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50 Personal Finance Tips
Tip 1
Keep your rent/mortgage payment 10–15% (or less) of your net income.
Tip 2
Avoid car payments. If you decide to take on a car payment, have the cash (in your bank account) to buy the car outright.
Tip 3
Keep your net worth positive – at all times.
Tip 4
Always have a minimum of 5 streams of income. But aim for at least 10+ streams. Never depend on one source of income. Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.
Tip 5
Budget daily. Keep track of your money daily. Always know what is happening when it comes to your money. Be in the know.
Tip 6
Stay in charge of YOUR money. Never leave the responsibility of your money up to someone else.
Tip 7
Pay for everything via credit card to earn money or points back on purchases, and increase your financial security.
Tip 8
If you can’t use a credit card responsibly, stay away from them altogether.
Tip 9
If you have kids, open up a retirement or investment account for them the day you get pregnant, adopt, or start prepping to have your kid. Why not set up your kid to be a millionaire before age 30?
Tip 10
Buy only what you truly desire. Don’t buy to impress. Don’t buy because everyone else is buying. Don’t buy to fill a void. Don’t buy things you won’t use consistently. Always buy intentionally.
Tip 11
Increase your income yearly. Never go a year without increasing your income. Get creative.
Tip 12
Repair your car instead of buying a new one.
Tip 13
Keep an eye on your credit score and credit health to ensure you’re the only one using it.
Tip 14
Until you reach financial independence, live with family, friends, roommates, etc., to save money and live below your means. But you may want to continue living with others even after reaching financial independence. Extra cash flow always feels good.
Tip 15
Be cautious of costly habits.
Tip 16
If you have an employer, max out your 401k match, and contribute the max amount per year. Find a way to live off the rest comfortably.
Tip 17
Spend substantially less than you earn. Always have money left over at the end of the month. Avoid living paycheck to paycheck at all costs.
Tip 18
Be careful who you shack up with, partner up with, or date; ensure they are money conscientious. Make sure the person you are with has a healthy relationship with money. Maintain firm financial boundaries. Do not let others divert you from your financial goals.
Tip 19
Don’t have kids you can’t afford.
Tip 20
Intake copious amounts of financial advice, but make your own decisions about which advice to follow. But the one piece of advice you should always follow is: Invest now. Invest early.
Tip 21
If you have debt, invest while you pay off your debt because one thing you cannot get back is time; and compound interest thrives off time.
Tip 22
Never cease your financial education. Read books and articles, attend seminars, listen to podcasts, and chat with financial experts. Be sure to acquire new financial knowledge consistently. When you know better, you do better. The earlier you can learn about money, the better off you will be financially.
Tip 23
Don’t spend money to impress people, not even yourself. What a waste this is.
Tip 24
Don’t live in states you can’t afford. Instead, take a vacation to the location.
Tip 25
Avoid student loans if you can. Aim to go to school for free, with scholarships, jobs, programs, etc.
Tip 26
Create a 1–2 year emergency fund. Traditional advice recommends 3–6 months, but this only buys you a little bit of time in true emergencies. Sometimes one emergency can wipe out a 6-month fund in no time.
Tip 27
Don’t buy furniture for your house when you first move in. Buy one or a few pieces at a time that you can afford to pay with cash. When I was a kid, I remember my neighbor’s house was unusually empty (according to American standards). She was smart, though. She slowly furnished her house as it made sense for her budget.
Tip 28
Don’t travel if you can only afford to with credit cards. Find deals and discounts to afford it. Never go into debt for leisure activities.
Tip 29
Consistently attend free financial, educational events to acquire knowledge and bounce ideas off other financially in-tune people.
Tip 30
Save 50% of your income.
Tip 31
For those who cannot save 50% of your income, ensure you have $500-$1000 leftover every month to put into savings/investments.
Tip 32
Don’t have kids until you can afford to raise them and invest in them fully without going into debt.
Tip 33
Ensure your car payment, car insurance, and car expenses add up to no more than 10% of your monthly net income.
Tip 34
When you travel, try to do cruises, group trips (split hotel rooms), and multiple destination style trips, so the costs are lower.
Tip 35
Use your credit card rewards as a second emergency fund.
Tip 36
Use your credit card as an emergency fund before dipping into your liquidated emergency fund.
Tip 37
Anything you buy from the store that you don’t use, return it or sell it. Go through your entire house, and get rid of sh*t. Remember, there are always hidden costs to accumulating things, and three of those hidden costs include your mental health, compromised mobility, and financial burden.
Tip 38
Buy intentionally. Buy less. Buy less frequently.
Tip 39
Create at least two passive income streams, as Ben Le Fort recommends. My one add: Create two passive income streams that do not require long-term work input (e.g., royalties).
Tip 40
Use hand-me-downs for babies, toddlers, and kids – they’re constantly growing, so why waste money?
Tip 41
Avoid overpriced luxurious name-brand clothing until you can afford it without hurting your soul and thinking twice about it.
Tip 42
Avoid prioritizing impressing others – this could save hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars over your lifetime.
Tip 43
Don’t buy gourmet groceries if it’s hurting your end-of-month budget.
Tip 44
If you’re struggling financially, don’t eat out.
Tip 45
When it comes to activities: get creative and search for free ones.
Tip 46
Ask for “cash only” for birthdays.
Tip 47
Use water filters instead of bottled water.
Tip 48
Read one personal finance article daily to increase your financial intelligence and expose yourself to various financial knowledge. You never know which article will spark a profitable financial idea that will change your life.
Tip 49
Stop wasting food.
“American households waste, on average, almost a third of the food they acquire, economists report. Divided among the nearly 128.6 million US households, the waste could cost the average household about $1,866 per year. This food waste has an estimated aggregate value of $240 billion annually.” – Futurity
Tip 50
Stick with what you know when it comes to investing (until you know enough about another specific area of investing). If you’re a techie, you’ll probably have better knowledge about what technology to invest in compared to someone in education, who has better knowledge of the educational trends.
Bonus Tip 51
Have at least one or more friends who are financially better off than you, financially smarter than you, and succeeding in the area of finance. They’re your ticket to financial elevation.
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This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.