You Know You Need to Start Changing Your Spending Habit When...

Managing finances is perhaps the biggest challenge of adulthood. When you start earning your salary, you have to consider all your living expenses, keep a healthy cash flow and be able to provide for your needs.

Good financial management is the first step to independence, however, not many young adults are mindful of this at the onset. If you always find yourself in a financial bind, it is time to take a breather, assess your situation and make adjustments so that you are not always caught with an empty pocket.

But how would you know if you suffer from poor finances? Here are some red-light indicators telling you it is high time to change your spending habit:

You keep several credit cards and you have maximized each card’s credit limit. Your credit card bills pile up and they reflect a slew of high finance charges, overlimit and late payment fees. Much worse, you can barely pay for the minimum payments and you are drowning on stacked-up finance charges. If this is the case, it is high time to cut that plastic and fix your bad financial situation. Always remember that everytime you use your credit card, you are borrowing money. When you borrow money, it means you have to pay for it. Don’t swipe that plastic when you very well know that you do not have any resource to pay your debt back.

You don’t know where your paycheque goes. Payday comes and your salary disappears as quick as a bubble. You haven’t even paid half of your bills and yet, you are now frustratingly waiting for your next payday.

The calls don’t stop coming in -- and they are from debt collectors! While there are laws protecting you from harassment, credit establishments will do everything to collect the debt you owe them.

You spend half of your month in splendor and the other half in squalor. One of the biggest traps some people fall into is by spending all their money when the pay cheque comes, not thinking about budgeting for all other necessary expenses they need to spend later on. You run off to your parents for cash if you encounter emergencies. You do not have any savings to use when your car breaks down or if your plumbing fails.

If these situations sound familiar, it is time to take control of your finances and be mindful of your spending habits. The very first thing you need to do is keep a budget, write it down and stick with it. Knowing your cash flow (what’s coming in and what’s going out of your pocket) will help you prioritize the things you need to spend on.

However, there will be times when you are caught in a situation where there is simply no choice but to take advantage of credit. In times like this, there are online payday loans which you can use to mitigate being stuck in a financial bind.

When getting payday loans, make sure that you look for reputable and trustworthy payday loan companies such as GoDay that offers quick, transparent and hassle-free loans. GoDay is a member of the Canadian Payday Loans Association so you are sure that you will not be charged with hidden fees and unreasonable charges.