There are a plethora of finance and business books out there that offer financial tips and tricks to up your money game.
Instead of making the topic clearer for you and I, the excess of information can end up leaving us overwhelmed.
Moreover, we are left confused as to what should be implemented and what is workable for us at that particular point in our lives.
So, we end up throwing in the towel altogether and doing nothing about our money.
When it comes to managing money, success is about improving your finances to improve your happiness (no more money worries). So it is really important to work the financial stuff out.
There are scores of studies telling us how better financial decisions lead to positive behavioral and life changes.
The question is, how do we do it?
What easy financial tips and tricks are going to work for you, that are easy to understand and even easier to implement?
What is the Secret to Financial Success?
The secret to financial success is not as complicated as it’s made to look. The key lies in thinking ahead and preparing for the future. Finding some simple financial tips that you can make your own. From there, you can break your problem down into simpler steps and work on them one at a time.
What is the Trick to Saving Money?
Many of us put off the task of saving money because something always seems to get in the way. We think we can do it later. But later never comes.
The truth is, to save money you have to put some of your future needs before your current wants. The best money advice is to make saving money a priority and make mindful efforts towards achieving that goal. You need to find budget tips and tricks that can help you both save for your future and enjoy life now.
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15 easy Financial Tips and Tricks for Guaranteed Money Success
When it comes to managing money success is about the small things. You do not have to make monumental lifestyle changes.
With a few tiny tweaks here and there, you can make substantial changes in your savings and money management habits.
Here are 15 easy and simple finance tips and tricks that will help you get started on your money saving journey.
1. Spend Less Than You Earn
This is one of the most popular personal finance tips and tricks that exists and for good reason. Overspending is one of the biggest causes of debt and further instability in your life.
Living within or below your means is the key to saving your hard-earned money and putting it to good use in the future.
But spending less than you earn does not mean that you should stop living your life. You can start small by cutting your expenses in areas like:
- Phone bill
- Cable bill
- Automatic subscriptions and memberships
- Changing to a good bank account that avoids unnecessary fees
- Reduce food expenditure by choosing to cook at home
Take each of your monthly expenses one by one and consider how and if you can reduce them. Reducing these small costs add up and make a big difference in the long run.
Long term finance tips for financial success in spending less
Living in a cheaper area
This can cut a big chunk out of your monthly expenses. If you are renting this can be quite quick to do, own your own home? Not so quick but potentially a game changer.
Wait to have children
Being in a better position financially to provide for your children is extremely sensible. Biological clocks may tick but waiting a few extra years can really help you become much mroe financially stable.
Drop down to a one car household.
Cars cost money to buy, to maintain and to run. If you can manage with jsut one car then you are going to be spending a lot less than most couples.
2. Be Prepared For Emergencies
One of the most important money management tips that you should incorporate in your life is to have an emergency fund.
Emergencies are unpredictable so it is better to prepare for them before things get out of control and it is too late.
The best way is to draw up a budget and set a monthly savings goal. Set aside the saved money and continue adding to it regularly.
As time goes by, this will become second nature and you will save more and more.
Related post: Emergency Fund Examples: 23 (Unexpected) Reasons Why You Need One
Open a separate bank account for emergency savings
You should keep your emergency money someplace you can immediately access so open a separate bank account for these savings. It’s important that you aim to save 3-6 months worth of living expenses in your emergency fund as soon as possible so it will be available when needed.
Having a savings account with online access makes it easy to use the account anytime, and this type of savings account is critical to financial health. With an emergency savings account, you’ll also find yourself more focused on budgeting and saving.
3. Have a Budget That Works For You
The word ‘budget’ is frequently used in the financial world. That is because it really is important. Budgeting is a great finance tip for beginners and experts alike.
I know what you’re thinking: How do you create a budget you can stick to? Budgets are hard, they don’t work, you don’t like them, you don’t earn enough to warrant having one. Have I missed anything?
I know budgeting might seem hard. But it really is not. A budget, in it’s simplest version, is just your plan to spend your money. Nothing more, nothing less.
Create a budget plan for your money so that you have a better idea of where it is being spent every month.
Some of the best personal finance advice websites advocate using the 50/30/20 rule.
What is the 50 30 20 budget rule and how does it work?
50% of your money goes towards your basic necessities and the rest goes towards entertainment/pleasure and savings, respectively.
Do you think the 50 30 20 rule is appropriate?
I am not a fan of the 50/30/20 rule when you are in debt or just starting out. It’s not a great idea to be spending 30% on fun when you’ve debts to pay or you have no emergency fund and haven’t started retirement planning.
I would encourage you to throw as much money as you can in order to pay off your debt as fast as possible. Then ensure you have at least $1,000 in an emergency fund.
You can still have fun without spending 30% of your income on it.
If you get paid bi-weekly, you can still budget. Check out my post on how to create a biweekly budget for up-to-date advice.
4. Have Goals For Your Money
Having a financial goal in mind will drastically change the way you think about money.
Putting a plan behind your money makes it incredibly easy to do well in the financial aspect of your life.
Knowing the exact goal of why your money is going where makes a world of difference when you are struggling not to buy that gorgeous trinket you’ve just spotted.
You will be more motivated to hit that goal fast and then move on to the next one.
Setting up financial goals could look like:
- Paying off debt
- Saving for a vacation
- Paying into your retirement account (e.g. Roth IRA)
- Saving for a house
- Building an emergency fund
And much more!
So, choose a goal that tickles your fancy and get working on it!
5. Turn Saving Into a Challenge
Budgeting by itself can be a little boring. For this reason, it is hard to stay consistent with your budgeting rules and plans.
But fear not!
There are several fun ways you can motivate yourself to stick to your budget.
One of the more fun financial tips and tricks is to turn your money saving into a challenge to help you stick to it better.
Keep in mind, though, that the challenges don’t have to be astronomical. They can be simple, like:
- No spend challenge for different lengths of time to suit
- No new and unnecessary clothing challenge
- Debt-free challenge
- Using the 30 day rule to stop impulse spending
Or you can go one step further and aim for a 52 week money challenge. The amount can vary depending on your income and your goals.
Related post: How To Save 10K in A Year, And Some!
6. Pay Yourself First
Some of the best money advice finance experts recommend is pay yourself first.
What this essentially means is that when you get your paycheck, you should pay your own savings accounts first and then pay the bills and other mandatory expenses.
Rather than focusing on your immediate mandatory expenses, you prioritize your future self by setting money aside for savings first thing.
Remember, your future self is not going to want to either exist on social security alone, nor work until they are 75+.
Pay yourself first – you’ll thank yourself later!
7. Get All Your Bills on Automatic Payment
Paying bills can be a time consuming and boring exercise. If you are someone who has used checks to pay your bills before, you know how big of a headache it can be to sit down, review all the bills, and then write checks for each one of them.
Boring!
However, there are things you can do to make the bill payment process easier and it starts with automated payments.
It involves setting up the payments of certain amounts to be deducted at a certain date from your account by the bank to pay all your bills.
Automated payments don’t just save you a ton of time and effort but they also improve your credit score by being consistent with your bill payments.
8. Get Rid of Credit Card Debt
When it comes to the biggest obstacles in getting ahead financially, credit card debt is right up there.
Cards are just so much easier to use than cash and it gets so easy that you can forget that it’s real money that we’re dealing with. In a way, it detaches us from the actual value of our money.
Because it doesn’t feel like real money, you spend more and then find you cannot pay the bill in full when it arrives.
Credit card debt is often the most expensive debt you have, so make it a priority to pay them all off as fast as possible.
And don’t use them unless you can pay your bill off in full every month, please.
Related post: What To Do When Credit Card Debt Becomes A Problem
Ways to become debt free
There are 2 ways to focus on paying off debt. You could use the snowball method where you start with your smallest debts and focus on clearing them completely. Doing it this way, you ignore the interest rates and focus on smallest balances first. The advantage is you see progress very quickly.
The 2nd way is to use the avalanche method. This is where you pay off the highest interest debt first even if this is your biggest debt. The advantage is you pay less compound interest overall but progress may seem slow.
When it comes to managing money and your debt success is about chosing the method that is going to work best for you. If seeing debts paid off in full quickly works best then choose the snowbal method.
9. Use cash
When you stop using your credit cards you have 2 choices, cash or debit card. Both are good but debit cards can still lead to debt and overspending.
Using that little plastic card just does not make the money spent feel really real does it?
Whereas cash is a whole different ball game. Tell me you don’t find it that bit harder to hand over your cash, seeing it disappear into the till?
Switch to using the cash envelope system for all your flexible spending (e.g. groceries, entertainment, activities etc.)
Using cash will help you pay your credit cards off more quickly and you are less likely to pay for things you don’t need just because it is convenient to do so.
10. Chat About Money With Your Partner
When it comes to the most important tips for financial success, you and your partner being on the same page tops the list.
Having the same financial goals is important because if one partner is careless about their finances, they can take the other down with them.
Communication is key when it comes to good financial decisions in couples. Yet it seems to be one of the most difficult conversations people have with their partners.
So many people don’t talk about money and it is cited as being the number 1 reason that couples divorce.
Quick financial Tips to talk about money with your spouse
Try and chat about money with your partner on a weekly basis, if only for a few minutes.
Make sure you are both well aware of different financial aspects of your life like what bills have been paid, which ones need paying, what are your balances, and so on.
It’s okay to have one person be the chief finance officer but you both need to know what is happening with your money. You both need to agree on your budget, your goals and your future money plans.
And do try to keep it on a ‘no blame’ basis. I cannot tell you how many times money chats have ended up in a blame game with my husband! Eeek!
11. Cut Back On Expenses
More often than not, the reason why you fail to save much is not that you don’t earn enough, but because you spend too much.
Instead of spending your cash as quickly as it comes in, think twice and analyze your spending habits.
Figure out where you are overspending and try to break long held negative financial habits.
Some quick financial tips to help you cut your spending include:
- Track your spending
- Use the cash envelope system
- Make a list before heading to the grocery store and stick to it
- Set a spending limit.
- Have no spend days
- Use discount codes and coupons (where they save you actual money)
- Cancel unnecessary subscriptions
- Use a budgeting app
If an expense or subscription is no longer essential, make it a priority to cancel. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Do I get value from this service (or product)?
- Can I find it cheaper?
- Do I need it or can I do without it for now?
Cancel any that fail these questions.
An even better way is to get TRIM to do this for you. Trim is a virtual personal assistant that constantly works to save you money. TRIM will help you cancel old subscriptions so you don’t need to.
Related post: How To Break Bad Money Habits And Create Good Ones
12. Don’t Fall For Lifestyle Inflation
You earn more, so you spend more, always spending as much as you earn (and perhaps a little more) Because of lifestyle creep, things that were luxuries become seen as a need rather than just a want.
It is vitally important to live within your means. Practice gratitude and let go of the status quo that is making you spend so much. Prioritize those expenses that are actually important to you.
13. Eat at Home
The thought of putting in the effort to cook at home can make most of us cringe. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
After a long, tiring day at work, you might think you don’t have time to cook a meal. The 25-30 minutes you spend to go out and buy dinner can be spent cooking in your home.
You can throw together a quick stir fry from frozen ingredients in less time than that. If you meal plan you can have a homemade dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes.
The secret? Batch cooking and freezer meals.
Make double quantities of a meal when you do have time and freeze the extra portions for those nights when you don’t.
Eating at home is one of the most cost effective money saving tips you can implement in your life. It is also a lot healthier and gives you more control over the ingredients.
For more help and ideas on meals to cook at home, check out these posts:
21 budget meatless meals to save money
20 Easy Cheap Vegan Recipes Everyone Will Devour
15 Cheap And Comforting Chicken Dinners On a Budget
15 Cheap Ground Beef Recipes We All Love To Make
14. Resist Impulse Purchases
We are all well-aware of how much fun impulse buying can be. As fun as it, though, it definitely is not worth the dent it can make in your savings.
A good way to tackle your habit of impulse buying is to implement the 30 day rule. In this rule, you refrain from buying all unneeded items and your impulse buys for 30 days.
Before you spend your money on something you don’t need, sit back and take 30 days to think about whether you should buy it or not.
Put the money aside so if you really want it after 30 days you can go right ahead and buy it. I bet you won’t though, 9 times out of 10 you’ll save the money instead.
15. Check Your Spending Daily
My financial tip of the day is to track your daily spending in order to stop yourself from spending money on unnecessary things.
Just knowing that you are going to write down everything you spend is often enough to stop you from doing so!
You can do that by downloading an app that will log your daily expenditures for you or you can manually record each purchase you make to get a picture of where your money is going.
From there, you can then set up a budget that suits you, cut back expenses, and make important lifestyle changes, the benefits of which are going to last you a lifetime.
Another personal finance tip is to check your credit report yearly. You can ensure your record is updated as you clear debts. And make sure nothing is wrongly added to it.
easy Financial tips and tricks that work
If you want to win with money, you have to change the way you think about it. Making all of the above-mentioned changes at once might seem too drastic for you which is why it is important to start out small.
Begin implementing financial change by following one of the quick financial tips that I have offered you here.
These easy financial tips and tricks will help you move forward in your financial journey with confidence.
Do all of them or some of them daily and watch your savings and your life transform.
Start taking back control of your money by grabbing your copy of the Money Saving Starter Guide today.
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Last Updated on 15th October 2021 by Emma
