The thirdMonday in Januaryis called the mostdepressingday of the year. The termwas introduced byBritishpsychologistCliffArnall, who used amathematical formulathat takes into accountmeteorological, psychological, and economic factors. The end of Januaryis a timewhen the majorityof usrealize thatourfinancial New Year's resolutionsare already history.After makingbolddecisions tocontrolourhousehold budget, pay offdebts,and save, we quicklysurrender. Expertsat theKronenberg Foundationat Citi Handlowysuggestwhat we should doin thisNew Year to changeour approach tofinances.
As shown in thesurvey "Attitudes of Poles towards Saving", 82% of us controlour expenditures. Howdo we do it? More than half (51 percent) carefully watch bigger expenses, such as rent, clothing purchases, holidays,andhome electronicsandappliances.However, it isin the smallamounts thatwe spendevery day where the greatest potential lies forsavings.
"The bestway to avoidfinancial problemsis rational management ofone's household budget. This enables us tofindthe extra moneythat more than half ofPoles are short ofat theend of themonth,Our surveys showthat 56%of us live "from the first to the first", however this is oftennot due to low earnings, but rather to bad management ofresources," says KrzysztofKaczmar, President of Kronenberg Foundationat Citi Handlowy.
What can we do to improve the state of our finances? It turns out that only a few simple steps are needed that we can start at any time:
1. Set a goal, answer the question why you want to manage your household budget better. There can be many reasons: remodeling, vacations, repayment of debts.
2. When you go to a store,alwaysmake a shopping list- find outwhat is needed at home, think about whatyou want toeat in the coming days. While shopping, stick to your list and don'tpay attention to promotionaloffers.Setadaily spending limitand trynot to go over it.
3. Collectreceipts, make a tableand writein your expenses-at the end ofthe monththis allows youto check whichpurchases proved to be unnecessary and which couldhave cost lessif they had beenplanned.
4. Set aside eachamount saved,selectingthe method ofsaving that suits you the best(at the beginning a term deposit orsavings account).
5. Don't give up - fortunately, you can start saving at any time.
