Download our bundle and checklist and challenge yourself to get clarity on your debt by implementing one of these per day. Check them off as you go! Can you conquer the full 20?
Credit cards. Student loans. Auto loans. And anything else. For now, we’ll leave your mortgage out of it. That’s your number. Although your absolute total debt is important, it’s not as important as how that debt compares to your annual income. It’s time to calculate.
It sounds simplistic, but many people struggle with this first basic rule. Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by
conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do.
Being underpaid even a thousand dollars a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life. No matter how much or how little you’re paid, you’ll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn. Often, it’s easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in big savings. It doesn’t always have to involve making big sacrifices.
If you don’t know where all your money is going each month, we’re pretty sure your favorite coffee shop can locate it for you. Brewing your own coffee at home is a simple way to save money fast.
The quality of your mornings determines the quality of your days which determine the quality of your weeks, months, years, and eventually, your life. Start your mornings with positivity, gratitude, and a focus on your biggest goal or aspiration.
Studies have shown that most CEO’s read about 50 books a year. Spend at least 30 minutes a day filling your mind with new information and positive messages and it will have a huge impact on your ability to successfully navigate the game of life. Other people have spent decades learning lessons that you can learn in a matter of minutes. Don’t waste the opportunity to learn from their actions and mistakes.
Even if you overspent today, simply decide that you’re going to do better tomorrow and stay on track. — Sarah Kaufman, Growth Manager.
Use your money for rent, bills and groceries first. Then look ahead to upcoming expenses to see what you need to save for. This will give you a reality check on how much you have for new clothes and going out. Make a habit of paying your bills on time, every time, to avoid wasting money on late fees. If your bank offers online bill pay, sign up to save time and stamps.
Are you looking for an effective way to establish a budget? Beginning on the first day of a new month, get a receipt for everything you purchase. Stack and review receipts at the end of the month, and you will clearly be able to see where your money is going. Do this for just a month to get started and get a solid foundation for establishing a new budget.
Doing both can save you up to $100 a year in gas. Not only does having your tires properly inflated increase your fuel efficiency, it also will extend the life of your tires (and both these things will save you hard-earned cash).
Caulk holes and cracks that let warm air escape in the winter and cold air escape in the summer. Your local hardware store has materials, and quite possibly useful advice, about inexpensively stopping unwanted heat or cooling loss.
Ever wish you had an autopilot feature for the less enjoyable parts of your life, such as doing laundry, shopping for groceries, and cleaning your bathroom? Well, you rarely miss money you never see… so why not try sending a certain amount of every paycheck into a savings or investment account so that it never touches your checking account. This allows you to be disciplined about your savings without ever having to ask yourself: “Should I spend my money on a new iPhone and contract when I already have an iPhone, or save it instead?” You can set up automatic bill-paying functions and subscribe to a budgeting website that alerts you if a bill is above or below the norm.
Whether a parent, sibling, aunt or uncle, neighbor, or friend, find someone who is financially successful and ask them about their habits and behaviors. Look for someone who will not just tell you about finance or teach you how to invest; look for someone who will involve you in their ongoing decisions and discuss past ones, someone who will explain, “This is why I decided to open a Roth IRA”. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
It is obviously important to have specific goals, but perhaps even more important is to have a way to keep them vital and alive for you, and to constantly remind yourself where you want to be. Ozeme Jeanna Bonnette of the Fresno, California-based Tri-Quest Investment Advisors
recommends a dream board. “Even though we are in a digital age, it’s nice, and motivating, to see pictures of your dreams on a mirror, the
refrigerator, or anywhere else that you frequent. This will make your dreams feel more realistic, and encourage you along your journey,”
she explained. As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there.”
Put a spending freeze on your entertainment costs for a little while. This means no going out to the movies, concerts, mini-golf, bowling or
whatever you do for fun that costs money. Instead, challenge yourself to find free ways to stay entertained. Take the kids to the park, go for
a walk or a hike, enjoy a free concert, or look for a free event in your community.
You’ve probably heard this a thousand times—but are you doing it? You can save a ton of money just by showing a coupon to the cashier.
Just be sure you’re using coupons for products you already buy, otherwise you could end up overspending on items you’ll never use.
That’s how you end up with 10 bottles of spicy mustard sitting in your pantry.
Welcome to this millennium, where you can watch most of your favorite shows online. If you haven’t bitten the bullet yet, do it! Put that $100 cable bill toward your debt each month and watch how quickly your debt snowball starts rolling.
Make it a new part of your vocabulary. Love it. Embrace it. Because when it comes to spending money, you’ll be saying it quite often.
Cut up your credit cards, ask for a raise, apply for a higher paying position, apply for a new job, get a second job, sell items you don’t need
online, meal plan for the grocery store, cut out extra expenses, etc.
It’s easy to be passive and reactive. That’s the default. The problem is that when you don’t take an active role in your own life, you become
a pawn for someone else and their life. This doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers, but it does mean that you have to spend some time and thought about what you want to accomplish, be, and obtain. What is important to you? What do you want from your life? Think about these questions and come up with answers – even if they change (and they will). Be the architect of your own life.
This is more of an attitude and lifestyle choice than a concrete step, but it can prove extremely helpful. Sean Nisil, the San Diego-based financial planner, thinks that we “…Need to learn the joy of delayed gratification. Building small, positive habits with your money now will snowball into financial freedom later in life.” The point is, don’t lament how difficult it is to make a decent living and save money (because it is). Instead, rise to the challenge: Be a better saver, educate yourself, get a better job, and be proactive about your future and about becoming financially secure.
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