9 FINANCIAL MISTAKES: How to avoid them

Hello hello,

Do you find it hard to manage your finances?
Do you manage them fairly well, but are you looking for ways to optimise them?
Would you like to avoid making certain mistakes that are fatal to your wallet?

Then you’ve come to the right place.

Managing your personal finances is very important, but many mistakes can be made on the road to financial independence. So it’s even more important to know how to avoid them.

In this article, I share with you 9 financial mistakes that I regularly observe around me. And as an added bonus, I’ll also give you some practical solutions to put your finances in order, using some simple tips 😉

3-2-1 let’s go!

1: Thinking you can’t manage your finances because you have no education in the field… and doing nothing

Doing nothing is the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to managing your money. What you do now will determine not only how you live now, but above all what your life will be like in the future. Because, yes, you can prepare for retirement from an early age.

By learning the basics, you’ll see just how simple finance can be. And you don’t have to become a financial expert, just understand the basics like financial assets on the stock market or the principle of interest rates. That way, you’ll be able to make your own financial decisions, without being influenced by external recommendations that can sometimes be damaging.

2: Signing contracts you don’t understand

It’s very important to understand exactly what you’re signing up for and what the long-term consequences of a contract are. In the financial sector, there is a veritable jungle of offers and conditions. What’s more, they are often put forward by smooth-talking advisers who are motivated by the commission they earn.
So… before letting yourself be taken in, try to understand the added value for your wallet. If you don’t understand something, keep asking until it’s clearly explained.
And if a specialist can’t explain it to you in a simple way, the product or company is probably not for you.

3: Contracting debts

The temptation to consume is more and more frequent, especially since advertising reaches you through different channels (direct mail, social media, newspapers, online media, etc.).

If your salary isn’t enough, you may be tempted to consume on credit.

But remember that debt is a downward spiral. They are only justified in the case of positive debts, such as a mortgage or the money you borrow for continuing education.

However, most debts that arise in everyday life are definitely negative debts, arising from over-consumption.
Examples include buying a new television in instalments or going overdrawn on your credit card.
If you’re offered the chance to buy on credit, it’s because the system has realised the extent to which it can charge you interest that was thought to be minimal, but is in fact increasingly high. The interest rate in the event of non-repayment of your credit card is the highest.

To avoid this trap, always think 1 week before buying something and ask yourself if you really need it. Also avoid temptations as much as possible, e.g. why go shopping if you don’t have the budget?
Unsubscribe from all newsletters from online shops and deactivate notifications from your apps such as H&M, Temu, etc.

And if you want to treat yourself to something you really want, save the money and only buy it once you’ve saved it.

It’s not a question of living frugally, but of not living beyond your budget.

4: Not comparing prices

Comparing prices is essential. With just a little effort, you can save a lot of money. Banks, insurance and subscriptions are typical things we pay too much for because we’re too lazy to do the paperwork. Businesses have realised this and are taking advantage of the situation to collect large sums of money.

For insurance, you can use the Priminfo confederation website to compare premiums. For banks and subscriptions, several of us have blogs that make comparisons to help you save time (research) and money.

5: Not making a budget and only saving what you have left

Many people don’t save because they spend their entire salary beforehand, thinking “cool, I’ve got enough money left over for this purchase”.
To change this, use my Budget Excel available on my website to take stock of your spending. You’ll see where most of your money is going and you’ll be able to make adjustments.
Also, make an automatic transfer each month of CHF 100-200, or any other amount you can afford, into a savings plan like the one offered by YUH bank, for example.
If you want to save for a shopping trip, a holiday or a short stay in a hotel, create this project in the

YUH App. Insert my code YUHMONEYMADAM, and you’ll receive CHF 50 in Trading Credit and 250 Swissquoins.

6: Not having a security fund

In my opinion, a security fund is a no-brainer. It’s crazy to see that some people, even when they earn a good living, don’t have a single penny to spare, always living from day to day. Just because you have a good job and earn a good living doesn’t mean that redundancy can’t happen to you. Nobody is immune to the unexpected. That’s why I always recommend saving an amount equivalent to 6 months’ salary for security. Once again, you can create this security fund on YUH in a savings project and benefit from interest rates of up to 1%.

7: Saving instead of investing

Many people prefer to save by telling themselves that they will lose everything by investing, because they see investing as a casino. However, with a good long-term investment strategy, numerous studies have shown that the capital invested in the stock market tends to increase. The stock market goes through cycles, with upswings and downswings, but over the long term, 10-15-20 years, you will see that the price always goes up.

And you don’t need to be a financial expert to see the value of your capital increase. You can choose well-known, well-diversified ETFs to start with. And later, when you have a better understanding of the stock market, invest in shares to benefit from dividends and create a small additional source of income. Why not start by investing your Pillar 3a in equities? You can do this with YUH, which recently released its 3a pillar, and also with frankly, a 3a pillar that I highlighted in this article.

Of course, saving is important, but once you have saved the equivalent of 6 months’ salary, i.e. your security fund, it would be beneficial for you to invest the surplus. You’ll benefit from the effect of compound interest, and that’s definitely worth more than the interest rate offered by your bank for your savings account.

What’s more, with inflation, your hard-earned money is constantly losing value in your savings account. Inflation, added to bank charges (if you have a bank other than YUH, for example, because YUH doesn’t charge you any fees), means that your purchasing power decreases (you can buy less and less).

8: Relying solely on an income

OK, having a job is great. But having just one income is a concentration risk, makes you dependent on your work and is not good for your security. Yes, there is unemployment if you lose your job, but it won’t kick in straight away and will only give you a percentage of an average salary calculated over your last 2 years of work.

To avoid this, try to create several streams of income with active or passive supplementary income, online, rents, dividends, etc. You can find some ideas in one of my YouTube videos here.

9: Losing sight of your finances

Experimenting with 3rd pillars, investment platforms or banks is TOP! But never neglect the big picture when it comes to your financial products, let alone your spending!
As far as your expenses are concerned, it’s a good idea to keep track of them over a period of time by keeping a budget register, such as the Excel spreadsheet I sell on my website. To do this, keep your purchase receipts and bill payments over several months and enter the amounts at the end of each month in this Excel or other budget tracking tool. This will allow you to highlight unexpected costs! And you’ll be able to adjust the next few months accordingly.

Part of the mistake when it comes to finances also lies in taking out different financial products, which can quickly become confusing, especially when commitments are made (I’m thinking in particular of 3rd pillar insurance). That’s why it’s essential to always fully understand the contracts you sign, as explained in point 3.

Conclusion :

Consciously or unconsciously, we’ve probably all already made some of these 9 financial mistakes. I was the first, because for a long time I preferred to save rather than invest, until I really understood the added value. But it’s never too late to get your finances back on track.

In this consumerist, ever-changing world, you’re always tempted by the latest novelty, to the detriment of building up your assets. It’s worth questioning and changing our own behaviour when it comes to money. After all, will the latest IPhone really make you happy in the long term? I doubt it.

Anyway, I wish you every success in managing your finances and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me 😉

To your investments!