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When you live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have a lot of money in the bank, it’s natural to bite every penny as hard as possible. But once you’re financially comfortable, it often makes sense to loosen your grip a bit and upgrade your standard of living.
However, Dave Ramsey expert George Kamel discovered a group of people who are still behaving as if they’re bankrupt, even though they now have money. Recently he discussed this trend in detail Youtube video.
No time to watch? GOBankingRates will share the highlights for you here.
15 ‘broken’ habits
BuzzFeed Community Members He said he would stretch his dollar as far as it would go:
- Washing and reusing sandwich and freezer bags.
- Cooking at home from scratch.
- Dividing a bottle of mouthwash into two separate containers and adding water to both.
- Wear underwear and T-shirts until they break in.
- Buying used items like clothes or furniture.
- Before making a purchase, ask yourself if they really need something.
- Refusing to buy a brand new car.
- Adding soap shavings to the new bar.
- Cutting a container and obtaining each piece of product from it.
- Repairing items instead of replacing them.
- Making dinner with all the leftovers in the fridge.
- Walking and biking everywhere.
- Get your hair cut at home instead of going to a salon or barber shop.
- Washing and reusing glass jars.
- Keep each cardboard box with you in case they have to leave in a hurry.
Which habits are worth keeping?
Kamel encouraged financially stable audiences to abandon scarcity-minded practices, such as:
- Washing and Reusing Sandwich and Freezer Bags
- adding water to mouthwash
- wearing holey underwear
- Cutting open product containers
- cooking with leftovers
- cut your own hair
- hoarding cardboard boxes
Doing those things could pose a health or injury risk, cause discomfort, cause a bad haircut or take over your garage with cardboard.
However, Kamel believes that some of these habits are not appropriate for people who are struggling financially. Some conditioned behaviors are actually thriftiness in action or good management of resources.
Here’s what you’ll want to continue doing (or start if you haven’t already):
- Cooking your own meals from whole ingredients. You’ll save money and eat healthy food.
- Shopping for used items (within reason – for example, shoes should probably be purchased new). You’ll get a bargain and help the environment.
- Questioning your purchase in advance. You’ll avoid impulse purchases and can redirect the money toward something more productive or gratifying.
- Repairing items when possible. Your efforts will be frugal and environmentally conscious.
- Walk and bike (when practical) to your destination. You will not spend any money and you will also get good exercise.
So, what are your “broken” habits? Are you ready to let any of them go or get a new one?