Being a struggling young person that still wants to live their best life is not easy.
With everyone travelling, buying designer clothes and popping champagne every weekend, frugal living or living within your means will leave you feeling a bit empty inside.
I know I speak for many when I say the Coronavirus pandemic affected our finances negatively. I for one, felt like if the world was ending then I didn’t need to worry about saving money for rainy days, so instead, I spent it all on food and clothes that I’ll probably never wear.
Now I don’t know how you coped with the pandemic but my methods definitely left me in some financial difficulties. But I have been trying to undo all the damage because as you know, the world has not ended, instead, it’s gradually going back to normal.
For the past couple of months, I have been consuming a lot of frugal living content which I feel could come in handy for anyone that is trying to fix their finances post Covid-19.
Here are some tips (from one young person to another) to help you manage your money better.
Don’t hold grudges
I am sure that I was not the only person that made some reckless financial decisions during the lockdown, and I could spend the rest of my life beating myself up for it but that will not change anything.
In order to move forward and adopt healthier spending habits, I have to forgive all my mistakes in the past and look towards making better decisions in the future. So if you are in a similar boat consider letting the past go as resenting yourself for it will not return the money that’s gone.
Spending on everything is a no
I guess all kinds of therapy is expensive because retail therapy is just as pricey as the regular kind.
Whether it’s a 50% off sale or it’s an item you have wanted your whole life, if you’re already broke, you can’t afford to reward yourself with any unessential items.
YouTuber Camille Collazo, who shares her tips on frugal living, suggested that we identify what triggers our need to spend. Whether it is boredom or certain types of content that leaves us with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), we need to avoid these triggers at all costs.
Don’t compare your life to other peoples
I use social media more than I probably should, and with that, I get exposed to people’s lavish lifestyles which of course makes living within my means that much harder.
Collazo suggests completely eliminating comparison because we never really know what people’s finances look like. “Focus on your own progress and creating and maintaining good money habits,” she said in one of her videos.
Stop clubbing
The clubs are open but guess what? You can’t go if you are broke!
But I get it limiting the number of times in a month you go out with friends is not easy, especially because life can be challenging so a night out usually seems like the only way to forget about your problems.
Unfortunately though, if you want to reach your financial goals you will have to make some sacrifices. Cheaper alternatives to a night out are cooking in and buying affordable drinks for you and your friends to enjoy.
Do not avoid your bills
Payment holidays might have helped a lot of people during lockdown, especially those that lost all their income during that time, but a holiday doesn’t mean the debt is gone.
As things are going back to normal, you will now be expected to continue making payments for whatever it is you owe. The worst thing one can do is to try and avoid these payments because they will not go away, unfortunately, instead, they will only accumulate, making it even harder for you to get yourself out of that hole.
I recently finished all my payments on my credit card and I did this by punishing myself for 5 months. I set strict transfers to my credit card which left me broke for quite some time but the feeling I got once it was all paid off was definitely worth it.
Creating a structure that allows you to pay off your debt as soon as possible will make it easier for you to gain financial freedom.
If you want more frugal living tips here is an article on the YouTube channels you can watch for this.
