It’s easy to talk a great game about having good financial habits. It’s easy to talk about the importance of establishing a household budget and making more prudent financial choices

We can sit around and endlessly debate exactly what percentage of our income should be going into our savings

However, the truth is that our ability to properly manage our finances can be inhibited by our circumstances

Single parent families, low income households or those at the mercy of an increasingly expensive private rental market for whom property ownership is a pipe dream benefit little from the kind of glib advice offered up by many consumer finance websites

Nonetheless, no matter what your circumstances or income, there are some habits that all of us can embrace to help us, slowly but surely, turn the ship around. Bad habits are usually life choices and they extend beyond financial choices, there are a number of bad habits you can ditch to improve your life.

Good Financial Habits

Save something, anything every month

Many parents taught their kids to set aside 10% of their earnings each and every month. That’s because they usually grew up in less austere times and had more proportionate disposable income.

The truth is that many of us simply can’t afford to set aside 10% each and every month. And if that’s true of your household… Set aside 5%, 2% or 1%.

A savings account can work for you as long as you’re paying something, anything into it. By all means, deposit less when times are lean. You can always pay more if and when matters improve. Even when you’re skint, there’s no excuse not to pay anything into your savings.

Of course, the kind of savings account you use also makes a big difference.

By all means, borrow, but borrow smarter

Borrowing is an inevitability for many households. However, responsible borrowing can give you a helping hand when you need it while irresponsible borrowing can cause you to keep digging the debt hole deeper and deeper. Thus, it’s in your best interests to borrow smart and do your homework on your lender before you sign on the bottom line.

Make sure that they are open and transparent about their rates and that they have a plethora of glowing reviews from real customers just like you.

Interestingly, it’s worth checking out Fast Loan UK whose website boasts both.

Be wary of lenders who try to mislead, especially when it comes to interest rates.

Make more, buy less

Yes, it takes a little longer but making more and buying less (especially when it comes to cooking) is a surefire way to save more money.

Never buy things like pasta sauces or ready meals when it’s so much cheaper to make them yourself from cheap and readily available ingredients. This is a good lifestyle and a good financial habit to maintain

Don’t let your credit card debt standstill

Finally, while credit card debt is a reality for many households, you gain nothing from burying your head in the sand and hoping that it will go away. In fact, this approach is likely to see the debt grow as interest levels rise meaning that you pay off less and less of the debt.

Instead, make this week the week where you transfer your balance to a new card, meaning that you pay off the same amount each month in accordance with your budget but the debt gets hugely reduced

No matter what your circumstances or income, there’s no reason why you can’t get into these 4 good habits

*4 Good Financial Habits We Can All Embrace In 2019 is a collaborative post