Why Am I Always Broke? Let’s Fix It

Do you ever get to the end of the month and realize “oh sh*t, I don’t have any money left again? Why am I always broke?” Well, I have some good news and bad news. The good news is, you aren’t the only one. As a matter of fact, you are actually in the majority. The bad news is, I wish you had found this article sooner. 🙂

The majority of people reading this article probably make a very decent income. That’s why it’s confusing to most as to why they always broke when they really shouldn’t be.

The median household income in the United States is about $65,712. By just looking at that number, it’s doesn’t make sense that 78% of workers live paycheck to paycheck. $65k is a lot of money, right?

Today, we’re going to fix this and have you not be always broke anymore.

1. You are simply spending too much

All right, I will spare you the nonsense and state the obvious. More than likely, you are broke because you are probably spending way too much each and every month.

Do you have a budget? If you don’t, there is your answer. As a matter of fact, if you just worked on this first thing, you will be much better off. Trust me.

Have you ever noticed that your bills always seem to be just as equal to how much you make? A person making $40,000 a year might be living paycheck-to-paycheck oh, and a person making $120,000 may also be living paycheck-to-paycheck. How might that be? Lifestyle inflation.

Your standard of living is almost equal to your salary. As human beings, we tend to spend as much as we make on average. So take a second to draft up a budget and figure out exactly what you are spending every month, and how you can reduce that spending.

It’s really not as difficult and confusing as it sounds. Taking minutes to read up on how to start a budget. I wrote an extensive article covering just that, I’m sure you will find it super helpful.

• How To Budget For Beginners

2. You don’t make enough money

I’m sure I got a bit of a reaction from this one. “But Field” you ask, “isn’t that a bit obvious?” No my dear reader oh, it’s not as obvious as you might think.

The majority of people are employed in jobs that really underpay them. It might seem obvious reading it now, but have you ever considered asking for a raise or switching jobs and working somewhere that you are paid much more than you currently are?

I have asked this question to so many people, and the typical response I get is “yes I will, soon.” But, soon never comes. They end up staying and that job for years on end, earning much less than they are currently worth.

Always consider asking for a raise if you really feel you deserve one. If you do, asking never hurts. I know, it’s a scary thing to do but if you don’t ask, you will never know.

And if your employer simply will not give you a raise, their loss not yours. You can simply just look for a better-paying job and earn more money. I also wrote an article going over this very thing. Check it out.

3. You are house poor

Did you know that the median size of a new home is about 2600 square feet? That’s an increase of over 1,000 square feet in the last 40 years. Do you know what’s even more interesting? The average household size has also decreased from three people per household to two people.

What these statistics show me is that people are buying more house than they really need. If you can qualify for a huge mortgage, that doesn’t mean you should take it. This is one huge mistake that most people make in their financial lives and the huge reason why they remain broke month after month.

This applies to renting too. Don’t rent out the nice downtown loft when you are living paycheck to paycheck. That leaves very little wiggle room for your finances.

The two most expensive purchases in your life are going to be your car and your housing, your house being the most expensive. If you spend too much on your house, the majority of your income will go to paying down that mortgage.

Imagine earning $4,000 a month, and your mortgage or rent is $2,500 a month. That means that 62% of your income is going just towards your house. That’s before your expenses, your savings, and heaving utilities. Things really add up.

4. You are car poor

Yup, you know exactly where I’m going with this. Just like being house poor, you can also be car poor. Yes, it’s a real thing.

At the time of writing this, the average price of a new car was about $36,718. 36 grand for four wheels. What? What ridiculousness is this? Who pays well over 30 grand for a car? It really doesn’t make any sense.

A car depreciates as fast as a rock sinks to the bottom of a lake. It’s a nonstop train to being broke. What’s even worse is that the majority of buyers are buying cars on credit. A car payment can be a huge financial sink to your monthly budget.

If your car payment is $600 a month, imagine what not having that car payment would do. What would you do with an extra $600 a month in your pocket? I bet you could do a lot with it.

If you can, avoid car payments like a plague. No matter what everybody tells you, you don’t have to have a car payment. They are so many other cheaper cars you can buy for cash that is just as good as new.

A four-year-old car does not mean unreliable. Heck, if you could go older than 4 years, you would be way better off financially. Trust me on this, the numbers don’t lie.

5. You are a brand slave

Do you hate generic products? If so, why? Is it the packaging, or is it that somebody told you that they are inferior products? If your answer is yes to either of these, you are doing this all wrong.

The majority of generic products are almost identical to name brand products. This is especially true when it comes to medication.

Do this little experiment for me. Walk into Walgreens and compare the generic brand over the name brand. Chances are, you will notice that the ingredients are literally identical. So, why would you end up buying the name brand instead? Marketing.

Name-brand companies spend billions and billions of dollars each and every year to convince you that they are better than generic brands. Of course, they are exceptions, but not the rule.

The next time you are shopping, hold the generic brand next to the name brand and compare the ingredients. If the ingredients are the same, then they are literally identical except for the packaging.

I simply switching to this mindset, you can save thousands of dollars on shopping just because you opt to you shop for a cheaper generic brand.

By the way, the same applies to clothing. Just because this shirt has the Supreme logo on it, doesn’t mean the cotton was woven by angels on golden chairs. Nope.

6. You buy too cheap

It’s took me a very long time to snap out of this myself. I was definitely a culprit of buying things way too cheap.

I would go to Dollar Tree just so I can save a couple of dollars on whatever I was buying. Be it a pair of scissors, kitchen knives, or even a can opener. Do you know what kept happening? These things kept breaking.

I would end up back at the Dollar Tree every other month to replace the broken items. After a while, I realized that there is a reason they cost so little. The materials are brittle, soft, and off low quality.

If you keep buying really cheap items, they will not last and will need to be replaced more often than not. This doesn’t save you money, it actually costs you more. Keep that in mind.

7. You have too much debt

Now that I’m thinking about it, this probably should have been higher up on the list, but no matter. The point is still the same. Having too much debt he’s a recipe for disaster and a sure-fire way to remain broke.

The thing about racking up debt is that, at the time, it seems so little. You buy something on credit and the payment is $30 a month. You think to yourself, “oh that’s it? I can do that”.

What you doing to realize is it that it all adds up. $20 a month here, $15 a month there, you get the idea. It’s so easy to rack up debt, but so hard to get rid of it.

If you already have tons of debt, then the best time to stop accruing more is now. Get up from wherever you are right now, and to cut up those credit cards. They are not doing you any good, believe me.

8. You don’t buy in bulk

Hear me out on this one. Do you know what the economies of scale means? Here is the dictionary definition: economies of scale is doing things more efficiently with increasing size.

When you go to the store and buy groceries, do you buy one thing at a time? Maybe one packet of paper towels, one box of toilet paper, one packet of chicken, you get the idea.

When you shop at bulk buying discount stores, you save so much more money by buying Necessities in bulk. It’s simple math really.

You spend less time at the grocery store, you spend less in gas by going to the store often, and do you spend less on groceries because you get discount by buying in bulk.

Give it a try 🙂

9. You are a victim of lifestyle inflation

Have you ever received a raise, but only realize that you are still broke at the end of the month? But how can I be? You are literally earning more than you did before, but still don’t have any money left over. This is called lifestyle inflation.

It is human nature to adjust our lifestyle based on our income. The more money we learn, the more we spend. The less money we earn, the less we spend. We tend to spend exactly how much we learned, ending up with very little to nothing left at the end of the month.

Whenever you increase and come from either and raised, or earning an income from a side Hustle, it’s important to keep your expenses and check.

Just because you are earning a more doesn’t mean you deserve to spend more. If you kept your expenses the same, you will literally be able to save more and more as you earn more. Simple as that.

10. You are afraid to face the truth

Have you ever taken a second to take a cold hard look at your finances to figure out why exactly you are always broke? Are you afraid to see those big numbers looking back at you? Believe me, you aren’t the only one.

I know, it’s scary to think about. But the thing is, ignoring and pretending that it’s not their only makes it worse. Sure, knowing what your minimum payments on your credit cards are is one thing, but it’s another to figure out a game plan on how to completely pay those things off.

Just take a deep breath and be courageous. These finances are your responsibility, and ignoring them will not make them go away.

Once you have a strategy and game plan in place to not be broke anymore, you will feel much better.

Final thoughts

There are probably other reasons why you are always broke oh, but these 10 I’ll probably the biggest culprits.

You don’t necessarily fall into each and every one of these, but chances are you are doing one or more of these. If you are, then be honest with yourself and make the necessary changes.

Nobody else won’t do it for you, so it’s time you do it for yourself. With persistence and perseverance, you can definitely come out on top! Being broke is temporary, but being poor is a mindset. Anybody can get out of being broke, and so can you!

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