Are you a wise spender?

By Amina Nazarli - AzerNews 

Are you a wise spender? You probably wonder where your spending money is going or how you ended up spending so much on practically nothing in so little time. Indeed, overspending can lead to piles of debt and zero savings.

I was just lucky enough to be born with restraint when it comes to money so that over-spending has never been an issue. And though many of my friends call me a miser, saying that I deny myself many entertainments and pleasures, I know how to not open those purse strings and dig myself into debts.

But I do not consider myself a miser. I prefer to call myself economical. Unlike my friends I do not end up wondering where in the world my money went at the end of every month, while looking at my bank statement.

Some people just cannot control their spending. When getting their salary at the beginning of the month many people don’t even plan their spending, they just spend and spend and spend until there is no more - usually much before the next paycheck.

Once you start spending, it can be difficult to stop. So, to wean yourself off from squandering your cash, do learn about your weaknesses.

Most boys and girls tend to spend big amount of money on clothes.

I myself also like to look nice, but compared to those who leave most of their cash in department stores, I have developed a convenient mechanism allowing me to save money.

So, for every kind of items (such as jeans, t-shirt, shoes, accessories and etc.) I want to or need to buy I set up a budget, that I try not to exceed. Of course, I can be upset if, for example, a blouse costs more than I expected, but, today shops present many alternatives, and shopping around for bargains is always a good idea.

But, do not be very hard on yourself - You can sometimes make exceptions. Remember that since most shops do have regular sales, you should consider waiting for bargains before buying what you need.

Research has shown that Azerbaijanis, going on vacation abroad, spend about 1500-2000 manats ($1425-$1900). When ask how much money they take with them while abroad the answer vary in between $2000-3000 - mostly shopping money.

But, do we really need three-pair of designer jeans or shoes by Louboutin, when the majority of the world can’t even afford to pay for food.

Do not get me wrong my goal is not to spoil your mood, but to wake you up to reality. If we think how luxurious our lives are in comparison with those, who live in underdeveloped countries, I’m positive we will be able to reduce our spending to more reasonable levels.

A research held in Azerbaijan by Moyazarplata.az in 2011 showed that some 75 percent of Azerbaijanis spend 50 percent of their money on food.

Food expenses make up about 92 manats ($87.44) per person in Azerbaijan, according to the State Committee on Statistics in 2013. If to consider that per capita income amounted to 336.6 manat ($320) per month in 2013, then monthly Azerbaijanis spend about 27 percent of their earnings on food.

To compare, Turks spend almost 22 percent of their money on food, while Ukrainians give 37 percent of their salaries for foodstuffs.

Very often because of laziness, some people prefer to take a taxi to get to work, saying that the money spent on a comfortable vehicle will not make them wealthier. For me, these people are partly mistaken. Very often we spend a lot of money on little things, believing that they do not affect our budget. However, most of our spending usually go to the things we don’t care about.

Indeed, for many people stopping themselves from spending money can be difficult - a constant battle between what they need and what they want.

But nowadays we all need to be careful and responsible.

With the right approach, it’s possible to stop spending more than we can afford and eventually save money for those important purchases we all will want to conducts -- traveling, education and so on...

If you want to buy happiness, spend your money on experiences versus stuff and spend it on others versus yourself, says a research conducted by Michael Norton who authored Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending book.

The research shows that experiences make us happier than material goods because experiences make us feel more connected to others.