Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today, we will learn about how to never be broke
again in your life. Now, let’s begin.
Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? It’s tremendously stressful when you’re constantly
struggling to make ends meet. You worry about basic necessities, like groceries and rent.
You opt out of social activities and miss out on material luxuries. While you’re scrounging for
every penny, you may know people who have money to spare, people who spend hundreds of dollars
without a second thought. You might think to yourself: How do they do it? Why am I always broke
when other people are rolling in extra cash? If you’re broke all the time, this probably
isn’t the first time you’ve sought financial advice. People might have told you in the past,
“you just need to be smarter with your money.” Maybe they told you to invest in the stock market,
high-yield savings accounts, or real estate. The truth is, for the average person, this kind
of advice isn’t lucrative or even practical. The reason you’re constantly broke has nothing to do
with real estate or the stock market. These investment options can benefit some people,
especially those people with money to spare, but the everyman’s path to financial stability has
little to do with intelligent investments. The real reason why you never have money is
that you’re constantly spending it. More than likely, you’re spending that money faster than
you realize. For the average person, the number one cause of financial distress isn’t reckless
investments or changes in the market. It’s poor spending habits. It’s your unconscious desire
to waste money on things you think you need. We live in a world full of enticing objects
and experiences anyone can buy, consume, and enjoy. We’re constantly surrounded by tasty food,
innovative technology, and fashionable clothes – not to mention non-material purchases,
like drinks with friends, gas for your car, and apps on your phone. Every day,
your money is flying out of your pocket at a rate most people can’t control or understand.
Because of these mindless spending habits, your finances are constantly in the red,
forcing you to live paycheck to paycheck, often spending as much or more money than you make.
If this sounds familiar, you may benefit from practical advice, like budgeting your monthly
expenses. These tips and tricks would probably help you manage your finances more intelligently,
but there’s a deeper problem behind your reckless spending. Unless you figure out
how to curb your spending habits, no amount of budgeting will save you from financial distress.
In this video, we’re going to dig deeper into the psychology of financial distress – the
reason why so many real people are broke all the time yet constantly feel like they never
have enough. For many people, these are the real motivators behind their financial instability and
bad spending habits. Instead of shopping sales or budgeting your spending money,
in this video, we’re going to actively chip away at these common psychological barriers,
teaching you how to spend your money wisely and finally achieve financial security.
To start, think about what it feels like to buy something new. When you
walk into a store and discover something you want, your brain experiences a rush
of excitement. In your hands is an object of pleasure – something you believe will make you
happy – and the only thing standing between you and that object is a few measly dollars.
So, what do you do? You run to the register, hand over your hard-earned money, and walk out
the door with a brand-new object in your hands. At first, your satisfaction is undeniable. You’re
happy and hopeful, wholeheartedly excited about your snap purchase, but soon reality sets in.
The one thing you thought would make you happy… begins to lose its luster. When the dust settles,
you’re no longer comfortable or satisfied. Instead, you may be frustrated with yourself
for spending money on something you don’t need. You may feel ashamed of your impulsive behavior
or suddenly insecure about your financial future. What you’re experiencing is a very common cycle
of hope and shame, a series of highs and lows that cause many people to max out their credit
cards and spend far more than they can afford. If we know it’s bad to squander your money,
why do we keep doing it? The answer is more straightforward than many people expect.
In the heat of the moment, you see something sparkling and new in front of you, and that
novelty stimulates your brain, causing your mood to increase and your self-control to fly out the
window. Even though you know money is tight, the exciting object stirs up so much emotion
in your brain that logic and reason fall by the wayside. Impulse takes over, and you ride that
wave of emotion all the way to the register. Even though you know better, you still make the wrong
decision, but what if there was another way? What if, instead of giving in to temptation,
you could control your impulses, save your money, and wait for something you truly need?
We sometimes call this “delaying gratification,” a well-studied psychological concept with numerous
applications in our lives. In simple terms, delaying gratification means resisting a small
reward in the hopes of obtaining a greater reward sometime in the future. In terms
of dollars and cents, delaying gratification means avoiding impulsive, frivolous purchases
to make a more meaningful purchase down the road. Delaying gratification is the key to spending your
money wisely. It’s also why rich people usually stay rich and broke people usually stay broke.
The more you chase short-term rewards – spending money, for example, on things you don’t need – the
harder it becomes to control your emotion-driven impulses and make logical decisions.
People who crave instant rewards rarely have the willpower to resist their impulses and
think through the consequences of their actions. Instead, their minds are clouded
by the pursuit of pleasure, leading to poor judgment and a lack of self-control. Learn
how to resist these temptations, and you’ll not only develop more willpower
but also change your relationship with money. That’s the ultimate goal here. Yes, saving money
is important. Of course, you should learn more thoughtful strategies to handle your money and put
it in the right places. But if you cannot control your impulses and delay financial gratification,
it doesn’t matter how savvy you are with your cash. You’ll continue to struggle on the edge
of financial distress, even if you have money in the bank. On the other hand, if you can control
your reward-seeking behavior, you can empower yourself to make intelligent, thoughtful decisions
with your hard-earned cash. With this kind of self-discipline, you can gain and retain money,
no matter where you work or how much you make. Let’s bring this discussion out of the clouds and
into the real world. If delaying gratification is the key to healthier spending habits, what
concrete strategies can you use to make better financial choices? One common method is called the
Two-Day Rule. This is a trick you can use anytime, anywhere to help you save money right away.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you’re interested in buying a new computer. But not
just any computer; you want the most expensive, highest-performance machine on the market. When
you first encounter this new, shiny object, you want it more than anything in the world,
but we both know it is far beyond your budget. So, what do you do?
Someone with undisciplined spending habits will throw down their credit card and immediately
propel themselves into financial distress. But you can avoid this common mistake using the Two
Day Rule. Whenever you see something you want to buy, force yourself to wait two full days before
spending a cent of your money. In two days, if you still think it’s a good idea. Go ahead,
spend your money. And be happy that you thought through your decision.
On the other hand, you may realize you don’t want or need that reward as much as
you thought. As simple as it sounds, the Two Day Rule can save you hundreds or even thousands of
dollars every month. More importantly, you’ll know, without a doubt, that every dollar you
spent went toward something you actually need. If the Two-Day Rule doesn’t work for you, another
helpful strategy for delaying gratification is sometimes called the One-Item Limit. Every week,
limit yourself to a maximum of one frivolous purchase. When you go to the store and see
something you like, ask yourself, “is this the one unnecessary item I’m going to buy this
week?” This simple question forces you to put your weekly spending in perspective. You start
thinking about all the places you’ll go and all the exciting things you might see. Suddenly, the
object in front of you doesn’t seem as appealing. Over time, you may struggle to decide on even
one item to buy. Why? Because you’ve learned to set aside your impulses and think ahead.
These are just two practical strategies you can use to discipline your spending habits and
avoid wasting your money. If you add these simple strategies to your routine, you may discover your
financial stability improving rapidly. Suddenly, you may have a few hundred dollars left over at
the end of each month – a few hundred dollars you never had before. Keep up these strategies
for the rest of the year, and, by the end, you’ll have put away a large chunk of change. And all you
had to do was think before you buy. With a little bit of patience, you can tackle the psychological
roots of your financial problems. You can start saving money, instead of losing it, every single
month. Most importantly, you can develop secure, long-term spending habits so that you will never
be broke another day in your life. Thank you for watching TopThink and
be sure to subscribe because more incredible content is on the way.