Avoid Financial Pitfalls By Finding Your Blind Spots

Money can be an overwhelming thing to manage, so most of us try to avoid certain aspects of our finances altogether. Maybe it’s a fear of investing. Maybe it’s impulsive spending. Whatever your blind spot, pinpointing it is the key to moving past it.

Photo by stevepb.

When you can recognise and admit what your issues with money are, you have a much better chance of figuring out what’s going wrong if your finances seem out of control. Over at Psychology Today, psychologist Alice Boyes recommends asking yourself a few questions to find your own blind spots:

What do you put in your “too hard basket?”
We all have things that are more within / outside our comfort zone. What do you avoid doing when it comes to money because you find it intimidating?

Inertia
Our behavioural biases are what marketers count on, particularly that we tend to repeat behaviour we’ve done before. In what areas is inertia costing you money?

The Minimising Error
In what areas of your life do you underestimate how much you spend? Common examples might be food shopping, alcohol, insurances, or recurring fees and subscriptions (such as credit card fees, ATM fees, magazines, Netflix.)

Figuring out these spots is a crucial first step many of us don’t take in trying to deal with money. The good news is, it’s easy enough to figure out what they are. For more detail, head to the full post at the link below.

Uncover Your Money Blindspots [Psychology Today]


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