I’m a terrible blogger. Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and I didn’t even write a stereotypical V-Day money post. So, here it is. Most people probably aren’t in love with their current financial situation, but most people also aren’t proactive about doing anything to make it better. Working towards a financial state that you love doesn’t have to be too difficult, but it does require making positive decisions on a consistent basis. And that can be hard for some people.
Income
No matter whether you’re not happy with your income, your savings, or the amount of debt that you have, there’s always something that you can do about it. Yes, you can earn more income, no matter what position you’re in.
There are so many ways to do so but most people just either never take the time to put in the effort or just don’t think that the possible solutions will work so they ignore them: find a side hustle or part-time job, list an extra room on Airbnb, list your whole house on Airbnb while you’re on vacation, Uber/Lyft, monetize a blog website (mine isn’t monetized at this point), sell things that you don’t use, do a job on a website like Fiverr, talk to your boss about getting a raise, learn a skill that makes you more valuable at work so that you will get a raise and/or bonus
There are tons of ways to increase your income that I haven’t even listed here but most people would rather not put in the work that it takes. Yeah, you might look at most (or maybe even all) of these things and think that you’d never do that, but you can’t say that there aren’t ways for you to make additional income if you wanted to.
Savings
Increasing your income will allow you to increase your savings, but that means that you’ll have to keep your spending in check. The biggest ways to take control of your cash flow and save more to reach a financial situation that you love are to control your spending on The Big 3: housing, transportation, and food. Too many young families allow society to pressure them into purchasing a house and/or car that they can’t afford so that they can impress their friends and show off how successful they are, which can lead to not having much, if any, leftover to save after paying bills.
This is the wrong way to go about it. You should establish your personal savings rate first, and THEN figure out how much you can afford to spend on a home or car without affecting how much you want to make sure that you can save. The size or price of a house doesn’t make it any more of a “home” and a cheaper, used vehicle does the same exact thing as a new one (just maybe in less style). Eating out is typically much more expensive than buying groceries and cooking at home and the costs can add up quickly. Compare the cost of a meal at a decent restaurant to your weekly grocery bill and you may be surprised how far you can make your money go.
Something that too many people do is allow subscription services that they don’t use, or could very easily live without, continue without receiving value from them. Paying for a subscriptions each month that you don’t value is only taking money out of your pocket and putting it in someone else’s. There are so many things that we sign up for on an automatic monthly subscription model that it can be worth it to review what you’re paying for quarterly and see what you feel comfortable cutting.
Spending money on experiences rather than things has been proven to provide more happiness. Maybe it’s time to reconsider where your money goes and if that actually makes you happy.
Debt
Some people don’t worry about how much debt they have. Some people hate to have any debt at all. Some people have no idea how much debt they have and they’re scared to know so they ignore it – this is scary.
If you’re one of those who isn’t in love with the amount of debt that you have, then increasing your income and finding ways to cut expenses without significantly decreasing your happiness can help you to have more cash to pay down the balances. Some people will go to great lengths to get rid of the debt that they have. Sometimes this is a good idea and sometimes it may actually not be optimal for their long-term finances.
If you’re not in love with your current financial situation, then it doesn’t mean that you have to move mountains to get to a place that you’re happy with. Making small positive financial decisions consistently and building on them can lead to a ton of progress in a relatively short amount of time. Where you are right now doesn’t have to be where you are forever. You just have to begin making intentional changes and realize that no one else is going to do it for you.
