woman failed at cutting her costs

Why Most People Fail At Learning How To Cut Costs

When starting the journey to financial prosperity, many people come to realize that learning how to cut costs is the first step. Yet most of them fail and soon abandon their attempts, going back to their old lifestyle and habits, often living above their means.

Believe it or not, in most cases reasons why people fail to learn how to cut costs are obvious and could be dealt with easily if the person in question knew what to look for.

Here’s Why People Don't Know How To Cut Costs

1. They Set Unattainable Goals

When you’re trying to figure out how to cut costs, the biggest mistake you could make is going from spending everything to spending nothing. This is often referred to as a bare-bones budget (a budget that only takes the most necessary of expenses into account), and it never works.

Think of it as a starvation diet of the financial world. You should start by cutting down your expenses, by, say $100 a month. Not by halving them.

2. They Focus On Wrong Details

When trying to learn how to cut costs, many focus on how much they could save. Instead, the main thing you need to figure out is long-term sustainability. You need to shift focus from numbers to comfort.

Learning how to cut costs is all about leaving your comfort zone. If you make a giant leap, you may save a lot of cash in the beginning – but you won’t be able to maintain the steam. The temptation of going back to the comfort zone will be too great and something will finally give. Instead start by making small steps so that the comfort zone will become larger, instead of jumping straight into the unknown.

3. They Give Up Too Fast

The logical result of failing the first time, busting the plan, and going back to the comfort zone is loss of motivation. People get disheartened and start believing (wrongly) that cutting costs is far too hard to be maintained long-term.

Sure, finding what you’re comfortable with might take time, but you’ll never figure it out if you give up after one (or a few) unsuccessful attempts. Instead, you need to double down, shift focus, and try to figure out where you went wrong to avoid making the same mistake with future attempts.

woman gave up learning how to cut costs

4. They Approach The Subject From The Wrong Angle

Before cutting costs, you should have a plan for the money you’ll be freeing up. For example, if you have no emergency fund, then starting the emergency fund should be your goal.

This gives you another angle to work with. Namely allows you to take details such as:

  • What’s the amount you’re planning to save;
  • How soon you could save it;
  • How much could be set aside from each paycheck realistically to achieve this goal.

So, the question of how to cut costs is not just an ephemeral “I want to spend less from month to month”, it’s a solid goal to work towards. And when that goal, however small, is achieved, you’ve both learned how to cut costs AND have cash saved up to deal with emergencies.

Why It’s Important To Have An Emergency Fund While Learning How To Cut Costs

Unexpected expenses are a fact of life. You won’t be able to avoid them. And they’ll also the biggest threat to your budget. Because you can hardly figure out how to cut costs with small steps. Oftentimes, you’re in a crisis mode trying to get cash together to cover an emergency, then you move to another crisis mode AGAIN trying to find cash to cover regular bills, while the emergency has already sucked your budget dry. Having a sizeable emergency fund would allow you to cover such an expense with ease, without blowing holes in your budget.

How A Title Pawn Could Help

If you have no emergency fund and need cash ASAP, you might want to consider title pawning for an option. A title pawn is a type of secured short-term fast loan. It’s accessible, quick, and would allow you to deal with the emergency in question peacefully.

At Georgia Auto Pawn, Inc. we’ve simplified and streamlined the process so that it rarely takes more than 30-45 minutes. We’re open to clients of all credit and income types, and you’d only need to provide three items to qualify – a state-issued ID proving you’re over 18, your car for inspection to determine the loan amount you qualify for and the car’s lien-free title in your name to prove you’re the car owner.

How To Get Started

All you need to get started is to submit a filled-out inquiry form on our website. It will digitally send information to the nearest store location, and a loan representative will give you a call as soon as it gets processed. They’ll provide all the necessary information, answer any title pawn-related questions you may have, and set up a meeting with our associate for you.

During the meeting, the associate will inspect your items to determine the terms of your loan. If they decide to approve you – you’ll get the cash the same day.

woman got title pawn cash

Get Started Today!

If you know the reasons why you fail to cut costs, you’ll know the roots of the problem and will be able to fix that with the right approach. Take our tips into consideration and start making the first steps toward your financial prosperity today!

And if you run into an emergency meanwhile, remember that you can cash your car title at Georgia Auto Pawn, Inc. Get in touch with us today either by calling us at 800-514-2274 or submitting a short inquiry on our website.

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.

Louis Tully

Louis Tully is a full-time finance writer offering financial expertise to everyday consumers. He understands the core values of finance and used his writing talents to share his own experiences with money to his readers. His articles teach how financial failures can easily become successes by making new habits and creating realistic goals.