Let’s face it. We all know someone, or have known someone, who is terrible with money. You seem them all the time spending their hard earned money (sometimes not even hard earned) on useless items that they do not even need (maybe not even want).
It’s common to know individuals who are spenders instead of savers. Of course, the spenders believe the savers are nothing but misers that should spend whatever money they have because they may meet their ultimate demise tomorrow.
When it’s time to intervene and give the person advice on how to stop spending so much money, it becomes a war and that person starts to immediately defend him or herself. So what should you do when confronted with that situation?
Here are some tips on how to give advice to a friend who handles money quite poorly.
Confrontation
If you are the confronting type then this method is your only alternative. If you think your friend is going overboard in his or her spending habits, you will have no other choice but to lay down the facts and give them the advice they desperately need. Eventually, they will understand your point – it will only be a few days later, though, that you will receive an email or phone call thanking you.
Subtle hints
Providing hints to someone when they’re shopping may not be the best method to giving advice to someone, but it’s a start. Hints, such as “Do you really need that?” “Can you afford that item? Look at the price!” and “I read a statistic the other day and it showed we are heading off a cliff!” are helpful in attacking the issue at hand.
Gloat
No one likes a bragger, but espousing your personal financial successes is a good step in giving advice. If you tell the spender that you have met your financial goals, you are debt-free and able to buy that computer you always wanted will make them intrigued and prompt them to start asking questions about how to meet those financial achievements.
Books & Suggestions
If they won’t listen to you then surely they will listen to the experts. Lending them a book of yours on how to save or spend less and suggesting a list of videos on YouTube may spike some interest from your splurging friend.
Create a Budget
Why not spend some of your time creating a budget for your friend? This is a good step to garner the interest from people who need it the most. They may become fascinated by how they could spend their money, meet challenges and increase their bank accounts by following some simple measures.
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