I am myself not so sure whether I have done such a post. However being a consultant, a sales person and a trainer is really an unfair advantage for being a blogger / author.

I normally deal with people in the wealth category – people wanting to invest. When somebody wants to borrow, I am not of much use. I have really no clue on where to look for good deals, what to ask, how to negotiate etc.

OK, ok do not get me wrong. I know the theory, but I have NEVER done that. I am more like a male gynaec !

These money mistakes that I saw are so so so straight forward and simple that I am surprised that people do not know THIS.

1. Spend MORE than what you earn: When people buy using a credit card, and repaying when they earn a salary, they have NO CLUE about the overspending that they are doing! Stunning? I was stunned too. Here is a simple solution: write down your expenses that you incur in cash. Then at the end of the month, tabulate the expenses. Is it more than your take home pay?

Do it over a period of 1 month, 2 months and 3 months.

See how it looks. Do you need money from your parents or spouse (once in a while) to settle your cc dues? Terrible situation, you need to be in a Financial ICU.

2. Shopping excites you? For a person completely brought up on investing and enjoying the process of investing, I am stunned by the number of people who enjoy shopping! It is so true among boys, girls, men and women. No gender or age bias. If you are in this category, take control of yourself. Find a game to play or a park to walk. Even better find a jogging park and run in the mornings and evenings. Enjoying shopping to me is like an oxymoron. It takes me 4 minutes to buy a white shirt and 3 minutes to buy a black pant.

3. Your credit card debt is being rolled over every month: this is the aids / cancer of personal finance. You are now sliding on the edge of a blade. It cannot be a pleasant experience, can it be? With interest rates of 3.5% p.m – this translates to much MORE than 50% per annum!! No way will you be able to settle this debt without a big infusion of money by SOMEBODY. You your spouse or your parents.

I can assure you one thing. If you see these 3 symptoms in ANYBODY, you can be sure that this person WILL NEVER GET RICH, unless he/ she changes attitude towards wealth creation. The start is to be made by dramatically reducing expenses and finding that proverbial Rs. 1000 every month to do a SIP…all the best.

Happy Dhan Teras and Happy diwali….and happy new year if you are celebrating it now…