Are you ready to change your money situation for the better?
If you’re reading this, you probably would like to be better with money. Perhaps you just don’t have enough of it, maybe you’ve got a few money problems.
Many people worry about debt, worry about retirement, worry that they haven’t got enough money to last the whole month through. Who wouldn’t want to change that?
But isn’t that how everyone lives?
A lot of us live with money worries because we don’t know how to fix them or don’t put aside the time to do it.
But wouldn’t it be great to know you can weather an emergency, that you have money to spend on nice things without crippling yourself financially? Knowing you could retire someday soon in comfort. Being able to reduce how much you need to work to live?
Newsflash! You CAN be the boss of your money.
There are lots of people out there like me who are already making or have made changes to try to improve things – despite not having any financial education and maybe being a bit older.
It takes time. Some of us are further on than others.
Some people blog about about paying down debt, others have made some early changes and are now seeing them through, and others like Michelle Schroeder Grant are really enjoying the fruits of their labour – she is now pulling in over £100k a month, completely changing her life after revamping her finances and turning those experiences into a successful blog. Wow!
Being in charge of your money is not about get rich quick schemes or trying to be a millionaire. It’s just about not burying your head in the sand and coming up with a plan.
It’s that simple.
And the benefits are enormous. Money doesn’t make you happy – it’s true. But not having to worry about money definitely improves your life in spades.
The important thing is do something and start NOW.
It doesn’t matter how crap you are with money. Start now and small changes can lead to big ones.
Ask yourself what is your dream? What would stop you worrying about money? What would feel really good? Is there a holiday or a life dream you’d like to save up for?
My big motivator for “getting into money” was getting divorced. Suddenly I was forced to look at all my assets as a whole – something I’d never done before, in order to divide them up.
As the lump sum total of my assets plopped into my bank account after selling our marital home, I realised that I had an opportunity to look at ways of creatively growing my money. Exciting! And at the same time I realised I had diddly squat put away for my retirement. Although I was only in my thirties, I realised the time was NOW to change that.
These days I’m not rich, nor am I out of debt. But I am on track to be able to retire in comfort when I’m 60 as things stand. However, the next phase of my money management will involve earning and saving more, and if this pays off I will be looking at financial freedom even sooner.
It’s all about having a plan.
Some ideas for change
Here are some great goals you can look to for inspiration in case you don’t know what you’d like to change first!
Stop wasting money
– stop racking up debt
– work out how to spend less on boring bills
– get rid of bills you don’t need
– stop spending too much on things you don’t need
– cut grocery costs
– cut credit card costs
Start saving money
– build up an emergency fund
– start paying into a pension
– save for a holiday or trip of a lifetime
– save for college funds
– work out and put into action a retirement plan
Pay off debts
– Pay off credit cards
– Pay off overdrafts and loans
Make more money
– Sell some stuff you don’t need
– Start a side hustle
– Get an extra job
– Ask for a raise
Once you’ve decided where to start, the next step is to work out how to do it.
It takes a bit of determination- Rome wasn’t built in a day and pension pots don’t happen overnight. But saving and being good at money gets addictive!
Be inspired and keep it going
Once you’ve come up with your goal and made a plan, keep at it. Persistance pays off.
Here are some successful people who have paid off their debts, hustled and blogged their way to being the boss of their money.
Debt pay off
HOW WE MOVED INTO AN RV FULL TIME AND PAID OFF $74,200 IN DEBT
2017 Debt Payoff Update: How We Paid Off $47,029.45 in One Year
How We Paid Off Over $1,200 of Debt in One Week: the Side Hustles That Helped Us Out
Side hustles
Blogging
Summary
Just starting to think about all this stuff is a great step forward. Deciding to make a change with your money is the first step towards taking control of it.
Once you’ve decided on what your main focus is going to be the next step is coming up with a plan.
For more help with this the following may be useful:
Anyone can be good with money, here’s how to start.
