It’s the end of the month and concurrently it is the time you realize you don’t have enough money to buy something of use for yourself. When you read a lot of finance books & blogs, you come across a ton of different personal finance tips and tricks, but none turns to exert influence on you.

If you live by these 12 pieces of financial advice to follow you will have more control over your money, and you'll live a much better life financially.

Spend Less Than You Earn   

It's easy to know that you should be spending less than you earn but it's a lot harder to actually do it. But it is one of the most critical yet basic personal finance tips ever.

However, if you want to escape the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle that so many others live, you need to spend less than you earn.

In order to do this, you need to track your spending by either writing down the purchases you may or by using a free personal finance application.

Learn to Budget

Budgeting is not hard, and it doesn't mean you have to stop doing things you enjoy. Budgeting is simply creating a plan for your money so you have a better idea of where it's going every month.

The effective and popular method to budget is with the 50/30/20 rule.

How it works is 50 percent of your income goes towards the necessities (bills, food, housing, etc.), 20 percent of your income goes towards savings and the remaining 30 percent you can use for whatever you please.

This is a nice and easy way to break down your paycheck, but you might need to adjust it a bit to fit your lifestyle.

Break down Your Income and Expenses   

Breaking down your expenses and income is an old

This is an unusual little trick that can change the perspective you have about your money, and help you budget better.

This will help you see to what extent purchases are going to set you back and affect your spending ability.

Have Financial Goals

If you want to accomplish financial goals, you need to figure out what goals are important to you first. Possessing a clear-cut goal can keep you motivated and help you come up with a plan to reach that goal even faster.

Now, don't think that you need to set outrageous goals. If this is your first instance reasoning regarding your personal financial goals, begin with small and work your way up from there.

It is suggested to come up with a few different goals in each of these categories:

- What you want to accomplish in the following 3-months

- In the next year

- In the next five years

This way you'll have some short-term goals to look forward too, and some long-term goals to work towards as well. Your short-term goals may even be small stepping stones towards your bigger goals.

Pay Yourself First   

This personal finance tip of paying yourself first is another common one that can have an immense impact on your finances. When you pay yourself first, you're investing in future you, you're investing in your financial future; and future you will thank present you for doing so.

Thus, why not just pay yourself at the end of the month, which is a lot easier.

Well, the reason why paying yourself first works so well is that once that money is sent to a savings account, you're a lot less likely to spend it. If you wait until the month end to pay yourself, you might not have any money left.

To make your future blissful, start investing in yourself.  

Credit Card Is Not Free Money   

A credit card is a beneficial tool in your finance toolkit, but take note that it is not free money.

When you buy something with your credit card it means you are borrowing money from the bank. If you don't give that money back soon enough, the bank is going to start charging interest on your balance.

This debt can build up and turn out to be a monster if you don't pay off your balance every month.

However, if you use a credit card responsibly and pay off the balance each month, it is a good mode to start building credit. Most credit cards also have other benefits such as cash back, rewards points, or travel points.

If you're confident of paying off the balance fully every month, in that case, you should have no problem managing a credit card and staying out of debt.

Communicate with Your Significant Other   

The best way to avoid fighting about money with your significant other is to talk to them about it. Remember that you're a team. You should be talking to each other about your financial goals, and you should set a date once a month to go over your finances together.

Don't let money ruin a great relationship.

Know Your Net Worth   

Although net worth can seem like a tricky subject, it's quite simple. Your net worth is how much money you are worth. If you were to sell everything you own, then pay off everything you owe and how much money would be left is considered as your net worth.

Suppose you have a positive net worth, go on working to increase your net worth even more.

In case you have a negative net worth, you are required to take a look at your budget and come up with a plan in order to increase your net worth.

Start Investing

Though investing is one of the best ways to increase your net worth, a lot of people keep one's eyes off from it since they are scared of losing money. Therefore instead of investing, they keep their money in a savings account. Indeed it is the bang-up idea of keeping some money in a savings account for emergencies, but the truth is that money in a savings account loses value over time.

By Sowmya Sangam