Every now and then, you probably go through your closets andweed out a bunch of useless stuff.
Stuff that doesnt matter to you anymore; stuff that doesnt serve much of a purpose.
It might help to do the same thing with your finances.
you’re able to reevaluate and clean out your budget with a few simple questions.
Look at all of your transactions over the past couple of months.
From there, finance expert Carl Richards tells you how to weed out the useless spending.
Review all of your discretionary transactions and asking yourself the following:
1.
Does this expense align with [your] values?
What value does it align with?
Is there a substitute that might cost less?
These questions help you understand what youre really getting out of your spending.
For example, I discovered I spend quite a bit on restaurants.
These are mostly meals with friends, and the value it aligns with is spending time with those friends.
Its something thats important to me, sure, but there are plenty of substitutes that can cost less.
I could invite them over for dinner.
We could go to happy hour instead.
We could have a game night, whatever.
Its not like Imnevergoing to go out to eat with my friends.
It might also help to focus on the areas that matter to you most.
As finance writer Tiffany Aliche puts it,spend on your loves, not likes.
Setting Up a Budget Based on Your Values| The New York Times
Photo bypefertig.
