Build Life Changing Skills with Financial Awareness

Build Life Changing Skills with Financial Awareness
It seems that struggling with money is an all too common complaint in the modern age. Coming into 2013, 59% of people had worries about their financial situation while 38% believed that money related stress had caused problems within their family dynamic, proving that being confident and comfortable with your finances can benefit all aspects of your life and not just your bank account. The best way therefore to set yourself up for financial prosperity is to build a solid foundation of life skills that will stand you in good stead to be able to make wise decisions and ultimately to keep hold of your cash.
Reviewing
It’s important to be able to scrutinize your own spending so you can identify where your money is really going but also to review how much you truly use certain expenses – like subscriptions to TV channels or extensive phone tariffs – to determine if the outlay is in-fact justified after all. Reviewing your accounts to make sure all money flowing in and out is above board and interest rates and monthly bills to make sure you are always getting the best value for your money will also help to maintain confidence in your financial situation.
Negotiating
Be it driving down the price on an expensive item before you commit to buying it or contacting existing providers for the likes of TV, phones and the internet to try and agree on a lower price; being able to negotiate is an important life skill. Once you are in the mind-set that there is always money to be saved and a better deal to be found, you will find yourself uncovering some fantastic bargains and a much more positive approach to shopping and spending.  
Saving
Successfully saving money is a lifestyle choice, not a one off quirk. It can be as simple as a jar to collect spare change or something more formal and sophisticated like a designated savings account with an automatic transfer from your checking account each month but however you approach it, getting into the habit of saving money makes it feel like a much less daunting prospect. 
Confidence
In many cases, people know they are ere entitled to some sort of compensation or reimbursement but simply lack the confidence and drive to chase up the claim. On everything from mis-sold PPI on credit cards to over-inflated overdraft charges from the bank, there are countless times when money has slipped through peoples’ fingers purely because they failed to stand up for themselves.
Patience   
Patience is a life skill that will benefit your financial situation as much as your social life. By being able to hold-off and resist the temptation to buy on impulse, you grant yourself the time to determine whether you truly need a certain product or service, helping to avoid any unnecessary splurges. Better yet, for the purchases you find you still want to make, you will have had time to compare prices from different retailers and hunt out the best deal, making your money go further.

About the author
This post was written by Gladstone Brookes. Based in the UK, they specialise in reclaiming money from mis-sold PPI policies on behalf of consumers. With over £345 million reimbursed at a success rate of 87%, they eliminate the stress and leg work involved in taking up a claim.