Everyone has particular spending habits, some of which are probably better than others! Not all of us spend our money as wisely as we should, and in some cases, we spend money unnecessarily,  making purchases where we could be saving up for something more exciting.

Your spending vices might be fancy shoes, online shopping, weekend getaways, taking a taxi or Uber instead of grabbing a bus or tube. Such vices are things on which we spend money even when we know that we should not. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to make ourselves happy with certain luxury expenses, but without reasonable boundaries, it may become harmful to our wallet.

The trick is to not let these spending habits take control of your life. We’ve looked at ways to curb your spending this autumn below!

How to Cut Back on Spending

In order to curb bad spending habits, you first need to identify them. This will help you to set up reasonable boundaries for poor spending habits. So how do you go about this?

The easiest way to get an accurate understanding of your spending is to look at your expenses for the next three months. Write down the purchases you’re planning to make during this time, big and small. and mark them after completion. Online purchases should be marked down alongside physical shopping, so don’t be tempted to dismiss all those Amazon orders! This is the best way to learn about your spending habits, even if the results aren’t easy to face. Just remember that a lot of people spend too much, and most of us could cut back in some areas.

After the three months, review your notes to analyse your habits. If you notice any over-indulgence or trend in your expenses, then, it may be a spending vice. For example, you might see that you spent a fair amount of money on random purchases such as shoes or clothes on a regular basis. These expenses are more likely to be vices if you did not allocate any money towards them in your budget.

Reduce Your Outgoings

In order to curb your spending habits, you have to keep in mind that the key is balance. Your objective in identifying your vices is not to stop all your spending but to set up reasonable boundaries in order to keep them under control. For example, if you realise that your online purchases are getting out of control, instead of suppressing them completely, you can decide to limit the amount you spend on them.

It is important to curb your spending habits if you want to save money. Autumn is often a time where we spend money, especially in the run up to Christmas. And there are so many beautiful clothes and shoes available in autumnal colours! You do not have to make yourself miserable by suppressing all your spending vices. You have just to identify them in order to limit them.

Essentially, if you are able to control your spending habits, you can be sure to save your money for a better use, such as a big purchase of a exotic holiday. Do your best to stick to your budget whilst respecting your spending boundaries.