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How to help someone change spending habits


Stacey
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I would like to help someone in my family with their debt. They have horrible finances and will never get out of debt at this rate. I want to try and at least help them manage their spending so they have more money to at least work on paying off some of their debts. What are some ways I can do this?

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I would start by having them right down every monthly bill and seeing the total cost going out each month. Then subtract that from their monthly wages. Show them what is left and help them better budget what they have remaining so they can pay more on their bills and get their debts paid off. 

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The first step is they have to see it. 

My wife and I do an annual financial review where I break out all the spending and open eyes to different categories I want to see improvement in. Like anything else I have it take place slowly. For the last 5 years we have been working on the overall starbucks spend and I have managed to get this down 40% in the last 3 years just by bringing awareness to the topic and asking for a small behavior to be slightly adjusted. 

No one likes sudden change and in order for something to be sustainable there needs to be an adjustment to a routine. 

So show your friend what they are doing. Show them the average break down of the budget of an American or wherever they are from and how their current budget lines up. Point out small things that can be changed that can lead to huge results. In the end the friend will have to want to change their habits to fix the problem. 

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YUP! Both comments above are right. They need to be able to see what they are spending. It doesn't seem like a lot until it is all written down. I watched someone go through this process online with someone else. It was on a YouTube video (I can't remember the name of it) but it helps to see how much is going out, to where, and how much is left.

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