The Number One Financial Habit
The number one financial habit to develop is learning to save a fixed percentage of what you earn.
If you never develop the discipline to keep some portion of what you earn you will always be living on the bubble.
Regardless of how little or how much you make it will always be easy to spend all you earn and then some.
One way to view the potential of this is to project what you think you may make in your lifetime. A modest salary, over a lifetime of work, adds up to millions.
How much of it do you want to keep for you?
Think in terms of percentages not dollars. This way as your income fluctuates, the percentage stays the same. Otherwise it is too easy to fall into the trap of only saving money when you have extra.
If you start early in your earning years setting aside ten percent is a great habit to lock in. If you cannot save ten percent right now pick some number and stick to it. For you late starters, save the highest percentage you can.
Saving money is like getting into shape. At first it is hard, but once you get moving in the right direction, it becomes addictive. Once you start to experience keeping some of what you earn it is empowering.
People are happiest to the degree they feel in control, and saving money enhances your control. It gives you the option to live life more the way you want to. Living paycheck to paycheck robs you of your peace of mind.
How much have you made so far in your life and what do you have to show for it? You cannot go through life paying everyone but yourself.
Pick a percentage, pay yourself first, and never look back.