Buying/Spending
When taking a look at your finances, the first thing you should take a look at is what comes out of your wallet. Why was that purchase made? Some times, a lot of us spend money on things that are fun or make us feel good. If you get an emotional high from making purchases such as food, clothes, or new furniture, chances are that high is temporary followed by feelings of sadness shortly after. You may want to look at this behavior as a coping mechanism. If continued, it may be destructive to your bank account and life earnings. 

The key when looking into purchases is figuring out which items were bought for necessity,  fun, or status. A status item is an item bought to show off your financial status or because it was a popular item at the time. Like my son pointed out in our conversation, the status item in question was bought to fit in with the crowd. This is really common when speaking about middle school kids. At that stage of development, kids want to fit in with the crowd and prefer the company of friends and peers as oppose to parents. Sorry guys, we aren’t cool no more.

Items that were bought out of necessity are very common items that you really don’t think about purchasing because, well, you need them. Some examples are groceries, gas for your car, laundry detergent, or the glue for your kid’s project. These items are necessary, but they do come out of your wallet and should be looked at.
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Income
When you think about your source of income how do you feel about it? How do you view yourself when you are creating income to support your family and lifestyle? These questions are very important as the answer directly affects how much money you will generate in the week, month, or year. If you are unhappy at your job, chances are that you will not pick up additional hours and will not look for new opportunities in your vocation. In order to increase your income (which everyone wants to do), you literally have to change your perspective. You need to view yourself as your own employer. You are the boss, and you have a skill set that you are rendering in exchange for money. So you need to act like it. This is especially true when you work in professions such as a nurse (wink, wink) or as an auto mechanic. Get your side hustle on! The potential to earn money is everywhere you go. Don’t waste it.

Key Changes
When looking to change the state of your finances, you need to do a few things that were pretty much all mentioned here. Here’s a recap with some additional goodies:

1. Take a real hard look at your spending habits. Distinguish if items were bought out of necessity or for status. 
2. Seek for bargains when buying necessities. This is important. We all need things in order to live comfortably. However, does the name brand item really need to be bought or can you get by with the off brand? This can be done by using coupons, going to stores such as Family Dollar or The Dollar Tree. 
3. When planning purchases for fun, like a vacation, you have to budget yourself. Set aside a set amount that is within a reasonable range and commit yourself to not touching that pot. 
4. Increasing your income should be one of the last things you do. Really. When I took a look at my expenses, I was able to cut a lot of things out. When I did, the money that was normally used to make those purchases was thrown into their own account, set aside for emergencies. You may not need to increase your income if you make some cuts to the way you spend.
5. Save and invest in yourself. I know you have probably heard this before, but do you know what that means? It means you have to think long term. Do you really want to work your entire life or would you like to retire and explore the world? If you want to, then investing in your retirement plan is really important. You need to get started as early as you can. Some jobs will even match what you put in your retirement. Go to your HR department for more details on these benefits offered to you.

Conclusion
Everyone wants to increase their income. I don’t think I have met one individual that would turn down a solid million because they were all set. Sometimes it’s better to self evaluate in order see where you can make changes and improve on what you already have. Take the time out to evaluate how you spend your money, how you feel about your income, and make minor changes. It only costs a few minutes of your time versus another year of wasteful spending.