The Money Novice 🌱

You live paycheck to paycheck and struggle with money mindfulness. You know you should be saving but there seems to be a new expense every month that you just can’t put away. You have financial goals but find it difficult to reach them as fast as you want to.

So maybe you aren’t as financially sound as you want to be. Being money savvy doesn’t come easy to everyone but it’s important to start where you are. Luckily, the internet is full of tools that can help you and your money grow so here’s your nudge in the right direction.

Here are my top recommendations for you:

Budget Your Month

My number one hack to getting ahead of your money is Budget Planning.

Knowing where you spend your money is the first step in curbing unnecessary expenses. Put a budget in place for your month and stick to it. You can use software like Empower or my Free Excel Budget Planner that will automatically track and calculate your expenses for the month. Pen and paper also help, whatever works for you!

Once you’ve started tracking your expenses, it will become clear what you need to cut back on, how you can get out of debt, and what you need to do to build your wealth.

Accounts To Open

If you’re just starting to master your money, there are five key accounts you need to open that will each contribute to your overall financial success in different ways. They are:

1. High Yield Savings Account: Helps make more money on your savings
2. Checking Account: For your everyday expenses and transactions
3. 401(k): Your employer-sponsored personal pension account
4. ROTH IRA: To help save for retirement
5. Regular Taxable Brokerage Account: To help you invest
6. Health Savings Account: If you have a high deductible health insurance plan

Eager to learn how you make the most of each?

Prioritize Paying Off Debt

Debt can be taken care of in two ways. In both instances, start with paying the minimum amount on all your debts. With the remaining money, use the method that helps you the most:

1. Snow Ball: This is where you pay your smallest debts first and then the bigger ones
2. The Avalance: This is where you pay off your biggest debts first and then focus on your smaller debts

Try both methods to find the best one for you and make repayments a regular practice. For more handy tips like this that can help you get your money on track in just weeks, try my Top 15 Hacks, a free guidebook that gives you the basics of money management.

Learn about all the small actions that can help you make, save, and invest your money, that ultimately snowballs into financial freedom.

Master Your Credit Score

Credit is like your financial reputation. When you apply for a loan, credit card, or even a mortgage, lenders peek at this number to decide if they should trust you with their funds. Your credit score, typically ranging from 300 to 850, reflects your creditworthiness. The higher the score, the better. Paying bills on time, keeping credit card balances low, and having a mix of credit types can boost your score.

A high credit score will get you lower interest rates on loans, more credit card options, or even a lower rate on your insurance. If you have a low score, I have just the tool that will help fix and build your credit in a few easy steps. Try out my handy credit builder to see how your life starts changing!

Smart Investing

The stock market is the greatest wealth-building opportunity machine to ever be created. Once you’ve got the basics of your money management down, your goals can be redirected to the stock market where you can make more money and multiply your wealth.

But first, understanding the stock market is important: beginners often make mistakes that can easily be avoided. I have the ideal tool for you if you’re interested in learning:

1. How to grow your wealth the easy way.
2. The best places to open your brokerage account.
3. Why stocks go up or down.
4. How to buy your first stock.
5. How to generate passive income with dividends.
6. Time-tested investing strategies.
7. How to secure a financially stable future for yourself and your loved ones.

Catch The Latest Buzz

Constantly educating yourself will help you grow in every aspect of your life. Let go of your qualms with the formal education system and fall in love with learning again; my biweekly newsletter brings you the latest money news and practical hacks to get you through your week.

Grow your mind and your money with my carefully curated stories that give you real-time updates on the financial and business world, alongside our tried and tested tips for money management.

So grow away, Money Maker! Use the tools available to you to get ahead of your money. Once you’ve mastered this aspect of your life, watch how everything else falls into place.

There’s just one last thing we want you to do: take this quiz again in a few months ‘cause we’d love to see how you’ve grown. We’ll keep the hacks coming if you promise to come back. Deal? Great. Can’t wait.

Until then, here’s to supercharging your money, one step at a time 🚀