A budget is very important but it is also important to enjoy life as well. My approach to budgeting is not as strict as most but it’s what works for me. First a bit of what went into this mentality. When I was in my early 20’s I was trying to save up to buy my house and I knew when I did buy a house in a safe neighborhood I would barely have enough to pay all the bills…
The goal is to keep as much of your money in your accounts in one form or another. Set up automatic contributions for all these accounts, as it makes sure that you save. You are less likely to spend if there is no money in the bank because it has all been allocated to saving vehicles. 401K/403B If your employee matches your contributions, make sure you contribute to at least that level Free money basically You fund this account with…
This is mostly personal preference. I try to keep things simple by buying a small amount of stocks every week. This makes things easier to manage and keep track off. I value diversification and low risk and steady purchases over time to average the cost of my purchase. The steady purchases over time allow me to take emotion out of the purchasing decision and make sure I don’t completely buy at the top or bottom. In addition, since I am…
Wealth is a result of inflow – outflow. Your inflow is composed of anything that produces money for you (income, stock dividends, savings account interest, rental property income, etc.). Your outflow is anything that takes money away from you (Food, bills, donations, insurance payments, car loans, credit cards, interest, mortgage / rent, etc.). Most people focus on making more money but you can “make” as much money cutting expenses. Usually you have less control over your income because the typical…
I started with nothing. As a first generation American and the son of a single mother, I was never surrounded by abundance but because of that I learned how to maximize the opportunities that I had and got interested in finance early. Growing up, I recycled cans for some extra cash or bought candy at a low price and sold it at school at vending machine prices. I started my own freelance IT company as a teenager before moving on…