money and build wealth. But first I need three quick steps from you. Hit that like, hit that share, hit that subscribe. All right. If you want to get better with your money, you have to pay attention to your money. And that's why the first habit is track your expenses.

In the U.S., one out of five households said their spending is more than their income. That's a problem. No, I do not have a problem. It's a big problem. And it should come as no surprise that if you have more going out than you do coming in, that's how you wind up taking on debt and perpetuating the cycle of being broke.

It's a recipe for disaster. Think about it this way. If your car uses more gas than you put in it, what happens? Well, you're taking a surprise nature hike on the side of the road to the nearest Circle K. But tracking is how you avoid disasters and hiking, which are pretty much the same thing in my opinion. They're just pretentious walks in the forest. Stop it.

When you can literally see what's coming in and what's going out right there in front of you, you know exactly where you're overspending and you have better accountability. Now, I personally use the EveryDollar app to help me track my spending. And once you've made your budget, you can get in the habit of tracking your expenses every day or two. That way, it never piles up. And because EveryDollar is connected to my bank account, the transactions are right there in the app

so I can click or drag into the right category. I mean, you can do it while you're waiting in line at Costco, waiting on your overpriced coffee order, or waiting on the world to change. It's up to you. Now, as the month goes on, you can make tweaks to your budget as needed to keep things happy as a clam. Now, fun fact for you, the full phrase is happy as a clam at high tide because that's when they're the least vulnerable to predators and dangers.

And if you use that phrase at your next party, you too can have no friends. You don't need friends, okay? Now, paying attention to your money will in turn make you less vulnerable to the dangers and insecurities of wondering where your money went. And while you're tracking your spending, you should also ask yourself these five questions before you buy anything.

Number one, will this add value to my life? Remember, every purchase must serve a purpose. Number two, am I buying this for the right reason? Now said another way, if nobody sees this purchase, do I still want it? You better have a healthy motive, mister. Number three, is this in my budget? Think about it. Can you afford this in full right now? No money, no spendy. That's weirdly hard to do. It's like an out-of-body experience. Have a bugle.

Number four, is this the best place and price to buy? This is where you slow down and do a little research. It'll save you time and helps keep the impulse at bay. And lastly, number five is now the right time to buy it. We got to avoid the impulse purchase here. And a great way to curb that urgency is by applying the 48 hour rule. Before you make a big purchase, wait 48 hours, at least. The bigger the purchase, the longer you should wait. Now, after you run that purchase through these questions, if you can say yes to all five confidently, then go for it. And then of course, be sure to track that purchase.

Okay, if you know me or you follow this channel, it should not be a big surprise that I believe you can't win with money if you're using someone else's. And that's why the second habit is using your own money for every purchase. And guess what? Using a credit card is not using your own money even if you pay it off every month. And here's one of the main reasons. Credit cards influence people to spend more by activating

It's science. Yeah, science. Basically, it's less painful psychologically to spend someone else's money and pay it back later than it is to use your own money right now. Plus, when you swipe that credit card, you pay it off over time with an astronomical interest rate. On average, roughly 23.37%. Roughly. And get this, the average cash transaction in 2023 was $39. The average credit card purchase, $95. And the average cash transaction in 2023 was $39.

Why? Well, you feel it more when you pay with cash. Oh, and buy now, pay later? Same problem. If you want to be better worth money, try out this thing called buy now, pay now. If there's a big purchase coming up, make a plan to save up and pay in cash. That's called delayed gratification, having the maturity to wait until you can actually afford it. What a concept.

It's not that hard, Scott. Even if paying with cash means using a debit card, you can try creating some friction for your purchases. Now, this might look like removing your saved card info from your phone or browser so you can't purchase as easily, or taking shopping apps like Amazon or Timu off your phone. If you don't think you have a spending problem, try adding up the last three months of Amazon or Timu, whatever your favorite shopping place is. And I bet it's more than you thought, and you could have gone without that inflatable igloo tent. It's a

It's a great tent. Okay, before we get to the most important habit for wealth building, let's talk about a couple of bad habits when it comes to your cell phone. Number one, not having TLC's album fan mail on repeat. And number two, spending way too much money on your phone plan because you haven't switched to Tello. Tello uses the same towers as T-Mobile, so you get the same great coverage.

And in case you're planning to relive TLC's 2014 world tour by traveling around Australia, don't worry. Telo's got you covered with international roaming, whether you're in Sydney, Brisbane, or over 250 other countries. Plans are as low as five bucks or up to 25 bucks for unlimited everything. And you can get five bucks off your first month by going to telo.com/george or by clicking the link in the description below. Now, T-Baws, Left Eye, and Chili may not want no scrubs,

But I do because data brokers are everywhere and every dot com and dot org and pop up and pull down on the Internet. So, yes, I do want a scrub of my online data. See what I did there? And that's why I love Delete Me. Delete Me scrubs your personal info from hundreds of data broker sites, helping protect you from spammers, scammers and online thieves. And right now you can get 20 percent off their plans by going to join delete me dot com slash George or just click the link in the description below.

below. So you can tell those scammers, no, you can't get my number. No, I don't want to give you mine. Okay, I'll see myself out.

Spoiler alert.

Viking river cruises are not where you cosplay as a Viking, eat turkey legs, and pillage unsuspecting villages of their gold. If you want that, hit up the Tennessee Renaissance Festival every May. Live like no one else so later you can LARP like no one else.

So once you know your goals, it's time to make a plan and stick to it. Again, you're probably watching this video because you don't have a lot of time. And here I am wasting it with the LARP subreddit. But good news, you can actually automate your investing and saving. By setting up automatic contributions to your 401k or an IRA, you're turning investing into a consistent habit, making it a natural part of your financial routine. And this way, you're not just hoping to save more, you're actually doing it month after month without even thinking about it.

And for your savings goals, set a monthly amount to automatically transfer from your bank account to your savings account. That way, you can avoid temptation and create a forced savings plan that will help you get there faster. Now, all of these habits beg the question, is the future I really want or sacrificing a little bit now? Because with any habit that's new and different, our brains will come up with all kinds of excuses as to why this one is not for us. You know, to save time and energy and stuff.

But listen, these habits have helped millions of people get control of their money and build wealth. So try these habits for the next 30 days. After that, if you decide to go back to your old ways, which let me remind you, didn't work very well, you totally can. But I think you're going to find that these habits lead to more peace and more money. And I know it's only 30 days, but you will be shocked at what you can accomplish when you put your mind to something, especially if what you're putting your mind to is getting out of debt. In fact, keep watching this next video to learn the fastest way to get out of debt or click the link in the description below.

Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time. - That's almost worse. - It is worse. - It's like a windshield wiper.