“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Confucius said it once, and one must copy that to the art of investing too. Managing money has to be simple or one tends to deviate from the right track and that’s why the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) principle finds its way into money management lessons.

Here are few simple and easy-to-implement tips to manage money:

1. Pay by cash – Human beings are all emotional creatures. The best way to handle the urge of impulsive buying is to use cash as much as you can. It is a psychological thing that cash going out of our pockets is a painful thing, while swiping the plastic money hardly makes a difference to most of the buyers and spenders. Moving to a cash only lifestyle seems difficult to implement at inception but as you get more used to such lifestyle, the difference is clearly visible in terms of reduced extra spends.
2. Close the Unused Bank Accounts – One should keep his list of bank accounts as short as possible. Different banks generally charge their customers for different services they use including SMS alerts, debit card charges etc. Closing the unused bank accounts can help you cut down on these charges.
3. Prioritise Repayments – One must always be in control of his own finances. Every rupee that one earns should go into fulfilling the needs (i.e. necessary expenses) or creating a new source of income (i.e. investments). Borrowings are something that eat into one’s existing funds in terms of regular interest cost. However, one should ensure that even if one has to borrow, highest cost loans are repaid first. As they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. So, make it a point to earn more by saving the higher interest cost first.
4. Eliminate the Extra Fat of your Budget – It is always good to cut on the extra fat of your budget. One must focus on cutting down the expenses which are not utilised like club memberships and for the expenses that can’t be curtailed, try using cash back deals and online coupons to make your expense budget slim. One must also compare different websites for the prices of the product being searched and then go for the best deal available.
5. Set up Alerts to Pay Bills on Time – One must always pay his utility bills and credit card bills on time. This is indeed essential in order to save on the delayed payment charges that the companies usually levy on the late payment. These charges are indeed something that can be easily avoided and hence, one can save the leakage of his money by setting alerts and eventually paying bills on time.

All these tips may seem so simple and obvious but do check once how many times in the recent times did you consider using these. Also, these tips might help you save small amounts, but don’t forget, ‘every drop makes an ocean.’

Wealth management, thus, is not a complicated thing and just demands commitment and consistency towards a common goal of creating wealth. Let’s drive on that road together!

Check out the A2Z of Personal Finance here.