Are you looking for the best books about budgeting? Learning how to budget can change your life – you may be able to improve your finances, stop living paycheck to paycheck, start living debt-free, improve your net worth, and so much more. All from learning how to budget. To get good at budgeting, I think…
Are you looking for the best books about budgeting?
Learning how to budget can change your life – you may be able to improve your finances, stop living paycheck to paycheck, start living debt-free, improve your net worth, and so much more.
All from learning how to budget.
To get good at budgeting, I think it’s a great idea to learn from people who know a lot about it, which includes reading the best money books. There are all different kinds of budgeting books out there that cater to different people and their unique financial situations, so you are sure to find one that fits what you are looking for.
Key Takeaways
Best Books About Budgeting
Below are the best books about budgeting.
1. The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy written by Thomas J. Stanley is a favorite personal finance book for many people and is a great first budgeting book to read.
This book helps you to better understand the habits and mindset of millionaires in an easy-to-understand way (and it’s so interesting to read as well!). You will learn about the importance of living below your means and avoiding lifestyle inflation to achieve financial success and build real wealth.
You’ll find out that many millionaires live real simple lives, spending wisely and doing things differently, like how they use their time and raise their kids. It’s surprising to see what being rich really means, and some people who seem rich might actually have a lot of debt.
This is one of the best budgeting books because it teaches you that anyone can retire with wealth.
Please click here to learn more about The Millionaire Next Door.
2. The Simple Path To Wealth
The Simple Path To Wealth was written by J.L. Collins, and it’s one of the best books on money management, especially if you want to retire early.
This highly recommended book makes building wealth easy to understand, and it’s the book to go to if you want to make your finances better but don’t want to spend a lot of time on it.
In his book, Collins talks about important money topics, like staying away from debt, building wealth, understanding the 4% rule, and much more.
Please click here to learn more about The Simple Path To Wealth.
3. Broke Millennial
Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together was written by Erin Lowry, and is one of the must-read best money books for young adults. The author makes talking about money fun and interesting, especially for young adults.
This book is made for millennials (and young adults!) who want to manage their money well.
Erin writes about how to have a clear plan to stop being broke and gives a step-by-step guide where she covers many different topics, including tricky ones like managing student loans and talking about money with your partner.
I like to give this book as a graduation gift to those finishing high school or college. It’s one of the best personal finance books for beginners because it helps young adults better understand money.
Please click here to learn more about Broke Millennial.
4. The No-Spend Challenge Guide: How to Stop Spending Money Impulsively, Pay off Debt Fast, and Make Your Finances Fit Your Dreams
The No-Spend Challenge Guide by Jen Smith is the perfect book for those struggling with spending. This guide has actionable steps to stop impulsive spending, pay off debt, and align your financial decisions with your dreams.
Jen Smith went from struggling to stay on a budget for more than two weeks to paying off $78,000 of debt in under two years. In her book, she shares experiences and strategies, including using No-Spend Challenges to shift her money mindset and budget more effectively.
Please click here to learn more about The No-Spend Challenge Guide.
5. The One Week Budget: Learn to Create Your Money Management System in 7 Days or Less!
The One Week Budget by Tiffany Aliche (The Budgetnista) is a great book to read if you want to create a better money management system that takes less of your time. So many people are afraid to manage their money because they think it will be hard or take a lot of time, so this is a great book to read to overcome that.
In just one week, this book will help you create a budgeting system to manage your money effectively. This is a great read for anyone new to budgeting or looking for a more simple approach to managing their money.
Please click here to learn more about The One Week Budget.
6. We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power
We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers is an inspiring book that teaches women how to build wealth and achieve financial independence.
You will learn how to make better money decisions, strategies to bring in more income, and how to change your attitude about money.
This book will also show you how to overcome obstacles in your life (such as lack of confidence or knowledge) so that you can build wealth.
Please click here to learn more about We Should All Be Millionaires.
7. How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck (2nd Edition): A Proven Path to Money Mastery in Only 15 Minutes a Week!
How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck by Avery Breyer is a practical guide that helps readers break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, and it gives tips on budgeting, saving, and investing.
You will learn how to build an emergency fund, get out of debt, avoid budget traps, and more.
This book teaches a complete budget system for beginners and takes only 15 minutes per week to do.
Please click here to learn more about How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck.
8. How To Pay Off Your Mortgage In Five Years: Slash Your Mortgage with a Proven System the Banks Don’t Want You to Know About
How To Pay Off Your Mortgage In Five Years by Clayton Morris and Natali Morris is a great book for anyone looking to pay off their mortgage fast.
This is a helpful read for homeowners looking to shorten their mortgage term and save money on interest in the long run. This is a step-by-step system with a strategic plan to pay off your mortgage fast.
Please click here to learn more about How To Pay Off Your Mortgage In Five Years.
9. You Need A Budget
You Need A Budget: The Proven System for Breaking the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle, Getting Out of Debt, and Living the Life You Want by Jesse Mecham is a great personal finance book that teaches you a step-by-step budgeting system for managing your money more effectively.
You will learn things such as how to pick your priorities for your money, how to not let expenses sneak up on you, how to handle an unexpected expense, and how to get your money to last.
Please click here to learn more about You Need A Budget.
10. The Automatic Millionaire
The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach is a book that simplifies the process of becoming financially independent, emphasizing the power of automating your savings and investments.
The Automatic Millionaire begins with the inspiring tale of an ordinary American couple — a low-level manager and a beautician — whose combined income never surpasses $55,000 per year. Remarkably, they achieve debt-free homeownership of two houses, put both kids through college, and retire at 55 with over $1 million in savings.
Please click here to learn more about The Automatic Millionaire.
11. I Will Teach You To Be Rich
I Will Teach You To Be Rich was written by Ramit Sethi and is a great first personal finance book to read. This has been a popular money book for years and for good reason!
This book is full of very helpful lessons presented in a fun way, and he covers the basics of personal finance, including budgeting, saving money, investing, and more.
Please click here to learn more about I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
12. The One Page Financial Plan
The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards is a book that will help you create a single-page plan based on your personal financial goals.
This book will help you figure out how much money to invest each year, how much life insurance you need, how to handle unexpected costs (or a job loss), and more.
If you are looking for more of a visual way to manage your money, then this is the book to read.
Please click here to learn more about The One Page Financial Plan.
13. Your Money or Your Life
Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez has sold more than one million copies and is one of the most popular and best money books ever.
This book has been popular for over 25 years (but don’t let that stop you from reading it!), and it’s been updated with more recent topics like side hustles, new investment options, how to track your money online, and more.
This book focuses on mindful spending and helps you reevaluate your relationship with money. This book will guide you in getting out of debt, saving money with mindfulness and good habits, building wealth, contributing to saving the planet, and so much more.
Please click here to learn more about Your Money Or Your Life.
14. The Financial Diet
The Financial Diet (same name as the very popular blog!) by Chelsea Fagan is a guide to managing money, including tips on budgeting, saving, and investing so that you can make smart financial decisions.
This book will teach you how to get good with money, how to stick to a budget, how to invest, how to save money on food, and more.
The Financial Diet is the personal finance book for someone who doesn’t care about personal finance but is looking for a beginner’s guide to improve their financial situation. The writing style of this book will keep you interested and actually want to learn about personal finance.
Please click here to learn more about The Financial Diet.
Frequently Asked Questions About Budgeting Books
Below are common questions about finding the best budgeting books.
What are the best budgeting books for young adults?
My favorite budgeting book for young adults is Broke Millennial, and I personally buy this book and give it as a gift to anyone I know who is graduating from high school or college.
There are many other budgeting books that people love such as How To Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any by Erik Wecks, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, Money Honey by Rachel Richards, Spend Well, Live Rich by Michelle Singletary, and so many others.
What’s the best budgeting book planner?
A budgeting book planner is a tool that you can use to organize your finances in one place and stick to your budget. You can find many different budgeting book planners here.
Best Budgeting Books – Summary
I hope you enjoyed this list of the best books on budgeting.
As you can see, there are many different budgeting books that can fit your personal situation.
These books talk about different parts of budgeting, like making a basic plan or handling money when you don’t have much. Whether you’re just starting or want to get better at budgeting, there is probably a book above that has something for you to learn.
Here’s a quick list of the best budgeting books listed above:
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
Finances are often talked about like some enigma that can’t be cracked unless you’re an accountant, investor, or a CFO. In fact, according to a study from Statista, only 25% of respondents said they considered themselves to be very financially literate, while 4% said they were not financially literate at all.
But the stigma around financial expertise has got to go! By using your resources and taking charge of your own financial standing, you can make a difference in your own life and even inform friends and family who are struggling to manage their own finances.
One of the best ways to glean financial knowledge is to read about it. From financial news and our #RealMoneyTalk series, to the best finance books of all time, there are plenty of opportunities to learn more about your money. Whether you’re looking to boost your budgeting skills, try your hand at investing, or want to learn how to save for retirement, you’re in the right place.
In this post, we’re discussing the 16 best financial books of all time. From books by spunky financial advisor Suze Orman to finance books specifically for millennials, there’s something in here for anyone who wants to strengthen their financial prowess.
Looking for a quick book recommendation? Use the links below to skip ahead, or read end to end to get the most out of our comprehensive list of the best finance books of all time.
Best financial books by category
To help you find the right book for your financial needs, we’ve broken this list down into 7 categories, with some of the best book selections in each.
Best financial books for all readers
Whether you’re just opening your first credit card or you’re trying to figure out how to start a budget, there’s a lot to learn in the finance world. But pick up the most recent issue of the Wall Street Journal as a finance novice, and you might feel a little lost, to say the least.
Before you dive into market trends and economic policy, it’s a good idea to establish some foundational knowledge first. Our list of the best financial books of all time in the general category include titles that encourage changing your perspective on money, to a book that gives a cynical yet informative run-down of the top financial terms consumers need to know.
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
In addition to providing advice on finances and wealth, Nobel Prize winning author, Richard H. Thaler tells readers how they can shift their decision-making skills in all facets of life including health and happiness.
Thaler and co-author Cass R. Sunstein include rich behavioral data to look at how humans make decisions and how they can improve their “choice architecture” to avoid investment mistakes, unhealthy habits, and even relationship faux pas. If you’re in search of a new perspective to help you better manage your finances and related decisions, Nudge could be just the push you need to take hold of your personal finances and start meeting your financial goals.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
If you’ve tried budgeting before and you just can’t get it to stick, it could be time to take a closer look at your habits. In his New York Times bestselling book, author Charles Duhigg examines how people create habits and how we can change them.
Duhigg backs his methodology in The Power of Habit with scientific research and anecdotes that readers can apply to their own lives, whether it’s changing financial habits or learning how to be more productive in work and in life.
The Devil’s Financial Dictionary
One of the biggest roadblocks in financial literacy can be connected to the complexity of the financial jargon and processes we see on the news and in blogs. But in the name of readability, author Jason Zweig brings these convoluted terms back to earth with witty definitions that Wall Street executives and financial amateurs alike can appreciate.
If you’ve ever felt like the finance world is too pompous or complex for your liking, you’re certainly not alone. The Devil’s Financial Dictionary demystifies everything from Wall Street lingo to general terms you can apply to your everyday life.
Best financial books for retirement
Preparing for retirement is an exciting time. You’ve worked much of your life building your career and saving up money, and now it’s time to start catching sunsets instead of chasing deadlines. But as you’re preparing for your sunset years, a lot of questions tend to arise.
How much money should I have in my 401k? Can I really afford to retire? When can I access the money in my retirement fund?
Sound familiar? You’re not alone—a lot of new and upcoming retirees have experienced the same woes as they plan for life after work. But the good news is, some of the most successful finance experts and authors in the world have taken to this topic to provide consumers with the answers they need as they approach retirement.
With that said, here are some of the top finance books for retirement planning:
You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It
You probably recognize her spunky personality and hard-hitting financial advice from the Oprah Show and Dr. Oz, but applying her advice directly to your personal finances is a revelation all on its own. In her book You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It, author and financial advisor Suze Orman discusses exactly what consumers need to know as they’re prepping their finances for their upcoming retirement.
From choosing trusts vs. wills to maximizing retirement income, Orman’s national bestseller is nothing short of a complete guide to retirement planning.
How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is
Ever wondered how much money you need to retire or how much longer you’ll have to work to get there? In her book, How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is, retirement planning specialist Teresa Ghilarducci levels with upcoming retirees to tell them how much is enough and how to make your retirement savings grow all in a quick 144-page read.
Ghilarducci also discusses the external factors that might impact your retirement, including politics and the healthcare systems we currently have in place. If you’re looking for a way to ramp up your retirement savings, even if you’re still in college, this book is among the best financial books of all time…at least in our book.
Best financial books for millennials
If you’re a millennial in 2019, you’re likely in a more complicated financial position than people your age in past generations. Perhaps you’re a recent college grad trying to navigate the workforce on your own and you haven’t quite found a balance between entry level experience and a livable wage. Or, maybe you’ve reached the most exciting moment of your financial history thus far and you’re ready to meet another financial milestone such as buying a house or starting to invest in the stock market.
No matter where you’re at with your finances at the moment, it’s an exciting time to learn more about your money. If you’re looking for knowledge and advice specifically designed for millennials, check out these finance books.
Broke Millennial
Ever heard of #GYFLT? Author and personal finance expert Erin Lowry developed the hashtag to send millennials an important message: “get your financial life together!”. Whether you’ve started saving money or you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck , Lowry’s Broke Millennial book series acts as a guide as you prepare to tackle financial milestones such as getting married, buying a house, having kids, or trying your hand at investing.
So far, Lowry has two books in the Broke Millennial lineup: Broke Millennial: Strop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together and Broke Millennial: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up Your Money. Did we mention she’s also a contributor to our blog? Click here to read more from Erin Lowry.
Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Many of us need a step-by-step guide to help us get our habits in order—whether it’s revamping your personal finances or getting back on your fitness game. With their book Your Money or Your Life, authors Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Mr. Money Mustache team up to give readers 9 simple steps to help them shift how they deal with money to make progress toward financial independence.
If you want to learn the basics of managing money, figure out how to fund your dreams, and start taking control of your financial future, this book comes highly recommended as one of our favorite personal finance books for millennials.
Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune
If you’ve been considering investing your money, congratulations! That’s a huge step to take in your financial future, and it’s an exciting time to learn about how the finance world really works, first-hand. In his guide, Millennial Money, author Patrick O’Shaughnessy discusses how young people can cash-in on the global stock market to make up for potentially limited access to pension plans and Social Security.
O’Shaughnessy recommends investing early to reap the most reward and provides a basic strategy to help you develop your stock portfolio.
Best financial books for women
From career paths and finances to family structures, women in the 21st century lead very different lifestyles now than they ever have in the past. But along with their triumphs and new opportunities, women today may find themselves facing unique challenges when it comes to managing their own money.
Whether you’re looking for help learning how to balance your family life or financial life, or you’re looking to take over the investment world, there are plenty of empowering finance books for women to boost their financial knowledge.
Here are some of the best finance books for women:
You Are a Badass® at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth
You may have heard some buzz about author Jen Sincero’s premiere novel, You Are a Badass® , also informally known as the young person’s guide to self-worth and stability. Well, the first edition was so successful that Sincero has since released two other books in the series: You Are a Badass® Every Day and You Are a Badass® at Making Money.
In each of her books, Jen Sincero offers empowering advice to readers, along with real strategies to make your personal goals actually happen. In You Are a Badass® at Making Money, Sincero uses humorous personal experiences as the backbone of her monetary manifesto, while teaching readers to:
Find out what’s holding them back from making money
Generate wealth according to their own standards, rather than societal norms
Curate their own financial future instead of waiting for things to happen
If you’re in search of a modern take on money that’s relatable instead of intimidating, look no further than this one.
Smart Mom, Rich Mom
Finding a healthy financial balance can be tough when you’re raising a family…or getting ready to start one. From diapers to diplomas, having kids can end up taking a toll on your finances if you’re not armed with the right resources to keep things in check.
In her book, Smart Mom, Rich Mom, Kimberly Palmer explores different ways women can shape their financial future while raising a family. Palmer covers everything from career growth to creating budgets to help ease the stress on moms juggling household and financial responsibilities. If you’re curious about how you can prepare your budget for kids, or want to know how to repair your current financial situation, this book could be just the financial read you need.
Best financial books for budgeting
Budgeting can be one of the trickiest things to master when it comes to achieving financial wellness, but as you probably know, budgeting is an important skill to learn. Whether you’re wondering why you need a budget in the first place or where to begin, these budget-specific books are here to help.
How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any
One of the most frustrating roadblocks to saving money is feeling like you don’t even have enough money to cover your bills, let alone save. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 12.3% of Americans were living in poverty in 2017. With that statistic in mind, it’s easy to see that financial challenges are widespread across the country.
If you’ve ever been in a scenario where you’re scraping by to pay your bills but you want to save money, Erik Wecks’ How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any could give you the insight and inspiration you need to optimize your financial situation. Wecks speaks from his personal experience struggling to make ends meet in order to give context and provide readers with suggestions that might work for them, too.
The Financial Diet
Feeling lost at the thought of crunching numbers or developing a budget? Author Chelsea Fagan’s been there. In her book/life guide, The Financial Diet, Fagan gives millennials and Gen Zers the tools to take over their finances and build a better future. From budgeting to investing and slimming down spending, Fagan’s got your finance questions answered.
Best financial books for entrepreneurs
Are you planning your next business venture or world takeover as you’re reading this? You might want to take a moment to learn from the experts first. In these finance books for entrepreneurs, you can learn from their mistakes, find out how to optimize your business plan, and discover new strategies to boost your business.
You Are a Mogul
Entrepreneur Tiffany Pham has had to adapt to life fast—and she’s done more than just adapt. From attending business school at Harvard to founding her own company, Pham’s had a lot of experience building her empire from the ground up. In her book You Are a Mogul, Pham tells readers all about how she got to where she is and how they too can make their own entrepreneurial dreams come to fruition.
Whether you’re looking for guidance in identifying your passions or want to know how to “Crush it in Corporate Life,” You Are a Mogul includes the resources and real-life advice you need to jumpstart your career.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t
Have you ever wondered what really differentiates two competing companies when it comes to success? They entered the market at the same time and both have strong branding, but why is one so much more successful than the other?
In his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, author Jim Collins analyzes what makes a company go from good to great, and why some companies are able to achieve success despite their mediocre reputation. Collins focuses on 4 key findings to support his theory:
Leadership structure
The Hedgehog Concept
Discipline
The Flywheel and the Doom Loop
If you’re thinking about starting your own business or what to optimize your current structure, consider using Collins’ book as your guide toward entrepreneurial success.
Best financial books for investors
Navigating the stock market as a beginner is no simple task. To help you learn the ropes, investment experts such as Warren Buffet and Burton G. Malkiel are spilling their secrets in these financial books for new and seasoned investors.
The Essays of Warren Buffet
As one of the most successful businessmen of all time, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet, is one of the most influential figures in the investment world. Lawrence A. Cunningham’s curation of Warren Buffet’s essays include topics from wealth management to investment strategy.
If you’ve considered investing in the stock market but you’re not sure where to start, The Essays of Warren Buffet could be the introductory guide you need to take the leap.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Jumping into the investment world can be intimidating, to say the least. But having a lay of the land, working knowledge of the terminology, and some insight on investment strategy, you could be cashing-in on Wall Street in no time.
In his investment guide, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Burton G. Malkiel educates readers on a variety of investment topics that can easily be applied to the modern marketplace, thanks to updated editions. Malkiel covers just about everything consumers need to know about successful investing—from 401ks to digital currency trends.
More ways to learn about finance
In addition to reading some of the best financial books of all time, there are plenty of other resources out there to help you diversify and expand upon your financial knowledge. Try incorporating some of these strategies to become a self-taught financial expert:
Speak to a financial advisor
Learn more about your credit score by getting a free credit report
Listen to finance-related podcasts
Read financial news and blogs
Participate in conversations about finances with family and friends
Practice managing your personal finances by using a budgeting app
Take a class online or at a local college
Watch our #RealMoneyTalk series
Key takeaways: Best Finance Books of All Time
The financial world can often seem intimidating, but if you just take a little time to learn about it, you may find that you’ll have a better hold on your own financial standing. Use this list as a guide to help you learn more about how money works in general and as it applies to your personal finances.
Have any financial book recommendations of your own? Let us know in the comment section below!
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
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The sooner you start your quest to become a millionaire, the cheaper and easier it will be. If you’ve delayed, it’s not too late to start, though.
We’ve got nearly 25 million millionaires in the United States, according to global investment bank Credit Suisse. About eight out of 10 are self-made, Fidelity Investments finds; only around 20% inherited their wealth.
“Anybody can become a millionaire with the right habits,” notes behavioral researcher James Langabeer in a press release announcing the publication of his book “The Quest for Wealth: Six Steps for Making Mindful Money Choices.” “The key is to become mindful, or deliberate and conscious, about your buying, spending, and investing behaviors.”
Millionaires aren’t special or smarter — they just live their lives more strategically, according to Vivian Tu, known as Your Rich BFF on YouTube, where she has nearly half a million subscribers.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a worker with real estate dealings or other money-generating side hustles, or an employee climbing the corporate ladder, adopting millionaires’ common habits could help you achieve this wealth milestone yourself.
Here’s what millionaires do.
1. They set goals
Goals help millionaires stay focused and motivated.
You can start with SMART goals that set you on your path to wealth. These goals are:
Specific, like paying off your credit card debt
Measurable, like tracking your monthly payment progress
Attainable, like how you’re going to do it (Try this.)
Relevant, like freeing money for investing
Time-bound, like in six months or a year
Just the act of writing goals down can help you set your actions in motion. Building routines to meet your goals can become the habits that make you a millionaire.
Forming enriching habits requires from 18 to 254 days of following routines, according to the findings of one study. The median time is 66 days, the study authors say.
2. They visualize themselves
Picture your ideal self every day, advises Stacy Johnson, founder of Money Talks News. “We’ve all read about millionaires who lost everything, then somehow made it all back,” he says. “We’ve also read about people who won the lottery, then lost every dime. In both cases, what those people did was adjust their reality to match their self-image.”
You have a mental picture of the person you expect to be, Stacy says. He adds: “Sooner or later, you’re going to become the person in that picture.”
Many people might think luck plays a role in attaining wealth.
“Even if luck or randomness plays a big role, we still are better off if we start with some notion of where we’d like to end up,” author Langabeer says in an article for Psychology Today.
3. They invest
You can only work so many hours in a day, but millionaires know your money can work for you nonstop, Tu says in one of her videos.
Millionaires save about 20% of their income annually, according to William D. Danko and Richard J. Van Ness, who wrote the research-based book “Richer Than a Millionaire ~ A Pathway to True Prosperity.” “Unfortunately, others spend all of their income or more,” they write in an article published by the Coastal Breeze News.
“Saving and investing remain a fundamental practice to reach financial independence,” Danko said in an interview with Breakwater Financial.
The sooner you start investing, the less you need to invest to grow it to $1 million long-term, as this illustration shows.
If at age 25 you start investing $200 a month in a tax-deferred account such as a 401(k) or IRA and earn 10% compounded annually — the approximate long-term average return on a low-cost S&P 500 Index fund — online calculators indicate you’d have just over $1 million at age 65. During that 40-year period, you would only invest $96,000 but have gains of nearly $1 million.
If you wait until age 40, you need to put up $850 a month at the same 10% annual growth rate to accumulate $1 million by age 65. Over the course of 25 years, you would invest $255,000 and earn about $750,000. Still not a bad deal, and it indicates it’s never too late to start.
Step up the pace if you want to be a millionaire before you’re 65.
4. They shun debt
Most millionaires have no debt, says a Fidelity study. Just 1 in 4 has a mortgage and even fewer carry credit card balances or are paying off auto loans.
When you’re not spending money on auto loans or credit card charges, you have more to save and invest in building your wealth. That’s not to say don’t use credit cards, especially rewards cards; just pay them off as you go.
Use debt in only two instances, Stacy advises.
When you have to in order to survive.
When you earn more on what you’re financing than what you pay to finance it.
“Unless borrowing is ultimately going to make you richer, don’t do it,” Stacy says.
5. They live frugally
Even if they’ve never heard of humorist Robert Quillen, millionaires take heed today of his approximately century-old observation about money habits. In his Quillen’s Quips column from 1928, he wrote:
“Americanism: Using money you haven’t earned to buy things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like.”
To their credit, most millionaires have avoided this piece of Americana.
Danko and Thomas Stanley authored the 1996 groundbreaking bestseller “The Millionaire Next Door.” They found a lot of millionaires don’t look wealthy. Instead, they work most of their lives, drive average-cost cars rather than luxury models, live below their means, save their money and invest.
“People still need to be frugal, perhaps now more than ever,” Danko said in the Breakwater Financial interview. “They need to make viable family budgets that are adhered to.”
Industrial psychologist Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Stanley’s daughter, worked with her father to study 600 millionaires for “The Next Millionaire Next Door,” a data-driven sequel published in 2018. Fallaw says in a podcast the basic findings in the new book are consistent with her dad’s first book: Be frugal, make sound financial decisions and ignore what your coworkers and friends are driving, buying and wearing.
6. They avoid distractions
Seemingly small decisions can take you off track to reach financial goals, according to Fallaw.
“Distractions are a significant reason why many struggle to become financially independent or achieve other goals,” she tells Business Insider.
Technology places what others are up to at our fingertips, making it harder to ignore their spending, Fallaw explains in a podcast. Distractions like that could lead you to spend unwisely while trying keeping up with the Joneses.
Fallaw founded DataPoints, which offers a free Money Personality test to help you see distractions that could derail your saving, spending and investing decisions. For example:
Extroverts might place themselves in social situations where they could bust their budgets on dining and entertainment.
Highly agreeable people could fall prey to dubious financial offers or opportunities they don’t need.
People with negative emotions can make impulsive spending or investment decisions when faced with stress.
“To build wealth, we must take responsibility for our financial future, even if our past was less than ideal,” Fallaw said in a 2020 interview.
7. They prioritize health
Millionaires spend nearly six hours a week exercising while the average American spends 2½, according to Fallaw’s research as reported in Business Insider.
“You can’t do anything without health, and no matter how much money you have, you can’t enjoy it if you’re dead,” says personal finance educator Rose Han in her millionaire-habits video on YouTube, where her channel has 690,000 subscribers. Letting your health go will reduce your productivity, she cautions.
Another reason millionaires keep up healthy habits: Paying for health care is a top worry for millionaires as well as millionaires-to-be, the Fidelity study found.
8. They keep learning
Education is a lifelong adventure for millionaires.
They spend roughly 5½ hours a week reading, Fallaw says.
Author Tom Corley, who got to know 233 millionaires for his Rich Habits study, says in an Acorns article that 68% of them went to college and 25% to graduate school. More than eight out of 10 say they read daily.
Reading helps them stay relevant in their field, updated on world news and expands their knowledge base to see more opportunities.
Millionaires also learn the language of money so they can make better decisions about their personal finances, says Chelsea Fagan of The Financial Diet in a YouTube video.
9. They persist
Millionaires keep showing up, Stacy says.
“I’ve been at least moderately successful in three businesses: stock broker, TV news guy and website owner,” he explains. Each success took at least five years.
“We live in a society that has the attention span of a gnat,” according to Stacy. “All we ever hear about is someone who got rich overnight.”
If you’re not an immediate success, don’t cut and run, he urges.
“Becoming successful isn’t easy, but it is simple: Find something that provides value to other people, then keep improving and delivering it until you either best your competition or outlast them,” Stacy says.
Other self-made millionaires agree.
“Become someone who can fail forward and you will succeed at everything you do,” says Han in her video.
“If you believe in yourself and are consistent about working hard to achieve whatever goals you set out for yourself, you’re unstoppable,” Steve Adcock, who retired at age 35 in 2016, tells CNBC. Don’t give up, he says. “Success could be just around the corner.”
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Affirmations have been all the rage over the past few years, and people are using them to achieve their goals.
“I am in control of my finances”
“Money comes easily into my life”
or even “I love money!”
What about you? Do affirmations work for your goal? I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, so let’s find out!
Are you struggling to make more money, even though you work a lot? Do you feel like your finances aren’t where they should be and that there is something missing in your life?
If so, here are some money affirmations that can help.
Affirmations are statements that you say to yourself over and over again.
They can help you manifest your goals by re-affirming them in your mind on a daily basis. They become part of who you believe yourself to be and bring about desired outcomes with ease.
You may have heard these before, but do you consistently say them to yourself? Journal them? Write them everywhere?
I’ve compiled some of my favorite money affirmations for money below. I hope these help give you the encouragement and inspiration to re-affirm what’s important in your life!
What are money affirmations?
Affirmations are a powerful way to change your thoughts and, in turn, your life.
They are simple, positive statements that you repeat to yourself regularly. The purpose of affirmations is to attract whatever you desire into your life- including money!
Why are money affirmations important?
It’s important to remember that affirmations work subconsciously.
You may not see results overnight, but with time and repetition, the desired outcome will manifest. Wealth affirmations specifically focus on money and what a person will do with it after they have made it through the manifestation process.
Affirmations on Money
Although using affirmations is a great way to achieve financial success, they should not be used as the only tool in your arsenal. Manifesting your goals takes time and effort, and affirmation is just one piece of the puzzle. Make sure to take actionable steps towards your goal and be patient!
Affirmations can also be used to create SMART financial goals– specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals that you can track over time for motivation purposes
How can money affirmations help you attract more money into your life?
Affirmations are one way to help you focus on your thoughts and dreams.
When you repeat an affirmation, you plant a seed in your subconscious mind that will grow over time.
This helps to manifest what you want into reality.
These seeds will grow over time and bring about new thoughts, beliefs, and habits into a mindset of abundance. Money affirmations have a “magnetic” effect that attracts like-minded thoughts to your life–helping you achieve your financial goals faster!
There are many ways to bring more money into your life, but using affirmations is one of the most effective methods. Affirmations can help create strong positive emotions that attract money and other forms of abundance into your life. When used consistently, money affirmations can be a powerful tool for attracting wealth and prosperity into your world!
Below we will give you exactly what can I say to attract money.
What is a way specific money affirmations can be used to attract more money?
When it comes to attracting more money into your life, there are many different affirmations that can be useful.
Many people ask, “What are the best affirmations for money?”
Below are a few examples to get you started:
“I am abundant and prosperous.”
“Money flows easily and effortlessly to me.”
“I am safe and secure with my finances.”
“My income is constantly increasing.”
“I have all the money I need and more.”
Do affirmations work for money? Absolutely, yes.
How often should you repeat money affirmations in order to see results?
The more often you repeat your affirmations, the better.
However, don’t feel like you have to do it all day long. Just a few minutes each morning and evening should be enough to start seeing some results.
Remember that affirmations are just like any other habit- the more you do them, the easier they become and the better the results will be. So stick with it!
Do money affirmations really work or are they just a waste of time?
There is a lot of debate on the internet about whether or not money affirmations actually work. Some people swear by them and claim that they have had great success using them, while others say that they are nothing more than a waste of time.
One thing that is for sure is that money affirmations do have some very powerful success stories behind them.
People like Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga were successful before they ever became public figures, and a lot of their success can be attributed to their belief in themselves and their determination to work hard at everything they do.
In fact, many of the billionaire morning routines include starting their days with positive affirmations.
Can affirmations make you rich and come to abundance?
When it comes to getting rich, many people believe that affirmations are the answer.
The idea behind using affirmations is that if you repeat something often enough, you will start to believe it and eventually it will come true. However, this isn’t magic – rather, it’s a matter of shifting your beliefs.
And while affirmations won’t make you rich overnight, they can cause desired results to appear over time.
Mindset and Affirmations
The key thing to remember with affirmations is to maintain a positive mindset.
You want to be focused on attracting wealth and abundance into your life, not just thinking about what you don’t want. Money affirmations can help raise your vibration and shift your beliefs so that you can start attracting more money into your life.
Remember…Mindset is everything.
How do affirmations work?
Affirmations work because we keep repeating them to ourselves. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Our subconscious mind picks up on the positive affirmation and starts to change our behavior over time.
The more effort we put into it, the better chance that our subconscious will start accepting these new thoughts as truth.
Affirmations are conscious and subconscious–both play a role in helping us manifest what we desire. Positive affirmations help us get rid of negative thoughts and replace them with more confident ones. We need to be mindful of our words and truly believe in order for the affirmation to work its magic!
The subconscious begins to accept positive reinforcement over time as long as we continue putting in the work. Eventually, this helps us change our mindset and see things in a different light. “I can” replaces “I can’t.”
This is because affirmations work best when they’re phrased positively!
What do experts say about using money affirmations to attract more money?
When it comes to attracting more money into your life, there are many things you can do to help increase your chances of success. Some people may swear by the power of affirmations, while others find that other methods work better for them.
However, most experts agree that using some type of affirmation is a good way to start visualizing your goals and keeping them at the forefront of your mind.
Affirmations can also help open up your mind to opportunities in a confident way, attracting more opportunities for you. While they won’t create wealth on their own, if used correctly they have the potential to help people create more money.
Keep in mind that affirmation is not a magic solution – it takes hard work and dedication no matter what method you choose – but if you’re looking for an edge, using daily affirmations could be the right choice for you.
What is the science behind money affirmations and how do they work?
When it comes to the science behind money affirmations, there is a lot of research that supports their efficacy.
A study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology found that people who regularly use positive self-statements (such as daily affirmations) have increased well-being and decreased levels of anxiety and depression.
The reason why affirmations work is because they help to change your beliefs and the vibrations you emit into the universe.
When you think positively about yourself, you are sending out positive vibes into the world which can attract more good things into your life.
Your words are powerful magic wands when it comes to shaping your own reality. What you focus on expands! So by repeating money affirmations, you are essentially telling the universe that you want more money in your life and that you are ready for it to come to you.
Affirmations are an easy way to change the way that you think, and they can be used as a tool to remove any barriers that are holding you back financially in life. If you’re feeling stuck under a scarcity mindset, start using some money affirmations today and see how they can help you achieve your goals!
Here are 125+ money affirmations you can start using today!
Money Manifestation Affirmations
When you repeat money affirmations, you are programming your mind to believe that it is easy and natural for you to be prosperous and successful.
You are sending a message to the universe saying, “I am open to receiving wealth and abundance.” As you continue to recite these affirmations, you will start to see changes in your life as you attract more money into your experience.
Manifesting a healthy relationship with money is important.
1. “I have more than enough money, and that’s okay.”
2. “It is easy and natural for me to be successful and prosperous.”
3. “My income is constantly increasing.”
4. “I easily attract new sources of income into my life.”
5. “I gratefully accept all the wealth and abundance the universe has to offer me”.
6. “When I put in the work, the universe will provide.”
7. “I anticipate money to work for me.”
8. “Money + abundance happen to me.”
9. “With the power of attraction, I will bring wealth and money into my life.”
10. “I love having plenty of money.”
11. “The more I give away, the more I receive.”
12. “Wealth can come to anyone including me.”
13. “I am enough and my intention attracts money to me.”
14. “My prosperity is unlimited.”
15. “My path leads to riches.”
Money Affirmations that Work Fast
Money affirmations are a great way to attract more money into your life.
They are positive statements that help you focus on your goals and visualize yourself achieving them. Repeating these affirmations will help you program your mind for success and abundance.
16. “Money is a positive force in my life.”
17. “I will make $100 today.”
18. “I will make $1000 tomorrow.”
19. “By design, I will reach my potential.”
20. “I am a magnet for wealth and abundance.”
21. “I believe in myself.”
22. “Money flows easily and abundantly to me.”
23. “Money is my friend, not my enemy.”
24. “By releasing my money blocks, I open myself to letting money flow in.”
25. “I welcome various ways to make money.”
26. “Money allows us to live the life we want and achieve our goals easily.”
27. “I am in control of my future.”
28. “I attract money easily in my life.”
Powerful Money Affirmations
Money affirmations are a powerful way to attract more money into your life.
Repeating these affirmations will help you to change your mindset and start to see yourself as someone who has abundance, rather than someone who is always short on money.
These power money affirmations reassure you that no obstacle is too big and that you have the power to overcome any hurdle.
29. “I am blessed with an ever-flowing stream of prosperity.”
30. “I release all fear and doubt around money.”
31. “More money is coming to me.”
32. “I am confident in my ability to handle any money-related challenges that come my way.”
33. “As a powerful creator, attracting money into my life with the power of my thoughts and feelings.”
34. “I will invest $100 make $1000 a day.”
35. “I know that I can overcome any obstacle and attract more money into my life.”
36. “My guiding belief is my motivation and my reality.”
37. “I am a money magnet; money comes to me easily and effortlessly.”
38. “I am capable of overcoming any money-obstacles that stand in my way.”
39. “Money is a close ally in life.”
40. “Being independently wealthy is a part of my life.”
41. “I am grateful for what I been blessed with.”
42. “I am rewriting my money story.”
43. “Money helps me experience time freedom.”
Positive Money Affirmation
These affirmations underscore the importance of taking a holistic approach to financial health. Self-care is essential, as is developing a strong sense of self-worth.
When you feel good about yourself on all levels, you’re more likely to make healthy financial decisions.
44. “I am worthy.”
45. “I release my limiting beliefs surrounding money.”
46. “Building self-worth will lead to better financial choices.”
47. “I visualize my future self and believe it has already happened.”
48. “Money is just a form of energy that flows to me effortlessly and abundantly.”
49. “I am able to easily afford whatever I want.”
50. “Money is an avenue to have a positive impact.”
51. “I am so lucky that I am able to earn more money than I could possibly fathom.”
52. “Money is attracted to me by virtue of the powerful vibrations I radiate.”
53. “I am not ashamed or feel guilty about having an abundance of wealth.”
54. “Money comes to me in huge quantities through my ability to attract it from the universe.”
55. “It is safe for us to be wealthy and successful.”
56. “I am thankful for the positive impact money has had on my life.”
57. “I love my positive outlook on my life and the riches that come from it.”
Financial Affirmations
While you may be feeling down about your current money situation, know that there are ways to change it. Use a variety of positive financial affirmations for different money goals, such as attracting more money into your life or becoming debt-free. You can also personalize the affirmations to fit your own needs and situation.
These financial abundance affirmations help guide you to where you want to be financially. Learning how to become financially independent starts with believing that you can.
You may not be where you want to be yet, but with time and effort, your wealth situation will improve.
58. “I will have money left over at the end of the month.”
59. “My payday is approaching.”
60. “Money does not control me. I control my money.”
61. “Money comes to me in unexpected and wonderful ways.”
62. “My finances are always in perfect order.”
63. “My income will exceed 6 figures.”
64. “I have complete control over my financial destiny.”
65. “All my needs and wants are always taken care of.”
66. “I love having lots of money to spend.”
67. “Don’t let feeling behind today stop you from building the life you want tomorrow.” — The Financial Diet
68. “I am financially free.”
69. “I am worthy of financial success.”
70. “With hard work, I will attain the financial future I desire.”
71. “I am excited to maintain my budget and reach my money goals.”
72. “Step by step, I will achieve my financial goals.”
73. “Money is a tool available to anyone and I will use it to my advantage.”
Saving Money Affirmations
While your current money situation may be less than ideal, you can use these affirmations to change your mindset and start attracting more money into your life.
Repeating these affirmations will help you focus on the positive aspects of wealth and abundance, and eventually bring more financial security into your life.
74. “Money in the bank makes me feel secure.”
75. “My money situation may not be what I want right now, but I am in better shape than I was last month.”
76. “I will save 10000 in a year.”
77. “I might make a pretty low-income at the moment, but I am still saving money.”
78. “My worth is not determined by my net worth.”
79. “I am saving for my future self.”
80. “Making small sacrifices now will build my increase my savings later.”
81. “Through investing I am able to make passive income.”
82. “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
83. “Financial stability brings me peace.”
84. “I say no today in order to say yes tomorrow.”
85. “I will stay debt-free because money is constantly flowing into my life.”
86. “My saving rate is beyond my dreams.”
87. “The challenge of saving more money lures me in.”
Money Flows to Me Easily and Effortlessly
One of the simplest and most effective ways to attract more money into our lives is through the use of affirmations.
Repeating positive statements about money can help change our underlying beliefs and open up new opportunities for financial growth.
Money comes in both expected and unexpected ways, so it’s important to stay open-minded about how it could enter your life.
88. “I let go of any resistance to attracting money.”
89. “Financing my life is an easy task for me.”
90. “I will double 10k quickly.”
91. “My money situation right now may be tight but it’s changing for the better”
92. “I am surrounded by an aura of wealth and abundance.”
93. “Money comes in many different forms, and it can come to us in both expected and unexpected ways.”
94. “Money is an energy that flows to us in many ways.”
95. “I attract money easily and effortlessly.”
96. “I am open to the flow of money my way.”
97. “Money magnet is my name.”
98. “Money attraction is easy for me.”
99. “I can rely on left hand itching to bring me money.”
100. “I turn money into more money.”
Money Affirmations for Success
These help you cultivate positive beliefs about your ability to earn and manage money. These positive thoughts will help support your efforts as you work towards financial success.
101. “It’s easy and natural for me to be prosperous and successful.”
102. “I am surrounded by people who support my financial growth.”
103. “Money is a tool that lets me construct my life how I see fit.”
104. “I have unlimited opportunities to make more money.”
105. “I am not afraid of achieving success.”
106. “Becoming rich doing what I love is a gift.”
107. “I have super-abilities to be successful.”
108. “Success is the best revenge.”
109. “I don’t need to be a millionaire to be successful.”
110. “I have control of my financial future.”
111. “The sky is the limit to what I can achieve.”
112. “A positive money mindset will serve me well.”
Wealth Affirmations
There are many different money affirmations that can be used to attract more money into your life.
Wealth and abundance come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to find an affirmation that resonates with you. “I am worthy” is a good place to start if you want to build self-worth and confidence, which can lead to better financial choices down the road.
You may not be where you want to be yet, but with time and effort, your wealth situation will improve.
These are positive affirmations for success and wealth.
113. “I am open and receptive to wealth and abundance.”
114. “Wealth and prosperity are my birthrights.”
115. “I am open to receiving all wealth life brings me, not just what is coming today or this month.”
116. “Abundance can come in many different forms!”
117. “Wealth is a step towards how to FI.”
118. “I have more than enough money, and that’s okay.”
119. “Financial freedom will happen sooner than I believe.”
120. “The more wealth I have, the more I give back to others.”
121. “There is plenty of wealth to be made.”
122. “Money can be shared when saying ‘I appreciate you.’”
123. “Wealth flows to me easily.”
124. “Having more than enough money does not mean I love money.”
125. “My wealth is limitless.”
How Do You Write Affirmations For Money?
Regardless of how money comes to us, it is important to remember that we always have the ability to attract more of it into our lives. By repeating positive affirmations about money, we can increase our chances of attracting more abundance into our lives.
Following these guidelines will help you write effective affirmations that move negativity out of your life and bring more money into it!
When you’re writing affirmations for money, it’s important to remember a few key things.
Step #1 – Need a Present Tense
First, always use the present tense; this will help your unconscious mind process the affirmation more easily.
Step #2 – Change to Positive Words
Second, make sure your words are positive–for example, “I only spend money on things I love” rather than “I don’t have to worry about money.” This will help you attract financial abundance and success into your life.
Step #3 – Believe it is Already Yours
Finally, before affirming any goal or intention, take a moment to really feel what it would be like to have that already in your life. Our unconscious minds respond better when we can imagine and experience what we want in advance.
There are a number of books that focus on mindset and how to change it for success. The list below contains some of the best ones that I’ve found.
These books teach you to believe in your ability to shape your own destiny and achieve great things.
Remember you need these essential mindset books to help you change your perspective and achieve success. Remember, it’s not about avoiding or getting rid of obstacles, but turning them into advantages.
Embrace the challenges in life and continue moving forward!
Mindset is everything.
This is a simple but profound statement that has been discovered by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. She found that success in school, work, sports and almost every other area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.
The key to success is having the right mindset – a growth mindset.
In order to achieve success, you need to change your mindset.
This book will teach you how to change your mindset and get the most out of life and some colorful quotes that you will quote.
You will learn how to change what you don’t love, use external forces to kick some serious change in you and find your inner power. You will learn how to embrace your inner vibes.
Each morning start your day with a positive affirmation from this Daily Rituals book. Follow the simple exercises.
By practicing these rituals regularly, you will train your mind and raise your vibration levels.
Color your way to manifest your money affirmations. Unplug yourself and get a well-needed mental break.
Attract the abundance of wealth into your daily life.
Make Money Affirmations Quotes
The best part of all of these powerful money affirmations … you can turn them into quotes!
You can use a simple post-it note and pen! Or upgrade and make them in Canva.
Not artistic? Etsy has you covered! Don’t worry Etsy has plenty of money affirmation quotes.
In fact, we are thinking about designing a package of money affirmations quotes for our readers!
Hang them on your wall as a constant reminder.
How can you tell if money affirmations are working for you?
One way to tell if money affirmations are working for you is to look at your bank account.
If you find that you have more money in your bank account than usual, it is a good sign that the affirmations are working.
Another way to tell if the affirmations are working is by looking at your overall mood and attitude towards money.
If you find yourself thinking about money less often and feeling happier and more positive, then the affirmations are definitely working for you!
Money affirmations take time to manifest, so don’t become discouraged if you don’t see immediate results.
Repeating abundance affirmations can help you to open up to the flow of wealth in your life.
By affirming that you are open to receiving all the wealth life has to offer, not just what is coming your way today or this month, but also the wealth of tomorrow, you start to invite more money into your life.
Check out these millionaire quotes to keep you aiming for the stars!
At the end of the day, you don’t need to feel guilty or ashamed about having an abundance of wealth–that’s perfectly okay!
Know someone else that needs this, too? Then, please share!!
The holidays are time for family. Here are some ideas from our friends at Quotacy on how to make the most of this holiday season with your loved ones.
Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
The holiday season is a very hectic time, and if you’re not careful, it can easily sneak up on you. If you’re like me, you’ve entered November without much money set aside for gifts or celebrations and you’re starting to sweat about your budget.
Scrambling for cash during the holidays can feel like treading water, but there are lots of opportunities to save money and cut costs if you know where to look.
Make a budget and stick to it
Setting limits on how much you’re willing to spend for each person on your list will help keep you focused on getting the most out of your holiday budget.
Speaking from experience, my family typically sets limits on how much you’re allowed to spend on one another – $50 max for your immediate family, $20 max for any extended family.
In practice, those limits tend to become more like guidelines, but they can help you set a baseline budget to plan for during the holiday months.
Start shopping ASAP
The longer you’re on the hunt for deals, the more likely you are to stumble across them. If you can get started before December actually begins, you can scoop up a few amazing deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Keeping your eyes peeled early on in the holiday season can give you more time to consider exactly what you want to get for each person. Being alert and keeping an eye on those items will help you pounce on flash deals as they come up.
Automate your savings
If you’ve got a savings account that offers automatic deposits, cranking up the rate at which money goes in can help you grow a holiday budget without even thinking about it.
When I need to save money in the short term, I tend to pump up my weekly contributions to my savings account. This helps me lock my money away until I’m sure I want to spend it.
Cancel a few subscriptions
Even though cold, snowy days are perfect for curling up on the couch and bingeing a show on Netflix or Hulu, taking a month-long break from a few of your subscription services can help give you a bit more breathing room for gifts and events.
Pick one service you absolutely can’t live without to keep you entertained, and use the subscription fees for the rest of them to spruce up your holiday party with a few extra treats. Then, when you come back to them in January, you’ll have a whole new set of shows to power through.
Cut down on trips out
This is an evergreen savings suggestion, but during the holidays, opting to stay in could help you save more than just the price of dinner.
If you’re in an area that gets snow, the increased traffic will make each trip out burn through more fuel. Additionally, bad weather increases your odds of being involved in an accident, so staying in can often mean staying safe.
Check your pockets
If you’re like me, you’ve probably forgotten about some of the things in your wallet. However, taking the time to dig past your go-to cards can reveal some hidden treasures.
First off: Gift cards. Got 5 bucks left at Starbucks? Surprise a family member with a bag of nice coffee. $3 left over at Target? That’s a couple of candy bars to fill a stocking.
If you’ve got rewards points or cash back built up on your cards, the holidays can be a good time to spend them. Performing a self-audit on your wallet can help you discover money that you didn’t know you had.
Combine your orders
Do you ever notice how stores start promoting big purchase sales around the holidays? “Spend over $300 and get 15% off!” This helps them incentivize shoppers to spend more. You can take advantage of this by teaming up with a friend to get both of your holiday shopping done at once.
In addition to saving more on a bulk order, you’ll be able to take full advantage of BOGO deals without having to find somewhere to put the second item.
Who knows, you might catch them eyeing something they want, and be able to take another trip back and cross them off your list.
Look everywhere for coupons and deals
Everyone knows about online coupons these days, but there are many more ways to save if you know where to look.
Digging through your junk mail can be a good way to scoop up deals from local stores. Local businesses will also offer discounts via local newspapers and magazines as well, so popping by a magazine rack can help you track down deals in your area.
Many crafters, artists, and other small creators who own Etsy stores or eBay accounts are also looking to make a bit of last-minute money to spend on their families.
Established creators often put their excess stock on sale in the weeks before the end of the year, and many artists take extra commissions to help them pay for their own celebrations.
Buy (or make) a few cheap “quickie” gifts
Going out and tracking down trinkets for everyone in your office can be time consuming, and it’ll drain your holiday savings, too.
Instead, taking one trip and buying several of the same inexpensive gift at once can help you be sure you aren’t empty handed when a surprise gift-giver catches you off-guard.
For example, you can wrap up cocoa packets, candy canes, and mini marshmallows, then give them out as instant cocoa sets. For bonus points, head to a thrift store and buy a few mugs to include as well.
Turn your holiday parties into pot lucks
Another perennial favorite – pot lucks! If you’re hosting a dinner party, asking your guests to help out with dishes can add variety to the meal, as well as saving you money.
Have your guests bring hot food in crock pots, or let them show up early with food that’s ready to cook. Appetizers and finger food work great for this, and a menu made out of those options often ends up being more fun than a sit-down dinner.
Change up your gift-giving traditions
Instead of spreading yourself thin to get your entire family or office gifts, organizing a secret Santa pool can help you focus on finding something meaningful for one person in particular.
If organizing a secret Santa exchange is too complicated, a white elephant party is a fun way to recycle old gifts you’ve never gotten around to using. Who knows, your secondhand waffle iron might be exactly what someone wants!
Eric Lindholm moved from sales to communications at Quotacy. His writing is informed by his experience guiding hundreds of people through their own life insurance buying journey. Eric lives in Minneapolis, where his coworkers are trying to convince him to start his own podcast, do stand-up, or take his humor into the spotlight. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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Save more, spend smarter, and make your money go further
One of the subjects we talk about most frequently on The Financial Diet, and have been hearing about at every stop of our book tour with Mint, is dealing with debt. It’s one of those things that can loom over a person like a sad, dark cloud from a ‘60s comic strip, making everything they do feel like more of a challenge (and more of an obligation), even things which the debt doesn’t technically effect. We recently heard from a viewer on our YouTube channel, who wrote in asking for advice in dealing with her massive student debt from an emotional perspective. (It weighs on her so heavily that she panicked in the middle of an otherwise-great date, overrun with the fear that he would find out that she is basically strapped with a mortgage-worth of loans and no clear way to pay it off before she’s near retirement age.) It’s one of those questions that doesn’t just remind you of how all-consuming debt can be, but shows that the real issue for most people day-to-day is the emotional side of it: the anxiety, the shame, the guilt when doing anything that feels “frivolous,” which, when you’re paying off six figures of debt, can entail essentially anything else in life.
TFD is a place where the personal side of money is always explored first, and debt feels like one of the most crucial places to speak with a much more emotionally nuanced language. Because ultimately, if we don’t look at these decisions in terms of their human meaning — if we don’t think about what each dollar means to us in terms of joy, future value, and peace of mind — the numbers on a loan statement or in our bank accounts can start to feel simultaneously overwhelming and meaningless. When I asked TFD readers for their debt stories (both living with it and repaying it), one reader wrote to me,
“I used to think of my debt in terms of ‘the biggest mistake I ever made.’ I’m one of those sad statistics: someone who got a really expensive graduate degree and basically doesn’t use it. I was on several different debt repayment plans throughout my 20s that made me feel hopeless, and because of the field I work in, I knew that there wasn’t going to be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of having more money for basically the rest of my young adult life. I watched all these big dreams I’d always had — a house, kids, semi-frequent travel — go Slam! Slam! Slam! Like doors in the hallway of my life.
When my dad died, I went to a therapist for the first time in my life to talk about my relationship with my mother, because I wanted it to improve in his absence. We ended up talking primarily about my debt, and working with [my therapist] was the first thing that really changed my view on it. She taught me that rather than constantly beating myself up about having made that choice at 21 is pointless, and that I should look at it as an Value-Neutral Truth of my Life. I owe money, but it is not who I am. The money I spend repaying it is not money I am robbing myself of, it was never mine to begin with.”
And maybe that’s one of the most key elements of the “getting out of debt” equation: realizing that, ultimately, this money you owe is totally value-neutral. No matter your individual strategy to pay off what you owe, the endeavor can’t be an emotionally-loaded one. When I finally paid off the credit card debt that had tanked my credit at 18 years old and haunted me for several years after, I was only able to do it because I’d stopped running from it, and stopped fearing it. I’d stopped dodging the collection calls, stopped feeling an acute feeling of embarrassment any time a remotely financial subject arose, stopped thinking of all the things I was excluded from doing because of my absurdly-low credit score. I became cold about it, because ultimately, a few numbers on a sheet of paper are a cold thing. I made a conscious choice that “freedom from this debt, and a rehabilitated credit score, are more important to me than this other stuff I’d like to buy with the money I’m using to pay it off.”
But part of that becoming “neutral,” emotionally, about your debt, is realizing that the life you might be constantly (even unconsciously) reaching for — the life of someone at your income level, but without your level of debt — is something you can’t constantly be fighting against. If your taste level is somewhere you can’t afford, and your brain is perpetually convincing you that you “deserve” the things that will cost you debt repayment, you are destined to feel deprived and bitter. One of the readers who wrote about her personal repayment story put it this way,
“We poured nearly all of our expendable cash made into our debt (while setting aside some for an emergency fund). This strategy contrasted pretty heavily with all of our peers who, for instance, were enjoying $500 dinners at Alinea and purchasing extravagant handbags to celebrate their new jobs. This extends beyond just controlling spending to also adjusting our standard-of-living – our housing situation is fairly low key and costs well below our means. But hey, as of today, we are actually an entire year debt-free!
Our strategy was far from perfect and had a lot of drawbacks. We were cash-poor for that period of time in which we were working shiny new jobs, and we of course wanted to celebrate that as much as the next person. So it required real discipline on the spending front. But overall, I am really proud of our work. Now we now feel incredibly free to leave our high-paying but extremely time-intensive and, let’s be real, boring, jobs and can pursue things we find interesting.”
Making the choice to live below your means requires an active rewiring in your mind, a resolution that where you are living is not “below” anything at all, but rather exactly where you need to be to accomplish what you want (in this case, getting rid of your debt). And while that approach might feel cold or detached on its surface, it’s really just an acknowledgement of all the fraught emotion that is usually such a huge part of this process, and actively deciding to reject it. (Similarly, the hit that Lauren and I took when we left our stable, decent-paying jobs and decided to start a business required a recalibration of what we felt our lives should look like.) But getting steadfast about that shift means that you don’t have to live under its thumb in terms of guilt, shame, or resentment. Living with your parents to maximize debt repayment, or going to community college to save money (raises hand!), or making any other decision that someone might judge on its surface but which is deeply right for you is the only way to live. Because you are ultimately the person who needs to live in your life, with your bank account, and within your day-to-day budget. Debt does not have to be that dark cloud, but in order to blow it away, you have to acknowledge it for what it is, head-on. You have to look in the face of all that fraught emotion, choose to laugh at it, and choose to move forward with your life.
Chelsea is the co-founder of The Financial Diet, a media company for women who want to talk about money. She tweets.
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Over the past five months, I’ve had the unexpected pleasure of traveling the country with Mint to talk in 11 different cities about money in celebration of the book my company recently released, The Financial Diet. My partner Lauren and I, along with our spouses or other members of the TFD team, joined Mint up and down both coasts and in the middle of the country to speak honestly with our audience about what money means to them, and the unique challenges that their city brings, financially. (Oh, and we also drank awesome wine and had tons of great finger food — but that joy was somehow secondary to the genuine love we felt being with the community we have grown over the past few years.)
And talking about money, for us, isn’t just a hashtag, or a way to promote our book. It is the very reason we have done what we do these past few years, the thing that motivates us when we get up each day for work. Because if I hadn’t been lightly pushed by my exasperated then-boyfriend to download Mint four years ago, and forced myself into a conversation about my finances that has grown past anything I could have ever conceived, I would still almost certainly be in a position where money alternately terrified and bored me. I was terrible with money because I refused to talk or even think about it, and everything from ruining my credit score to going into credit card debt felt completely irreversible because of that fundamental fear. But I know now that in talking about money, in confronting it head-on and making it a value-neutral, ongoing conversation in your life, you can overcome any obstacle or fix any mistake, financially. Life is long, and today is always the best day to get started living it well.
It was interesting, though, seeing that even amongst the groups of women who came to our events, who came from incredibly diverse backgrounds and approached their individual finances in entirely different ways, that there were themes which kept reappearing over and over. Yes, there were unique challenges to each city (Austin is growing much too quickly for its residents to keep up, Atlanta is in desperate need of improved public transportation), but there were also common threads that we heard almost without exception at each stop. Here, the four things we heard most frequently while talking about money on the road.
“My partner and I don’t agree about how to deal with money. How do we overcome that?”
One of the biggest recurring themes at our tour events was the idea that couples fundamentally disagreed on how to handle, or even talk about, money. And that’s not surprising — everyone comes to a relationship with money baggage, whether it comes from being raised with a lot of it, very little of it, or something in-between. Some people were raised to avoid the topic entirely, others were taught to micromanage every detail. And as our money and relationships expert Olivia Mellan explains in our book, the most common dynamic in relationships is a spender who is married to a saver, in whatever form they may take. One person simply plays closer and more conservatively with money than the other, and from that fundamental disagreement can stem near-endless problems.
But two fundamental components of any healthy, long-term relationship from a financial view are 1) speaking openly and frequently about money, so that secrets cannot accrue or small cracks cannot expand, and 2) having a separate, independent bank account for each member of the couple which is totally their own. Even if it’s just a very small amount, a tiny discretionary fund, it is so important for each person to feel empowered and fulfilled by what they want to spend (or save) on without having to ask the other person for permission.
In your “fun fund,” you might want to devote half to saving for a girl’s trip and half to spending on skincare products. Or you might want to use it to take yourself to movies and dinner sometimes, or just save for something big you can’t even imagine yet. But having money that is entirely individual provides a release valve for all of the other compromises that will be made on the money you share.
Two people never have to fully agree on money, but they do have to learn to live with one another’s money baggage and differing approaches. Having the topic be an open, value-neutral one, and having that separate money for individual spending, allow that to happen.
“What do you do when you earn much more than your friends, or much less?”
One story I found myself telling over and over on the tour was the experience I had through high school and college, when I was a decidedly middle-class person in an undeniably rich-kid town. I socialized with many, many people whose parents earned (literally) ten times what mine did, and whose lives and access looked wildly different as a result. And aside from profoundly skewing my idea of what “normal” was — I didn’t know then that it wasn’t normal to have many friends who went to a $30,000-per-year high school — it also led me to spend money I didn’t have in an effort to keep up appearances.
I went into credit card debt, tanked my credit score, and drained eight years’ worth of summer job savings all in the span of about a year, wasting that money on a lifestyle that never belonged to me. And from that experience, I learned that the most important thing anyone can do for their mental health when it comes to the finances of your social life is to make sure that you have at least some friends who are close to your level, financially, because being the only one on one side or another of the spectrum will only lead to a distortion of perspective and deep self-consciousness.
Beyond that, it is up to the person who is more comfortable financially to lead the conversation, offer options, be candid with costs, and not expect the other person to follow suit. Having more money in a friendship is a great place of privilege, and one that requires both sensitivity and understanding that the conversation might not come easily to the person with less. But above all, no matter how much you earn, the phrase “it’s not in my budget” needs to be in everyone’s vocabulary. There is nothing chic about going into credit card debt to pay for someone else’s idea of a social life.
“Do I really have to have a retirement account?”
At the risk of sounding like your parents, yes. Absolutely yes.
And although the women at our events were almost universally savvy, motivated women, this question came up again and again. Having a retirement account can feel like that sort of vague, important-in-theory thing you can easily put off, but every day you are not putting that pre-tax money away (and particularly if you are missing out on an employer match) is a day you will be kicking yourself for later.
Although it may not feel that way, we will all want to retire one day, and not having the option to leave our jobs is something that no one should have to face. The younger you start saving, the more time you have to let that money grow and work for you, and although it may not be as immediately-satisfying as spending that money on something you want in the short term, once you start your retirement saving, there is a profound comfort to be found in watching it grow over time and knowing that that money is the nest you are building for yourself, because you care about yourself enough to take care of Future You.
“How do I balance paying off my loans with living life?”
Ultimately, the biggest question that most people face when it comes down to the day-to-day of personal finance is how to live the life you want while doing what is right for you. And for many people, that means balancing their loan payments (which for many people can feel overwhelming) with the other things you’d frankly much rather be doing with your money. But something we have learned over the years at TFD is that, first of all, you probably need much less than you imagine you do to be happy.
When we were first starting the company and could not take a salary for over a year, Lauren and I suddenly saw our household incomes drop by nearly half, and had to severely reduce our lifestyles as a result. And though it was self-imposed in starting a business, it taught us that so much of what we were spending on, so much of what we felt was necessary to our happiness or fulfillment, was really just mindless buying.
Lauren as an example lived at home until she was 25 in order to help pay down her loans, and though she certainly longed to live on her own earlier, she was able to find a readjusted idea of happiness while living with her parents. When I went to community college instead of the four-year schools I dreamed of to save money, I wished I could sign on the dotted line to go to those dream schools, but I learned to be happy in the life I was living.
The greater the gap you can create between “what you could technically afford to spend” and “what you need to spend in order to live well,” the wealthier you will feel, regardless of what you earn. And if repaying loans is part of your day-to-day money life, you must learn to treat that money as never yours in the first place — you can’t count what your life would be like with that loan money and then watch it go out the door, or you will be full of resentment and envy each month.
You have what you have, you owe what you owe, you are who you are.
Now with all that information, take stock of your life. Go through every purchase last month and highlight every one you don’t remember making. Realize how much of your spending is done without even thinking, and how many purchases really don’t bring you much happiness in the long run. And if you can start thinking about your money like that — reduced down to the essence of what matters, and what has real value — suddenly the balancing act won’t seem nearly as hard as you thought.