Have you ever checked your bank balance and wondered where all the money you had ‘disappeared’ to? You could also have had huge wads of cash in your wallet only to discover that a lone note is remaining. All these will always happen as long as you don’t have a spending plan, meaning that you are more likely to buy stuff that you do not even want, and are more prone to impulse buying, creating a challenge of overspending.

Remember that whether you increase your income or savings, these alone will not make a difference to your budget. Your spending habits determine whether you will be financially stable or ‘suffer’ chronic money difficulties all the time. Of course this situation is not encouraging for those of us that seek to improve our financial health.

Any personal finance expert will tell that overspending can tie you down financially and hence hold you back from reaching your long-term financial goals.

Therefore, understanding that a good spending habit is an important asset to your financial success, just as saving money or getting out of your debt, will help keep you focused. In addition, smart spending habits, mean you are conscious of prices to avoid paying too much for items, according to Aline Kamikazi, the business advisor at Business Development Fund. Kamikazi says planning your expenditure will help you learn to spend within your means.

"Set goals and put safeguards as far as handling money is concerned; these will in the long-run guide and change your approach to money,” she says.

Kamikazi says it is advisable to always withdraw the exact amount of money you have budgeted for to avoid misuse. "When you are attracted to something you haven’t planned for, try to compare it with other, more useful things you could buy with the same money.

"Over time, you will learn to dismiss urges for impulse buying and stick to your plans,” she adds.

Yves Mugaba, the marketing and admission manager at Global Education Consult, notes it takes time and patience to outgrow the habit of overspending, advising, "One should allocate their money according to plan.” He adds that it’s important to budget your finances o as to know exactly how your money will be used.

It is also advisable that you either invest money that you don’t need in the near future in instruments, like short-term savings products with banks, or in marketable products. This way, you will be able to withdraw the money, and profit, when you need it or sell off the item.