Today's youth have higher disposable incomes as compared to their counterparts in earlier generations. The same has resulted in a significant change in lifestyles.

Objects that were considered luxury goods say a decade ago have become necessities for the present generation. In fact, the young population has been a major contributor to the India growth story. It is widely believed that spending habits of the youth will play a major role in vitalising the economic cycle, going forward.

However, there is a need to understand that spending in an unrestrained and haphazard manner could spell disaster for your finances. Spending should be done with a degree of discipline and planning. We present four tips which will help you master the art of spending.

Spend in line with a budget
Remember the longstanding method of making a budget and then spending in line with the same. That is still the right way to go about spending. Having a clearly laid-out budget will help you prioritise your spending. For example, the highest priority must be accorded to investments that have to be made in line with investment plans and commitments like life insurance premiums. Only when the high priority needs have been taken care of, should the balance funds be used for other expenses. Although the idea of abiding by a budget for spending may seem "uncool", it is nonetheless, the right thing to do.

Track expenses
Again, tracking where you have spent your money may not qualify as an interesting way to spend time, but it is important nonetheless. It will provide you an unambiguous picture of your cash flows; this will put you in better control of your finances. More importantly, it will provide you an insight into your spending habits. This in turn can help you understand the areas that account for a significant portion of your expenses and give you the opportunity to do a reality check on their utility.