Why Most Financial Decisions are Really Behavioral Decisions

It might surprise you, but most of your financial decisions come from your behaviors and habits. The choices we make when managing our money are just behavior choices in disguise. Here’s how you can take control of your financial decisions (which really are behavioral decisions). 

Use Automations

One of the most effective ways to stop impulse spending is to automate your savings. Not only can this stop you from wanting to spend a little extra, but it helps you grow your assets. If you automate money to go away into certain accounts, it’s likely you won’t miss it! 

When you automate your paycheck, or at least part of it, you’re removing any temptation to spend that money because it’s already been put away. Although setting up automations can be time consuming at first, once you set them up they are ready to go and are already working! It’s unlikely that you’ll undo an automation just to have a little extra spending money. 

Track What You Spend

It’s time to stop avoiding the numbers in your bank account. It might stress you out to look at them, but remember that they aren’t permanent. Especially if you take the time to set up automations, your account will do nothing but grow. 

Some of the best business owners I know check their bank accounts daily. They monitor their accounts, and investments to make sure everything is as it should be. The more you make it a habit, the more control you’ll have over your spending and investing decisions. 

Notice what you spend money on

In order to really draw the line between financial and behavioral spending, you have to pay attention to where your money goes and what triggers you to spend. From there you can notice if you’re really spending money on things you want to spend money on, or things other people are telling you you should spend your money on. 

Getting really clear on why and what you spend your money on is going to help you take more control of the financial decisions you make.