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Episode 2939:
By implementing Christina Browning's quick and practical financial tips, you can jumpstart your financial wellness within just 30 days. From increasing your credit score to enjoying the journey toward financial independence, these strategies focus on practical steps you can start today to reduce expenses, increase savings, and even boost your income with a fresh mindset on money.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.ourrichjourney.com/post/8-important-tips-to-improve-your-finances-in-only-30-days
Quotes to ponder:
"Talking about money with friends and acquaintances should be normalized instead of stigmatized."
"You want to create a detailed financial plan with trackable milestones."
"Striving to achieve financial independence is not a sprint, it’s a marathon."
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[00:00:00] This is Optimal Finance Daily, 8 Important Tips To Improve Your Finances In Only 30 Days by Christina Browning of OurRichJourney.com
[00:00:12] While financial literacy and long-term money habits are the best way to improve your finances, there are a few quick fixes that will go a long way in improving your financial situation as soon as possible.
[00:00:24] And I'm not talking about budgeting or maxing out retirement accounts either. Instead, I'm going to share 8 unique tips on how to improve your finances in only 30 days.
[00:00:36] Number 1. Increase Your Credit Score
[00:00:39] There are some surprisingly simple ways to do this, and the main one is focusing on your credit utilization ratio.
[00:00:47] This ratio takes the amount of credit you're using and divides it by the total credit that you have, and makes up 30% of your credit score. By actively working to decrease this ratio, you will increase your credit score very quickly. As you increase your credit score, you can decrease the amount of interest you have to pay off when you're financing things.
[00:01:08] For more info on credit utilization and the importance of increasing your credit score, check out our YouTube video on the topic.
[00:01:17] Number 2. Talk to Everyone About Money
[00:01:20] I know it sounds weird, but bear with me. The more conversations you have about money, the more ideas you'll have about how to improve your own finances.
[00:01:29] Talking about money with friends and acquaintances should be normalized instead of stigmatized, since it helps everyone to better communicate their own ideas about finances and share them with one another, whether it's making, saving, or investing money.
[00:01:45] Number 3. Look at all your employer benefits
[00:01:49] Not just your 401k or health plan, but any and all incentives your employer might be providing for you. This could include financial support for further education, taking public transport, etc.
[00:02:03] As these benefits could possibly convert into extra cash in your bank account.
[00:02:08] For example, back when I worked for the U.S. government, I had public transport related benefits that we were reimbursed for.
[00:02:16] Many companies have this benefit, but they may also have gym membership benefits, childcare benefits, and more.
[00:02:23] All of these things can be used to your advantage, allowing you to save more money and invest it.
[00:02:30] Number 4. Always Try to Negotiate
[00:02:33] At least, whenever it comes to your financial transactions, you should always be looking at your transactions and checking if there are opportunities to negotiate that you may not have realized.
[00:02:44] If you're starting a new job, negotiate your starting salary.
[00:02:49] If you've got a long-term job, negotiate a raise.
[00:02:53] Rent? Negotiate.
[00:02:54] Car rental? Negotiate.
[00:02:57] Credit card interest repayments? Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.
[00:03:01] You get the idea.
[00:03:03] There are many things you can negotiate down into lower rates and lower payments, allowing you to save and invest more in the long run.
[00:03:10] You'll need to feel comfortable in your negotiating skills, so consider starting off small if you're not there yet.
[00:03:17] Maybe ask for a little more coffee in your Starbucks cup, or inquire about discounts or vouchers at your favorite store.
[00:03:24] Things that may seem arbitrary, but will add up over time and help you to negotiate on bigger and better things.
[00:03:31] Number 5. Create a Plan
[00:03:34] If you want to achieve financial independence or FIRE, you need a plan.
[00:03:39] I can't emphasize this enough.
[00:03:42] FIRE is about making, saving, and investing money, and you need to know how you're going to do that over the long term.
[00:03:48] You want to create a detailed financial plan with trackable milestones.
[00:03:53] This is exactly what Aman and I did on our financial independence journey.
[00:03:58] And every time we broke through those personal milestones was a cause to celebrate, as we could feel ourselves getting closer to our final goal, and it motivated us to continue.
[00:04:09] If you don't have a plan already, you need to make one and commit to it.
[00:04:14] Number 6. Learn with Intention
[00:04:18] Improving your financial literacy is a must, but you should also do it with intention.
[00:04:23] That is, more than just whiling away an hour or two reading a general book on personal finance.
[00:04:30] My favorite method is to choose a specific financial subject and spend an entire day learning about it.
[00:04:36] That means books, podcasts, articles, and YouTube videos you can find.
[00:04:41] The next time you have a free day, choose a new subject and repeat.
[00:04:46] Number 7. Hold regular finance meetings with your partner
[00:04:51] And by regular, I mean once a week, or once a month at least.
[00:04:55] Aman and I have been having financial meetings together ever since we began our journey to financial independence.
[00:05:01] And we will still keep it up even now that we've achieved FIRE.
[00:05:05] It's incredibly important that you and your partner are on the same page finance-wise.
[00:05:10] And if you aren't, these meetings are a practical way of bringing the two of you together by setting financial goals that you can both work towards and discuss during these meetings.
[00:05:20] If you're single, you can still have financial meetings like these.
[00:05:24] You just need to find an accountability partner.
[00:05:27] This is someone who will put pressure on you to continue achieving your financial goals.
[00:05:32] These meetings will ensure that you are consistently reviewing your finances and tracking your progress.
[00:05:39] And number 8. Enjoy the journey
[00:05:42] Striving to achieve financial independence is not a sprint.
[00:05:45] It's a marathon.
[00:05:47] It's a goal you might work toward over a lifetime.
[00:05:50] So it's imperative that you take time to enjoy the process rather than see it as a chore.
[00:05:55] You should find the right strategies to enjoy it so you can prepare yourself for longevity and reduce the risk of burning out.
[00:06:03] This means setting reasonable goals because you don't want to deprive yourself over multiple years.
[00:06:09] You'll only make yourself miserable.
[00:06:10] This means not scrimping and saving every single penny and still allowing yourself some leeway to enjoy things even if it costs more than you might like.
[00:06:20] Making sustainable positive changes to your financial situation is key.
[00:06:26] You can incorporate all of these tips within a 30-day period and you'll start seeing your financial situation improve very quickly.
[00:06:33] Just remember to be consistent with this advice so you can maintain long-term results.
[00:06:39] Happy saving!
[00:06:44] You just listened to the post titled,
[00:06:47] 8 Important Tips to Improve Your Finances in Only 30 Days by Christina Browning of OurRichJourney.com
[00:06:55] And I'll be right back with my commentary.
[00:06:57] I thought this was a great list and I particularly agreed with the suggestion to talk about money more openly.
[00:07:04] While many of us aspire to acquire more money, I've come to learn that money is only as valuable as your clarity on how you'll use it and your comfort level of how much is enough.
[00:07:16] Our culture of secrecy around money does not encourage us to seek clarity and comfort around our finances.
[00:07:24] And our lack of financial literacy causes us to misuse this very powerful resource.
[00:07:30] Because we don't talk about our finances openly, we tend to confuse our net worth with our self-worth.
[00:07:37] And our shame and insecurity end up driving our financial decisions.
[00:07:42] By increasing our financial literacy and talking about money openly, we start to view money as an impersonal tool that we can leverage to create more autonomy and freedom in our lives.
[00:07:55] Our beliefs, cultural norms, and silence around money keep us from using it to its full potential.
[00:08:04] I found when I started to surround myself with people who liked to talk about their personal finances,
[00:08:10] I more easily found resources and guidance to figure it out for myself.
[00:08:15] Over time, I developed the discernment to know which financial concepts applied to me and which ones didn't.
[00:08:23] And by exposing myself to a lot of different opinions and perspectives about money, like you hear on this show,
[00:08:29] I was able to relax into my own viewpoints that have come to serve me well.
[00:08:35] But that should do it for today.
[00:08:36] Have a happy rest of your day and I'll see you for the Monday show tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.