Happy Women's Day! Top 5 money mistakes that can be crippling and how to deal with them

Women have to fight deal with a number of issues that affect their financial life. From lower wages as compared to men to fewer opportunities, women do not have it easy in professional life. If they are housewives, then again, their situation is a perpetually fraught one.

Happy Women's Day: If your salary is less than your male peer at the office, ask for a raise and put forth your contributions vs a vis that of his in a meanigful manner. Image source: Reuters

Happy Women's Day! Yes, it is the day that the world celebrates the contributions of women. However, to ensure a truly happy life, women need to pay attention to their financial well-being, apart from physical well-being. To do that, there are a number of dos and don'ts and here we provide to you the benefit of knowledge of what not to do while dealing with money. In short, on Women's day, learn here top 5 money mistakes women must not ever make to ensure a truly happy life that does not depend on anybpody for any help. Every year, International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8.

1. Women have to fight deal with a number of issues that affect their financial life. From lower wages as compared to men to fewer opportunities, women do not have it easy in professional life. If they are housewives, then again, their situation is a perpetually fraught one. So, do not leave yourself exposed to these situations. Ensure that you do not fritter away the money that you have earned. Save it and invest it meaningfully. You can be an 'Uncle Scrooge' till you reach a financial position that is comfortable. That means, from shopping to splurging on kin and friends' wedding for your wardrobe, is a distinct no-no.

2. Ask for a raise boldly. If you are a good worker dedicated and focussed on the job, there is no way that this will have a backlash. The boss would not want to do anything to make you quit - you, in short will be worth it!

3. In case your salary is less than your male peer at the office, ask for a raise and put forth your contributions vs a vis that of his in a meanigful manner. Quoting numbers in terms of contributions always helps.

4. Income gap penalty can be massive! If you earn even Rs 5000 less per month than your male colleague, then spread over an entire career (30 years or so), the loss is huge. Just imagine what your earninsg would be if you invest even 25% of that sum in a fixed deposit over a 5 year period and beyond!

According to DNA Money, earning Rs 1 lakh less every year than a man over 25 years, can cause a loss of Rs 1 crore!

5. Do not rack up credit card debt. This can cripple your entire life. Unlike men, women tend to pay minimum credit card dues for a longer period (they end up paying much more in terms of interest on the amount) and also carry out expensive balance transfers to other banks' credit cards when they are unable to pay for the rising credit card debt.

This translates into less of savings and perhaps no investments at all. Nothing is easy, but to deal with this, you need to just do your math right. Check your earnings and track your spending. Tabulate your critical needs that you just can't ignore. It will be amply clear what you can afford to spend. The rest will fall in place.

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