7 signs you're doing something right with your money

Flickr / Cristian Bortes

There are so many choices to make for your money that it's easy to feel like you're doing something wrong.

Or everything.

But chances are, you're doing something right, too. Maybe the good choices you're making haven't led to overnight millions or a cover story on Forbes, but all the same, they're putting you ahead of pack.

Read on for seven signs you're doing something right with your money.

You can pay your bills each month.

A 2015 survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and personal finance site NerdWallet, conducted by Harris Poll, found that about a quarter of Americans aren't able to always pay their bills on time.

There are a few positive implications that go along with making punctual payments in full, without using credit cards or other forms of credit to bridge the gap: 

• You have enough money to cover your bills.

• You're keeping track of the debts you owe.

• You're choosing to spend your money where it's needed rather than where you want. (After all, no one is technically stopping you from spending your utilities money on bottle service at a club).

Nice work.

You aren't living paycheck to paycheck.

 Living paycheck-to-paycheck is the line between living within your means and living above them. You can pay your bills, sure ... but nothing else.

This isn't a pattern limited to those earning a low income — a 2014 paper from the Brookings Institute found that even some wealthy American households live "hand-to-mouth," perhaps because a great deal of their wealth is illiquid. Wealthy people are also susceptible to a pattern known as "lifestyle creep," wherein the more a household earns, the more it spends. Its bills rise in accordance with its income.

If you can pay your bills each month and still have money left over, you're in the position to start making more smart moves.

You've given a thought to the future.

No one can predict the future, which makes it awfully hard to set aside money for things you don't know will happen, like buying a house, buying a car, having a wedding, having a baby, taking an international trip, having a medical emergency, losing your job, moving, putting a kid through college, or retiring.

If it seems glaringly obvious to you that you'll be at least in part responsible for covering some of these costs, should they arise, you're on a good path. Are you saving money with goals like these in mind already? Even better.