Earning well but still broke? Ankur Warikoo highlights 5 money habits to fix, from budgeting to investing early

Earning a good salary does not always translate into building wealth. Ankur Warikoo highlights five money habits that could be keeping you poor, from not budgeting and taking high-interest debt to delaying investments. Here is how to fix them.

You may be earning a good salary, but do you still find yourself running short of money by the end of the month? Earning more does not automatically translate into building wealth. Your spending, saving, debt management, and investment habits also play an important role in determining your financial health.

Highlighting this, entrepreneur, author and content creator Ankur Warikoo, founder of WebVeda, India Genius Challenge and Monzy, shared five money habits that could be keeping you poor in a video posted on Facebook on Friday.

What are the 5 money habits that are keeping you poor?

Warikoo said, "5 paise ki aadatein jo aapko aaj bhi garib rakh rahi hain" (Five money habits that are still keeping you poor today).

No budget - Spending without tracking where the money goes.

High-interest debt - Credit cards and personal loans with minimum payments create a debt trap.

No emergency fund - Unexpected expenses lead to credit card debt or loans.

Lifestyle inflation - Income increases, expenses increase, savings stay the same.

Started investing late - Delaying investing reduces long-term returns.

How can you break these five money habits and build wealth?

1. Create a monthly budget and track expenses

Not maintaining a monthly budget can make it difficult to understand where your salary is going.

For example, if you earn ₹50,000 a month and spend ₹200 daily on unplanned purchases, you end up spending around ₹6,000 a month. Tracking expenses can help you identify such spending and redirect some of that money towards savings.

2. Pay off high-interest debt first

Depending on credit cards and personal loans for regular expenses can increase your financial burden.

If you have an outstanding credit card balance of ₹50,000, avoid paying only the minimum amount due. At an annual interest rate of 36%, the interest on ₹50,000 could be around ₹1,500 a month. Try to clear the full outstanding balance as soon as possible to prevent interest from piling up.

3. Build an emergency fund

Not having money set aside for emergencies can force you to borrow when unexpected expenses arise, such as medical bills, vehicle repairs or job loss.

Having a separate emergency fund can help you meet such expenses without relying on expensive borrowing.

4. Control lifestyle inflation as income rises

When your income rises, increasing your spending at the same pace can prevent you from building wealth. This is known as lifestyle inflation.

Suppose your monthly salary increases from ₹50,000 to ₹70,000. If your expenses also rise from ₹45,000 to ₹65,000, your monthly savings remain unchanged at ₹5,000. Instead, allocating part of the additional income towards savings and investments can improve your financial position.

5. Start investing early to benefit from compounding

Delaying investments can reduce the time available for your money to benefit from compounding. Starting early and investing regularly can help build wealth over the long term.

Suppose you invest ₹5,000 every month through a systematic investment plan (SIP) and earn an annualised return of 12%. Over 20 years, your total investment of ₹12 lakh could grow to approximately ₹45.99 lakh.

However, if you delay investing by 10 years and invest the same ₹5,000 every month for only 10 years, your total investment of ₹6 lakh could grow to around ₹11.20 lakh.