Anyone who’s done any personal development work or read a book about building wealth will know how important it is to have a winning mindset. Not only is a winning mindset important in all aspects of life, it’s also particularly important when it comes to paying off debt and building wealth. Below, we’ve listed two money mindset mistakes that are holding you back from building wealth and steps on how to turn around your thinking.
- “That’s future me’s problem.”
How many times have you found yourself putting off looking at your credit card statements and bank accounts to get a concrete idea about your net worth? If you find yourself doing this regularly, you might be in a cycle of avoiding getting your financial house in order.There’s no time like the present to get real about your finances. Take some time to review all of your debts, bank accounts and other assets such as your super fund balance to get an idea of your net worth. From here, you can work out a game plan for tackling the debt that never seems to go down. For many Australians, that will likely be credit card debt.
2. “I don’t want to cut back.”
If you’re in the process of consolidating your debt and paying it down, there might be a few things that have to be put on the back burner. Think big overseas trips, the latest iPhone and eating out a few times week. Yes, if you’re used to these little lifestyle perks, it can be difficult to reign things in, but some sacrifices now will lead to a much stronger future.
You can also use this as a time to get creative about replacing the lifestyle perks you’d look forward to each week. Maybe your meals out could become a night in with friends where everyone brings a dish to share, or maybe your next trip can be for a long weekend somewhere domestic. The important thing is not to get caught in the mindset of “we can’t afford this”. Instead, focus on how you can add fun events to your week and life without jeopardising your discipline with paying off debt.
The best thing about identifying your mindset weaknesses and what you want to change is that you can do this by investing just a bit of time for reflection. So, if any of these money mindset mistakes resonated with you, take some time to reflect on your attitude to money, debt and building wealth and identify the small steps you can take to change things for the better.
Please remember this is general information only – for personal financial advice please see your Financial Planner or Financial expert.