Источник The Sydney Morning Herald.au, Australia
Заголовок Pinch every penny? Not if you want to actually get ahead
Дата 20240703

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Pinch every penny? Not if you want to actually get ahead

Pinch every penny? Not if you want to actually get ahead

Paridhi Jain

Money contributor

July 3, 2024 — 5.01am

July 3, 2024 — 5.01am

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Have you heard that old saying, “If you watch the pennies, the dollars take
care of themselves”? It sounds like good advice, but it’s not.

An obsession with quick savings hacks can give you the illusion that youre
being financially responsible by constantly chasing nifty ways to shave a few
dollars off your expenses.

While youre collecting points to get $50 off or scouring aisles for
discounts, youre probably not focused on bigger long-term problems. Credit:
Simon Letch

This can fuel spending anxiety and perfectionism. You become hyper-aware of
the price of everything, constantly look for bargains, and second-guess
spending decisions. “Is it worth it?” “Do I really need this?” “Can I get this
cheaper elsewhere?”

This might sound like a good thing, but having spent years helping people turn
their financial lives around, I’ve noticed that people who watch pennies can
get fixated on penny-sized problems. They fall into the trap of becoming
penny-wise, pound-foolish”.

After all, you can’t fix $100,000 problems when youre busy fixing $100
problems.

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While youre collecting points to get $50 off your next holiday or scouring
aisles in the grocery store for discounts, you are probably not focused on
problems that are worth more to you in the long run. Researching a
better-performing super fund, learning about tax saving opportunities, or
learning to invest, will have a bigger impact long-term than hunting for
cheaper petrol.

Am I saying penny-pinching is bad? No. There are stages in your financial
journey where this strategy can be useful. The question isn’t whether it’s
good or bad, it’s whether this strategy is helping you create the life you
really want.

Given how heavily reinforced penny-pinching is all around us, it can be
difficult to see when this strategy is helping or harming. Here are some
questions that can help:

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Has penny-pinching become part of your identity? When you do it enough,
penny-pinching becomes part of your identity. You might start to feel proud,
accomplished, and maybe even a little smug, finding the cheapest prices. You
might start to identify as and become known by your friends as the person who
always finds the best bargains. That’s who you are now, it’s part of your
personal brand. But is it working for you, or are you now just doing it out of
habit?

Are you using it as an avoidance strategy? What aspects of your financial life
are you avoiding dealing with? Do you feel overwhelmed by the idea of sorting
out your superannuation? Does the idea of learning to invest fill you with
fear? Do you close your eyes and hope for the best every year at tax time? Is
penny-pinching a convenient distraction, allowing you to feel like youre
being financially responsible whilst avoiding all these other areas of your
financial life?

What is the real cost? Yes, there’s a financial cost. You might be missing the
forest for the trees, prioritising the little wins over the big wins. But
there are other costs. Do you enjoy constantly worrying about price tags, or
would it be nice to be able to spend without anxiety? What is the impact of
penny-pinching on your relationships with family and friends? Can you enjoy
your life and money the way you want with this strategy?

When you do it enough, penny-pinching becomes part of your identity.

Shifting out of the penny-pinching starts with recognising you have a choice:
you can spend your whole life chasing pennies, or you can decide to focus on
the big things that matter.

If that’s a shift youre ready to make, here are some steps you can take that• Музыка » Музыка Великобритании » Музыкальные коллективы Великобритании » Поп-группы Великобритании » Take That
will help:

Heal your emotional relationship with spending money so it doesn’t trigger so
much guilt, shame and fear, and you can spend with enjoyment and ease. This
means youll need to stop seeing spending money as a “bad thing” and start
seeing it as something you can do with intentionality and purpose and that can
add value to your life.

Build an automated cash-flow system that manages your income on autopilot so
you know your expenses, savings and investments are already taken care of, and
youre freed up from having to worry about every little expense.

Set up financial defences (like personal insurance• Страхование) to protect against crises
so you can get out of survival mode and start living a bolder life free from
financial worry.

Follow an investment plan that caters to your goals and risk• Страхование » Риск tolerance so you
can confidently grow your wealth without worrying about market ups and downs.

You will create way more financial ease when you stop focusing on small things
that make little difference and start focusing on big things that make all the
difference.

This will allow you to live a bigger life without stressing over the little
things. It turns out that when you watch the dollars … the pennies take care
of themselves.

Paridhi Jain is the founder of SkilledSmart , which helps adults learn to
manage, save and invest their money through financial education courses and
classes.

Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to
influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They
should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their
own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

Expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money delivered
to your inbox every Sunday. Sign up for our Real Money newsletter .

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