Tip #3: Doodads

I've dedicated a special blog to these things called Doodads. Because, for one, these are one of the greatest savings smashers, budget breakers ever to exist. But "what's a doodad?" you may wonder. For those who haven't heard of this word before this is from Robert Kiyosaki's book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." It's a term to describe all those stuff we spend for all the time. In other words, it’s those expenses we spend for, for things we don't really need. It could be anything like a dinner at fancy restaurant, designer clothes, a multi-functional electronic gadget, a 3-day out-of-town vacation or something you bought simply because it was on sale. Doodads could be very tempting to resist, especially with all the hype surrounding it – the flashy ads, the catchy commercials, or “everyone-has-one.” Though these things are good to have every once in a while, sometimes we may find ourselves spending a little too much on these that we end up almost broke or worse, we could be in debt.

One thing we most commonly do when we get a handful of cash on our hands, is to get rid of it right away. We spend and spend and spend and spend until there's barely enough to last us until the next payday. I’m not saying that we should deprive ourselves of the little pleasures of life, such as these doodads; instead what I’m saying is that we need to put a limit on what we spend for these. It's good to have these things once in a while but unless you're absolutely sure that you'll never lose your job, or that you'll always have a constant income stream for the rest of your life, then pause and think - how you manage your finances now will determine what kind of future you will be able to make for yourself and maybe for your family also.