Most of us dream of one day living the high life. 

For me this means no worrying about money, nice family vacations and the freedom to do as I please.

If you have a vision of your future life and it requires some moola then here are some simple tips you can implement today to improve your financial future.

9 Simple Tips to Improve Your Financial Future

1. Start caring.

No one cares about your money more than you do. So show it some love.

The first step to improving your financial life is awareness. You need to become financially literate.  Then you need to be motivated to take care of your own financial situation. Without these two things you are likely looking at a life of debt and money trouble.

2. Make a budget.

A lot of people are totally turned off by this concept. When I say “make a budget” this doesn’t mean you have to set up a complex spread sheet and start tracking every cent. In fact, I would advise against this.

Often when you try to implement a change that is too big or too rigid you just end up failing. So,  start simple.

Make a list of how much you make and then make a list of your expenses. Your expenses include your fixed costs (bills that stay the same month to month like rent, car payment etc) and variable costs (bills that can change month to month, like money you spend on clothes or restaurants and booze).

The goal of making a budget is to see how much money you have, how much money you need to cover your bills (a.k.a fixed expenses) and then how much you have left over for variable expenses and savings.

If your bills exceed the amount of money you make, then you need to make more money or get rid of some of your expenses (sell your car etc). I know, easier said then done.

3. Start Saving. 

Open a savings account. If you already have a savings account then you need to make sure there is something in there!

One easy way to start saving is to automate the process. Set up your direct deposit so that a portion of your paycheque goes directly into your savings account before you can get your grubby little hands on it.

Trust me, you won’t miss it because you won’t even have the chance to see it.

4. Create an emergency fund.

Yeah, you’re young, healthy and hot.

But, you still need an emergency fund.

You just never know what curve ball life is gonna throw ya. I know it can be hard to put money into savings AND have a separate emergency fund but just start small.

Putting away even $20.00 per month will slowly add up over time. AND, if something unfortunately does happen, you’ll be very happy to have some money put aside. The last thing you want to be burdened with in a stressful situation is money trouble.

 

5. Start Investing.

If you want to set yourself up for a good financial future you have to start investing your money. The earlier you begin, the better. This is thanks to some magic called compound interest (basically your interest earns interest). The actual practice of investing your money can be intimidating and a bit scary. To learn more about the stock market and why you should invest check out this post. 

If you are Canadian and you want to learn about some of our most popular investment vehicles (RRSPs, TSFAs etc.) then check out this article.

There are many ways that you can start investing. I won’t get into all of the nuances here. However,  if you are new to investing and don’t really know where to start, but you know you want to keep things simple, then you might want to consider using a robo advisor. I wish this option would have been around when I was starting out.

A robo advisor is basically like an online financial advisor. You are able to invest your money with ease using your mobile device or computer.

Don’t let the name throw you, you are not handing your money over to robots. If you have a problem or a question there are real live people waiting to talk to you. 

 If you want to learn more about robo advisors check out this amazingly informative article by Kyle, a Canadian blogger over at Young and Thrifty.

6. Make More Money.

If some of the above tips seem unachievable with your current financial situation then you have to make more money. And, I know, this is easier said then done. If making money was a cinch (do people still say this?) then everyone would be doing it.

However, if you are in your teens or twenties then you are young and capable of hustling. Work two jobs, start a small business, offer your services as a house sitter, do what you have to do.

Trust me, these are the years to do it. Before you have a mortgage, kids, tons of bills and brittle bones, start working your butt off. You have so much energy, potential and positivity right now (I hope!), use it!

7. Practice Conscious spending.

I first read about Conscious Spending in Ramit Sethis book “I will Teach You to be Rich” he also talks about it on his blog here. The gist of this concept is to proactively plan how you want to spend your money.

Rather than just spending haphazardly on stupid shit and then wondering where all of your money went, actually take some time and think about where you want your money to go.

When you make your decision then you are in control of your money. You know where it is going and you don’t need to feel guilty about how you spend it.

Ramit suggests using percentages to allocate your money. So, I want to put 20% into savings, 10% into an emergency fund and I will spend the other 10% on cheese (or whatever you value) and so on.

8. Stop wasting your money.

Hopefully, if you have implemented all of the former tips then this is a no brainer. But, it’s still worth a mention.

Stop buying stupid crap that you don’t need. Before you purchase something just take a few seconds and ask yourself, “do I need this?” “Will I still be happy about making this purchase when I have to pay my credit card bill?” If the answer is no, then put it back.

9. When it comes to credit, proceed with caution.

Before you get your first credit card, or your next credit card, make an effort to understand what credit means and how it works (I will try to write a post on this soon).

The golden rule of credit carding…..pay your balance IN FULL each month.  If you can’t do this, then rethink the credit card.

Well friends, that’s all for today.

I’d love to hear from you. Do you have any simple tips to share that you have used to improve your financial future?

 

Cover Photo by Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash