Plan each life phase of finance.

A simple starting point in financial planning.

21 February 2025

When it comes to financial planning, many people think it's difficult.

Complex. It takes a lot of technical knowledge.

But in fact, financial planning has a simple beginning.

Like the story of Steve Adcock, a former payroll man.

He retired from his job at the age of 35 and is now a financial planning consultant.

# Salary # Using money # Feed # Open

Steve started out as simple, uncomplicated, and immediately done.

That is to "control costs" to help plug financial leaks.

They suggest to avoid the 7 costs we often do not think about:

1. Eat outside

Steve and Courtney Adcock, two wives, relate that they spend an average of US $750 a month eating out, while EDGE by KKP found data in Thailand that students and employees earning between 20,001-50,000 baht per month enjoy eating out (more than 1-2 times / month) at a cost of around 300 baht / person / meal or more.

Including the cost of eating out all year round, it's a pretty good amount of money that we can save more if we can prepare your own food and turn it into rewarding ourselves by eating out occasionally or on special occasions.

2. Change new mobile by stream, not financial planning

The brand of smartphone has just been released. Calm down. They both use the same phone for up to 4 years. And when it has a breakdown, they try to repair it first, thus saving hundreds of US dollars or tens of thousands of baht. Because Steve sees that even if it is released, it does not have a life-changing effect. Instead of buying a smartphone whose value is declining every year, it is better to plan money, invest in assets of increasing value.

3. Buy new clothes according to the trend

The trend of clothing and apparel is faster than smartphones, so before buying something, ask yourself if we really need it. Both rules are to buy only the necessary clothes and wear them until they are torn, dirty or no longer wearable. On average, you only buy clothes 2-3 times a year on a budget of $50-100 ($1,600-3,300 only).

4. Government / lottery lottery

Knowing that there are very few opportunities to win, but they can't stop buying because they hope to be lucky. This is a trap of unnecessary expenses. Compared to investing in assets such as mutual funds, stocks, etc., that tend to grow, there is a greater chance of getting a return than buying a government lottery or lottery. Even if one purchase does not cost a lot of money, when combined throughout the year, it is a sum of money.

5. Extend the warranty time of goods unnecessarily

Steve says that the warranty business has grown greatly in the US because consumers often overpay to extend the warranty period because they overestimate that the goods they buy "will need to be repaired often." In fact, they hardly use the warranty right. Steve suggests that if you want to buy insurance, check the conditions for whether the protection is covered or not, or the credit card we hold already has this benefit. And it is best to decide to buy high quality products in the first place because it is less likely to crash, save money on the insurance and save that part for repairs when it is really broken, it is better.

6. Cable TV / Streaming Value

Today, there are many online streaming platforms for us to choose from. Whether it's watching movies, series, cartoons, listening to music, but have you ever noticed that we usually go to see only a few platforms, so if you pay for many applications, you should cancel the rarely used platforms. It also includes cable TV subscribers. For Steve and his wife, you can only subscribe to one streaming platform.

7. Buying according to mood

Avoid buying because you want to buy because you're on sale or if you don't know if you're really going to use it. And when you start thinking about it, your satisfaction is almost gone immediately. Next time before you lose money on something, there should be at least one necessary reason. Otherwise, in the end, we will have a pile of unnecessary items filled the house. Financial planning may fail or reach a goal late.

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