There’s more to managing your finances than just breaking even. You also need to learn how to make your money grow and making it work for you. You don’t even need to have mad math skills to do this either. If you know how to add and subtract,you’re basically good to go. All you’ll need is the right attitude and the right know-how, and the rest should take care of itself.

Here are some things you can do to use your money, and not the other way around:

1. Make a Budget

While this is the most important part of the process, a lot of people typically just ignore it, mostly because it’s easier not to think about it, or that a lot of people just find the process boring. Budgeting itself lets you keep track of not only how much you earn, but how much you spend as well. A good trick to effectively making a budget is to make it after you’ve set money aside for your savings. That way, regardless of how you spend, you’ve already kept a bit on the side for your liquid assets.

2. Stick to the Budget

The second most important part on how to manage money effectively is to stick with the budget you’ve made for yourself. Making the actual account on how much you spendand earn is useless if you don’t even follow it in the first place. Always refer to your budget each time you need to spend if only to double-check. Ifthere’s a need to spend money in an emergency, you can easily delegate yourexpenses without stretching your finances too thin.

3. Kill your debt

If by any chance you’ve accumulated debt, it should be your first priority to eliminate it. For your money to effectively work for you, you’ll need to get out of debt. Debt is a common obstacle that keeps people from achieving financial stability, simply because of the nature of interest. The longer it takes you to pay your debt, the bigger you eventually will need to pay later on. The interest you pay could’ve been money you saved for your future or money you could’ve used for investments.

4. Check your priorities

Most people find themselves short on money even though they earn more than enoughmoney to live comfortably. A huge factor of this involves people spending outside their means. If you’re finding yourself unable to pay for everything you want to at home, then it’s probably a good idea to work out what is important to you. After you’ve worked out how much you spend on bills, mortgage, and your daily necessities, try cutting down on yourluxuries, like video games, alcohol, designer clothing and other stuff you canlive without.

5. Don’t take unnecessary loans

A lot of people tend to get excited once their income and credit reach a particular level, where they qualify for certain loans. Just because you qualify for such things, doesn’t mean that you should get one. The amount of money you’ll need to pay for the loan will grow, and you’re adding extra obligations to your finances that are ultimately unnecessary and avoidable. So much as possible, if you can help it, try to avoid getting a loan outside of emergencies.

6. Delay your gratification

Puttingmore thought in what you purchase can go a long way to allowing you bettermanagement of your money. Putting off large purchases not only gives yourbudget a bit of a breathing room, but you’re also allowing yourself more timeto evaluate the need to buy such an item, and even more time to look foralternatives. Sometimes in the process of waiting, the item you want can gointo a sale, which happens often enough. Impulse buying helps no one, least ofall your budget.

7. Limit your credit card use

Credit cards are the purest form of money owning you. The problem with relying too much on credit cards is that you tend to forget whether you actually have enough money to pay for the balance as soon as the bill comes in. Credit card companies make money out of you owing them, and each use of a card is akin to putting yourself in chains. Think carefully before you use your credit card or use a debit card instead. At least with debit cards, you’re actually spending money you already have instead of money you don’t.

The easiest way you can regain control of your finances is to simply think before you spend. Don’t just assume that you can afford to buy something simply because you have the money on hand. Think about other necessary things you can spend that money on in the future. If you think you won’t miss that money when you spend it, then go right ahead. If for whatever reason it might come in handy, however, then stick it back into your wallet. You’ll never know.