Money Monday 💴💵💶💷💸 August 27, 2018

I wanted to take a different tact with today's post. I recently came across the article entitled 11 financial experts share the best money advice they've ever received by Natalia Lusinski from Business Insider. 

Now for this post I wanted to highlight the 11 tips that the financial experts in the article are quoted as giving and how it relates to my goal of being debt free before the age of 50 and my life in general. So without further ado, here goes.

1. Live On Less Than You Make

This is one that I embrace wholeheartedly. From bagging my lunch/dinner on an almost daily basis, to leaving my cards at home and only carrying a small amount of cash, I do my best to fallow this little piece of advice. The frugality lifestyle that I've been trying to live by since July of 2014 make this easier than when I wasn't frugal. The article says that many people who try to "keep up with the Joneses" have a hard time living this way. All I have to say is "Fuck the Joneses."

2. Always Use Cash

This ties into the last point of carrying a small amount of cash. If I don't carry much cash, then I can't spend. Its very simple. I do try to save the amount that I need in cash in order to make my purchases with cash OR use a card to earn points AND then pay the bill off with the saved money. Cash is still King baby.

3. Take willpower out of your saving habits by setting up automatic transfer

This is one where I don't have much experience with. The article mentions using an app called STASH. Here is what the article says: 

Make it even easier using an app like STASH, which helps you save automatically by analyzing your spending and earning patterns. The app learns when you have extra cash to spare and, little by little, money is saved into your STASH account, where it earns interest until you decide to invest it or put it toward one of your goals.

I'll have to look into this further. I'll get back to you on this later.

4. Start saving while you are young

at nearly 46, this isn't something that I can start doing though by no means is 46 old. But had I been smarter about saving when I was in my 20's and 30's, I hopefully would have had a nice little chunk of savings put aside. All I can do is try to impart that knowledge to my kids who are in their teens. Whether or not they take it to heart remains to be seen.

5. Invest 15% of your salary in a simple portfolio

I've been lucky enough to work for a company that matches up to 4% in a 401K. Since becoming part of the managerial team and having a second job I have been able to put 10% of my salary into the 401K IN ADDITION TO the 4% being matched by my employer. This has been to the tune of roughly $15,000 saved since 2016. Not too bad, right? 

The article recommends reading the article "If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly ."by William Bernstein. It is in PDF format. I'll also get back to you gals and guys on that one.

6. Do not increase your spending when you get a raise

I'll let the article speak for itself on this one

Pay yourself first! Far too often, we fall victim to "lifestyle creep," where we raise our standard of living to match our income when what we should be doing is raising our standard of saving to match our income. When you get a raise, pay yourself first!

7. Look at your credit report

This is something that I have been doing for the last 20 years or so. I fell into some credit issues in my mid 20s and decided to clear up any debts and discrepancies that were on my credit report. With any bank app you can get your credit score and report for free. You owe it to yourself to check out the report and make sure that what is reported in not only yours (common names can lead to mistakes) but accurate. 

8. Make the most of your credit card points

This is something that is new to me since I've never really had any credit cards that accrued points aside from my AMEX. When I know more, I'll speak more on this.

9. Don't work for money; let money work for you

This goes hand-in-hand with the investing 15% in a simple portfolio. Investing in such areas as 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, brokerage accounts, real estate, etc. to name a few is the way to definitely get your money working for you. 

10. Save every $5 bill

Now this isn't something that I have done perse. I have what I call the "Tenvelope" where very simply, I take $10 a week and stick in the envelope. Witty right? That is my backup money when bills might make money a bit tight during any given month. What I have also done in the past is the 52-week challenge. To quote myself from my post The 60-Week Challenge from my old blogpage Observations and Rants of a Native New Yorkers dated November 23, 2014:

The goal is to take $1 dollar in week one and put it away. $2 dollars in week two, $3 in week three and so forth. By the chart on the right (LOOK BELOW), you should reach the desired goal of $1,378 at the end of the next calendar year.

Now this challenge can be a bit frustrating. Its easy enough to save a dollar the first week and so forth when you start the New Year, but by the time you are pocketing in the $40 dollar range you are near the Holiday season. We all know how expensive the Holidays can be with gifting and other expenses. The article Don’t Do the 52-Week Money Challenge (At Least Not Their Way) [Updated 2018] from Pocket Your Dollars suggests that you do so in reverse. Start with pocketing $52 in week one, $51 in week two and so forth until you put that last dollar into the jar in week $52. At this point you've already banked the majority of your money and it won't have an effect on your Holiday spending plans. 

However you choose to do so is up to you. I never did reach the 52-week mark but for someone who had just started working after almost four months of being unemployed, the ability to put something away while working part-time was a great boost to my confidence. I think I might start it again in the New Year 2019. Let me know how it works for you.

11. Always save for a rainy day

Now this one is bittersweet for me. I had a nice little chunk of change put aisde when I lost my job in July of 2014. Having never been unemployed, I misutilized those funds and by the time I started working again, it was good as gone. Luckily for me, starting to live a frugal lifestyle of cashing in my bottles and cans, using rebate apps to get cash back and just saving any money that comes my way that can be saved, I am not close to where I was before July 2018 but way better than I was in October 2018. 

Where there's a will, there is indeed a way. You just need to find what works for you and run with it. 

Ok. Enough of the money talk for now. Any advice, comments or suggestions? Let me know in the comment box. 

Until Then Keep Stepping,

#SiscoVanilla

#SiscoVanillaIsStepping 

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