Money management tips and strategies

To ensure our financial health and success, it is imperative to develop good money management habits. Good money management tools can mean the difference between financial success or just getting ahead. Many common mistakes can be avoided by using the following money management tips as a filter for evaluating any potential financial decision. Make the following tips a part of your money management strategy.

1. Always pay yourself first! Never let your bills get in the way of your financial future. Even if it’s only twenty or thirty dollars a month, make sure you pay YOU first. This is a big step for many people who have learned and are used to living paycheck to paycheck. Getting out of that mindset and rethinking money management is an essential first step to financial stability and ultimate success.

2. The three digits that make up your credit score are more important today than ever. Insurance companies, landlords, and even potential employers are using those three numbers to make decisions about you, whether to hire you or allow you to live in their properties. Employers view your credit score as a way of evaluating you as a future employee. As the modern proverb says; If your house is a mess, so are you. When it comes to getting loans, lenders look at your score to determine the risk that directly affects your interest rate. 700-750 is good. Above 750 and lenders will struggle to give you a loan. And at a very reasonable price.

3. Don’t have credit card debt. While many believed that having some credit debt actually helped your score, since 2008 we’ve seen the financial struggles of many Americans who thought they could borrow their way out of debt. That might be the way the government operates, but since you can’t make laws to force others to give you money, you simply have to learn to live within your means. Since the 2008 financial crisis, credit card companies have been cutting lines of credit, raising interest rates, and even closing some accounts, even from good customers. Pay your debt to your card issuers each month in full. If you can’t, it’s time to tighten your belt, cut your spending, and pay off all that debt. Get rid of your credit cards if you can’t control yourself. You’ll thank me later.

4. Shop wisely! There are people who are struggling financially but have unbelievable debt notes on their cars or houses. In the recent past, it was fashionable to have a big house or a car. A friend of mine has a monthly payment of over $700 for his modified truck. That’s almost three quarters of my mortgage! Another friend of mine was involved in the subprime fiasco and was paying nearly $3,000 a month on his mortgage after the housing market crashed. Be sure to plan for contingencies and financial mishaps down the road when buying a car and especially a home. Murphy’s Law: If life is good now, wait a bit, it will change, it always does.

5. Don’t use your savings to satisfy your temptations. This is a recipe for disaster. Savings are just that, savings for a future day on a long way to go. The inconveniences of life always come at the most unexpected moment. Don’t reach for your savings just because you saw a great deal at Sears on the new 3-Speed ​​Lawn Mower with AM/FM/MP3 Stereo. If you really want that mower, save it!

6. EDUCATE YOURSELF on money management and the way money works. The reason the rich are rich has nothing to do with luck. They know how money works. When you know the principles of how money works, building wealth is much easier to achieve.

One of the best resources on money management is a 4,000 year old book called the bible. AND THAT’S NO JOKE! In it are numerous tips and suggestions on financial matters that are still valid even in our modern age:

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Proverbs 22:7