You don’t have to make it complicated. Google created a personal budgeting spreadsheet that is a great way to start tracking your incoming and outgoing expenses so you can see where you’re at.
Chances are, you have a few different interest rates. It can be tempting to bury your head in the sand and not want to know exactly how much extra you’re paying when you purchase on credit, but knowing will help you pay the high-interest areas first and save you money in the long run. It’s an easy step that you can take without having to really make any changes to your financial routine.
Knowing net worth isn’t just for the Forbes Billionaires List – it’s for all of us! Your net worth is what your assets are (anything you own that can be converted into cash), minus your liabilities (anything you owe like student loans, credit card debt, mortgages, etc.). If this number is positive, it means you own more than you owe. If it’s negative, it means you owe more than you own. Ideally, as you age, this number should trend upwards.
Creating a personal budget – This doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re thinking that you don’t need a budget because you’re living paycheck to paycheck, so you don’t have money to budget – give it a try. Budgeting isn’t so you can allocate extra money, but to provide you with a line of sight into where your current income goes. There will probably be some surprises that will motivate you to make some adjustments in your spending habits.
If you live on your phone, try using a budgeting app like Mint or YNAB (You Need A Budget).
50/20/30 Rule – Give this method of allocating your paychecks a try. It’s reasonable and allows for lifestyle spending without shaming you into feeling like you should be saving every dollar you have to spare.
Your credit score is the best way for potential lenders to see if you will pay them back reliably. Your score can range from 300-850 and is a weighted balance of these things: payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix.
Each of these elements is weighted differently, with the majority split between payment history and amounts owed. If you have some negative influences that are causing you to have a lower credit score – all is not lost. Even if you take no different steps except to make sure you pay your bills on time and gradually decrease the amounts owed, your score will slowly come up. However, there are some things that you can do to influence your score in a good way more actively. 700 and above is considered an excellent credit score and will mean that you’ll likely be accepted on most credit applications you make.
Here are a few tips on getting your score above 700:
There are exemptions for what causes of damage are covered, but overall, these policies protect you from losing your home or possessions in extreme cases like a fire or hurricane.
A good option if you are under 26 is to ask your parents to keep you on their plan and reimburse them for the extra cost. It will be less than you would pay on your own and will give you some time to save for your own plan.
If you don’t have the option of getting insurance through an employer, be sure to get quotes from different insurance agencies to compare and check out plans offered by the Health Insurance Marketplace of the Affordable Care Act.
No matter how good of a driver you are, there are thousands of other people on the road with you, and you will never know what level of attention, tiredness, or overall competency they are at, and you need to protect yourself.
The neat part of this is that you can literally make it whatever you want and put as much time into it as you want. Maybe you choose something that you see as a genuine pain point that you have a solution for, or perhaps you decide that your side hustle should be an outlet to sell things you already love to make. Your options are endless.
Platforms like Etsy give you a place to easily sell your work without having to make a web page. Upwork is a great way to find freelancers on your budget to create things like logos and websites if you need those resources.
Many of us fall into the trap of believing that we are stuck in our corporate employers’ annual salary increase process. There is almost always wiggle room to be found here if you know how to approach it. Give these tactics a try – it doesn’t cost you anything to ask, and worst case, nothing will change. Best case, more money for you!
Freelancers are also frequently troubled by not knowing how to approach increases in rates. Talking with clients about increasing what you originally agreed with them can feel like asking for trouble, but it won’t be if you approach it correctly.
Money matters is an area where we can be vulnerable to taking unscrupulous advice from other people. That might not mean they are acting maliciously, but they could be misinformed themselves and pass along the bad information they received. The best way to make sure you’re making sound financial decisions is to be informed from trusted sources and start educating your kids when they’re young to set them up for success. Here are a few book recommendations to check out:
If you’re more of a podcast fan, have a listen to these:
The bottom line is that no matter the state of your financial life, you can do something to make it better. That something might be a small start, and that’s perfect. Seeing numbers in black and white right in front of you might be a bit daunting if they’re less than optimal, but the feeling of taking control will be better. Open that Google Sheets budget planner and fill it in for last month. If you already have savings, do some investigating into where else you can put your money aside from a savings account. Small steps will see significant results!