16 Habits Of Poor People And How To Break Them

Certain habits are considered ‘normal’, but they are in fact detrimental to your financial success. In this post, I walk you through the habits of poor people that you should definitely avoid or break for good if you want to protect your wallet and secure your future (I’m guilty of habits #5 and 10!).

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16 Habits Of Poor People And How To Break Them

16 Habits Of Poor People And How To Break Them

Ready to dive into the habits that keep you poor? In this post, we’re going to analyze 16 habits of poor people and the available solutions to break them for good:

Consuming too much entertainment
Procrastinating
Overspending
Always being in debt
Having only one source of income
Avoiding books
Living randomly
Doing self-destructive activities
Surrounding yourself with toxic people
Feeling self-pity
Being negative
Avoiding financial education
Having a bad relationship with money
Gambling
Not saving for emergencies
Believing in get-rich-quick activities

Consuming Too Much Entertainment

Back in 2017, when I finished college, I felt lost and didn’t know what to do next.

I started sending resumes here and there, but I wasn’t putting all my efforts into getting a job.

What was I doing instead? Well…Scrolling through content on social media and watching stupid YouTube videos all day long.

When I look back, I cannot think of anything else but all the time lost due to my addiction to entertainment.

And the thing here is that this kind of content (stupid trends, new series on Netflix, and all types of content not related to personal growth) hinders your progress and distracts you from what really matters.

dont-watch-netflix — By freestocks, Unsplash

What’s the point of being in the loop on the last episode of a trending series if bills keep building up and you don’t have any money to pay for them?

It doesn’t make any sense.

It’s the same for the news. Does it add anything positive to your mind? I don’t think so.

I stopped watching the news as soon as I moved out alone.

And you should too.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Declutter your social media. Follow only the accounts that make you grow personally and financially (for example, I only follow blogging and marketing-related accounts on IG).
Uninstall Facebook if you get FOMO too easily.
Instead of binge-watching shows on Netflix, binge-watch videos on YouTube that help you get out of your current financial status (for example, you can type ‘How to earn money from Pinterest’ or ‘How to have a productive morning routine‘).

Procrastinating

Scrolling on social media.

Having coffee breaks.

Answering messages on WhatsApp.

Procrastination can take several forms, but the result is always the same: time goes by, but you don’t get sh#t done.

If your brain can choose between two things, it will prefer the thing that produces the greatest quantity of dopamine.

That’s why humans prefer cake over apples, parties over work, Netflix over books, etc.

If time is money, how many thousands of dollars have we lost so far?

The funny (or rather not too funny) thing is that, although we know it causes us nothing but problems, we do it anyways.

The task that we put off always carries something negative in itself: it can be difficult, boring, complex, stressful, or frustrating.

And our self-blaming thoughts end up making us more anxious.

How do rich people cope with procrastination? Is there a way to get out of this vicious cycle?

Keep on reading:

💡 ACTION STEPS

Never-ending task lists suck. Instead, focus on one to three priorities per day.
Use timers to complete tasks.
Make a vision board and have it on sight to always remember your purpose.
Mute your phone and put it away to avoid the temptation of checking your social media or WhatsApp.
Do the difficult tasks first.
Avoid multitasking: it’s better to focus on one task at a time.
Get organized with project management apps. I particularly love Notion.
Don’t be harsh with yourself. You are not lazy. It’s just your brain protecting you from things it considers ‘bad’ for your emotional well-being. But you can beat it with these tips 😉

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Overspending

dont-overspend — By Jacek Dylag, Unsplash

Poor people spend more than they earn.

Their money goes to whatever thing makes them happy instantly: clothes, cinema tickets, streaming services (oh Netflix, not you again!), cars, fast food, loans, the newest iPhone…The list goes on and on.

The problem here is making bad financial decisions.

Spending on these useless things and, even worse, not sticking to a budget can and does destroy your personal finances.

But why do people overspend? The reasons can go from lack of financial education and fear of not standing out socially to boredom and anxiety.

Whatever the reason behind it, you can stop this money-sucking habit today:

💡 ACTION STEPS

Before buying something, ask yourself if you really need it or want it.
Stick to a budget.
Stick to shopping lists.
Track your expenses.
Unsubscribe from newsletters that push you into buying products or services on sale.
Prefer cash or debit cards over credit cards.
Cook your own food at home (have you tried meal-prepping yet?)
Let your family and friends know that your goal is to save money. This way, you can work out cheaper alternatives to spend quality time with your loved ones.

Always Being In Debt

340 million.

That’s how many Americans are in debt, according to Debt.org.

And it’s just that getting into debt is so easy, especially when you receive low-interest offers on lines of credit, let alone the ‘no-interests-until…’ offers.

It’s tempting to get as many credit cards as possible when you have the option to pay in installments and make purchases more manageable.

But this payment method is a double-edged sword: those with bad spending habits and no financial education delude themselves by thinking they would be able to pay off debt in the future (*newsflash* : that never happens).

Think of it this way: Is it correct to use money you didn’t earn yet? No! It’s ridiculous.

avoid-debts — By regularguy.eth, Unsplash

Debt should not be deemed as a normal part of life and, luckily, you can get rid of it by following the steps below:

💡 ACTION STEPS

Open a savings account and have cash reserves to avoid using credit cards to pay for emergencies.
Avoid increasing your expenses if you get a higher salary.
Don’t fall into the trap of points, air miles, and low initial interest rates. Think twice before getting a new credit card.
Stick to a budget to avoid spending money you don’t have.
Make a plan to start paying off your current debt (this can involve reducing your monthly bills, earning extra cash through side hustles, and selling unwanted household items).
Remove your credit card information from online stores.

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Having Only One Source Of Income

I plead guilty on this one.

I learned the hard way that having only one source of income is extremely dangerous for your personal finances.

It’s natural to feel ‘safe’ when you have a high-paying job, but, when you lose that job, it’s all over and you start panicking.

And, giiiiirl, the suffering is real! 😔

But you don’t need to go through this like me.

It’s ok to start small but aim at having as many sources of income as possible.

Remember that millionaires, on average, have 7 different sources of income that provide them with enough money to invest and enjoy as they like.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Make a list of your areas of expertise and passions.
Brainstorm possible passive/active income ideas based on that list.
Validate your ideas on the Internet (study your competitors!)
Start with the one that has the highest money-making potential.
Set up your website and social media.
Sell a service or product with your own personal touch.
Start a niche blog applying affiliate marketing strategies.
You can also rent a room in your home and start a side hustle.

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Avoiding Books

Among the terrible habits of poor people, there’s the tendency of not reading enough or, even worse, not reading at all.

As soon as they complete their education, most people don’t open a book ever again in their lives.

And if they read, they choose fiction books.

Again, they fall into the addictive clutches of entertainment.

Fiction books do nothing for your financial health and are as toxic as watching a soap opera on TV.

Instead, non-fiction books and books on personal growth and financial education can make a huge impact on your life and give you the tools to improve and thrive.

If the only thing you need to achieve the life you want is your skill set, you’d better open a book at least once per month!

There are several ways to cultivate the habit of reading:

💡 ACTION STEPS

According to your areas of expertise and passions that you can turn into businesses, you can find plenty of books to choose from. You won’t get bored!
Look for recommendations on the Internet. There are business owners who are already at the level you want to be and who recommend useful books you can leverage to achieve your goals.
Start making time to read at least 15′ per day as part of your productive morning routine; then increase the reading time as you get used to it.
Get cozy and keep your phone away while reading to avoid distractions.
Try different formats. If you don’t like printed books, you can try e-books or audiobooks. Whatever helps you finish them faster.
Make a list of the books you’ll commit to reading. You can check the list of books I recommend in this blog post to get started.
Be patient. As with any habit, it will take time to develop but, at the end of the day, it is worth it!

Living Randomly

Living randomly, i.e. just doing the same each day with no goal in mind and thinking you’ll live forever, is what causes lots of people to run on autopilot and feel stuck in life.

It’s a pity to see some people, even with good health and endless possibilities to thrive, just living paycheck to paycheck, not caring about tomorrow, and letting themselves go financially… And intellectually.

Living randomly is one of the habits of poor people that seems to be not big deal, but, in fact, it can make you feel miserable when you look at your life and realize that none of your dreams came true so far.

After 10 years, you are in the same situation or even worse. Up to the ears in debt.

Fortunately, there are different options to stop living randomly and regain the sense of purpose to grow and achieve your personal and money goals.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Eliminate self-limitations from your life. You have what it takes to succeed. Don’t sabotage yourself and get down to work.
As mentioned before, remove entertainment from your house. It’s only making you dumber each day and doesn’t help at all if you want to actually stop living on autopilot and unlock your creative intelligence.
Make a plan. It’s truly difficult to track your progress in life if you don’t set goals. Write down your dreams and how you’ll achieve them by dividing goals into smaller tasks.
Surround yourself with people who are on the same page. People who only want to have fun and go to endless parties don’t align with your journey.
Learn new skills and invest in your self-development.
Create purposeful routines to make the most out of your day.

Doing Self-destructive Activities

Creating millions of dollars is not an easy task and you’ll need to make sacrifices and keep going when things don’t go as planned.

To do so, you’ll need a strong mind—but also a healthy body.

The poor often lack information about nutrition, so they end up choosing less healthy options, which in turn are cheaper.

eating-fast-food — By Bethany Newman, Unsplash

However, you CAN eat healthy on a budget.

But self-destructive habits entail not only how you eat, but also how much alcohol you drink.

Addictions and bad eating habits can destroy your mental and physical health and you’ll end up paying thousands of dollars to receive medical treatment.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Exercise consistently. Take walks, run, ride a bicycle, dance, or do whatever you love to move your body.
Have a drink only on special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries). In my case, I eliminated cola and flavored beverages from my diet and it was a mega-win for my health. I only drink a glass of beer once a month when I go on a date with my husband.
Replace junk food with delicious, nutrient-packed meals.
Sleep at least 7 hours per day to replenish your energy.
Meditate and practice gratitude to help reduce the anxiety that triggers self-destructive habits.

Surrounding Yourself With Toxic People

‘You are the average of the five people you spend time with’.

This is a famous quote from the entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn that has made me rethink my social circle.

What topics dominate your conversations when you interact with friends or relatives?

Are they trivial, negative, or superficial?

If the answer is yes, you’re in a poor environment that makes you sink with the people in it.

The poor tend to hang out with people who are of the same financial status.

But if you want to level up, you’ll need to change your social environment and choose people who have already achieved what you want to learn from them and use them as inspo to propel yourself forward.

After all, in the long run, you become like the people you expose yourself to and begin thinking like them, copying even their habits and their way of seeing life.

So, be careful who you hang out with.

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💡 ACTION STEPS

Analyze the type of priorities your social circle has. What are the conversations like?
If your peers inspire you and make you grow, keep hanging out with them. But, if they are superficial and do not add anything to your mental well-being, consider fading them out from your life.
Remember that it’s better to be alone and wait for the right people to come into your life than feel the social pressure to hang out with people you don’t like or who cause more harm than good.
Follow and learn from mentors. You can find one in your professional network, but you can also attend networking events where peers share the same passions and interests.
Consider following entrepreneurs on the Internet who have already achieved the goals you’ve set to copy their best practices.

Feeling Self-pity

‘Oh, poor me; everything bad happens to me!’

Have you ever told that to yourself?

Poor people tend to think their current situation is eternal and that they can’t do anything to change their lives.

Add to that the habit of blaming others for your problems and you’ll have the perfect combination to get yourself into a downward spiral of negativity.

avoid-selfpity — By Anthony Tran, Unsplash

Your boss, your family, your friends, the Government, the society in itself—it appears that all these elements are responsible for the financial position of poor people.

But, no, YOU are the only one responsible for your successes and failures.

And you can take action to stop feeling sorry for yourself.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Take full responsibility for your actions and decisions and realize that there’s always a way out.
Try journaling. Write down your problems and frustrations to understand your emotions and work out possible solutions.
Supportive people and nature can help you feel better. You’ll notice that just changing your environment can make a huge difference in the way you think and feel.
Again, meditating and practicing gratitude help you be present, enjoy the small things, and remain in control when things don’t go as planned.
Learn high-income skills to bring more money home.
Start a side hustle to make money on the side.

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Being Negative

This is one of the habits of poor people that makes them miss once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that could be pivotal for their personal finances.

The poor always look for the fifth leg of the cat and make excuses to avoid self-growth.

‘What if I don’t make it?’ ‘What if I fail?’ ‘What if I’m not good enough?’.

But what they should be asking themselves instead is ‘WHAT IF MY DREAM DOES COME TRUE?’.

It’s ok to have negative thoughts. But what’s not ok is to let them control you and destroy your mental and physical health.

Thinking always in the worst-case scenarios can and does lead to anxiety and depression, which makes things even more complicated.

💡 ACTION STEPS

In general, negative thoughts come flooding in automatically, unsolicited. The first step to crushing negative thoughts is recognizing you are having them.
Understand that it’s your brain protecting you from uncertainty and frustration. But don’t let it deceive you.
Write down negative thoughts as they come up in your mind. Analyze if they are true, what they are causing to you, and if they are sucking your energy out.
Once you know that these thoughts are useless, replace these feelings with positive thoughts. For example, instead of saying ‘It’s too expensive; I can’t afford it’, you can say ‘I will find a way to make the money I need and pay for it’. Similarly, instead of saying ‘I shouldn’t have done that; what an idiot’, you can say ‘What I can do differently next time’?.
Don’t regret the past and don’t worry about the future: it’s better to focus on what you can do in the present to keep learning and practicing good habits.
Change your thoughts to transform your brain: positive thinking will affect your attitude towards life and the actions derived from that positive attitude will change your reality.

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Avoiding Financial Education

The poor hate their financial position but do nothing to get out of that situation.

And what is key to being better is to be open to learning new things each day.

In this case, the poor need to learn how to make and manage money.

Sadly, we aren’t taught anything about money at school.

Schools and colleges create awesome employees but do not prepare students to be exceptional entrepreneurs who can earn whatever they want.

That’s why educating ourselves on money matters is our sole responsibility.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Start following entrepreneurs and financial mentors on social media. Their posts not only will serve you to learn about money but also to get inspired and copy their best practices.
Read books on how to create wealth, manage, and invest your money.
Visit blogs to learn tricks and tips to get the most out of the money available and create new income streams. In fact, I’ve created Biz & Bliss to help you save more, earn more, quit your job, and live your life on your terms!

Having A Bad Relationship With Money

One of the most pitiful habits of poor people is thinking that money is the cause of all evil.

Let’s analyze this statement.

Think of a scalpel. A doctor can use it to perform surgery and save someone’s life, but a criminal can use a knife to kill somebody.

The same happens with money. It isn’t good or bad in itself.

It’s neutral. It’s a tool.

What you do with it is what can be labeled as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

Money buys you time. Money gives you choices.

It allows you to help millions of people in need.

So don’t let your bad relationship with money hold you back in life.

💡 ACTION STEPS

The people you surround yourself with often affect the relationship you have with money. If your parents have always been in debt or hated money, it’s common to follow their steps. But you should know that there are always different ways of doing things. Instead, copy and hang out with people who have good financial habits and a healthy relationship with money.
Start seeing money as a tool that can help you unlock your full potential.
Money is not complicated. You have what it takes to learn the skills to acquire it and multiply it. If you offer value to the world, money will come your way by millions.
Repeat money affirmations each day to improve your self-talk about wealth and abundance.

Gambling

Gambling has caused thousands of people to lose all their money, their houses, their relationships, and even their liberty.

Turns out that getting addicted to gambling is pretty easy and it’s one of the habits of poor people that makes them poorer each year.

It’s common to feel great while playing at the casino: there’s cool, relaxing music, snacks, awesome visuals, and the games are fun!

Casinos even take the liberty of removing windows and clocks from the walls to make you lose the sense of time to keep you focused on gambling, with the hope you’ll hit the big one on your next move.

Engrave this in your mind: The house. Always. Wins.

Even if you win a couple hundred dollars, it’s easy to bet it all again (and even more) and come back home with more money problems.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Understand that gambling is the last thing you want to do if you need to improve your financial situation. Casinos are businesses and, as such, they are designed to be profitable.
If you keep a gambling diary, you’ll see how much money you are losing, which will help you stop the urge to gamble.
Get support from family members, friends, people who have already recovered from gambling addiction, and professional counselors.
Did you know that you can be part of ‘voluntary self-exclusion’ programs? This is an agreement you sign together with the casinos you visit frequently where you agree not to enter the venues selected. Thus, they have the legal authority to remove you from the building if you breach the agreement.

Remember that you can always get professional support to get rid of your gambling addiction. I highly recommend ONLINE THERAPY for its outstanding service and warm-hearted professionals. Get 20% OFF your first month with my special link!

Not Saving For Emergencies

save-for-emergencies — By Annie Spratt, Unsplash

As soon as the poor or poor-minded people get paid, they spend it all at once and even on things they don’t really need sometimes.

What happens when they get promoted and earn a higher salary? Well, at the end of the month, there’s nothing left to save for a rainy day.

Emergencies and unexpected expenses are real and we all can encounter them several times throughout our adult life (fixing a broken refrigerator, covering medical procedures, taking your cat to the vet).

That’s why setting aside a chunk of your salary is key to start saving money.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Your salary is not meant to be spent all at once. Saving for unexpected expenses is crucial for your financial health. Make a plan of how much money you’ll save each month. You should, at least, save 20 % of your income.
Aim at keeping 6 months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund.
Again, stick to a budget and think it twice before making impulsive purchases.
Open a specific rainy day and emergency fund and don’t touch the money you feed into it.
Start small and increase the amount of money you allocate for the fund as you develop the habit of saving.

Believing In Get-rich-quick Activities

Desperation can lead us to take risky actions or participate in apparently ‘legit’ activities where the enthusiasts promoting them assure you’ll make thousands of dollars overnight with little or no investment.

Get-rich-quick schemes, almost always, are designed and promoted to deceive people with money issues.

This trap comes in lots of shapes and sizes: mystery shopping scams, pyramid and Ponzi schemes, credit repair scams, fake job listings, free prize scams, etc.

Good things in life take effort.

No one is going to give you magical solutions to your problems.

You’ll have to work and invest your available resources (time, money, passions, desires) to change your life for the better.

And it’s not going to be easy.

💡 ACTION STEPS

Pay the price to achieve your dreams. The so-called overnight success does not exist. Beware of get-rich-quick schemes and invest your money or time in legit activities.
Roll up your sleeves and prepare to investigate ways of making/saving extra money and starting a side hustle or a business that allows you to get rid of debt, using trusted sources.
When something sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. This is the easiest rule to protect yourself from scammers.
Never share personal and credit card information or make upfront payments to get a benefit.
Invest and save consistently to increase your net worth.

These were the 16 habits of poor people that the rich avoid at all costs!

Are you guilty of any of them?

If you are, be patient with yourself and apply strategies to replace these habits of poor people with habits that create wealth in the long run.

Remember: wealth is a matter of creating and managing money the right way.

Investing in your financial education and putting in the effort to create more income streams will definitely work wonders for your financial health.

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16 Habits Of Poor People And How To Break Them

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16 Habits Of Poor People And How To Break Them