This “ Best Personal Financial Planning Tips I Have Ever Received “ post lists all the best tips I received from people who I come across with in my life. This post contains affiliate links/ads. See disclosure policy.
Over the past 33 years of my life, I have been fortunate to have been surrounded with people who helped me bring out the best in me.
Whether it’s sport or financial management, these people have contributed tremendously to improving my ways of life, culture, tradition, among others.
I’m referring to my families, friends, and people I didn’t know who somehow provided me with some of the best financial lessons I have ever received in my entire life.
It is really true when people say that you learn to be a better person from knowing yourself and from others sharing their viewpoints.
My family and I have experienced ups and down when it comes to finances. My dad used to earn less than a dollar a day to feed a family of 11. The thing with that is a dollar was not enough. But we survived.
My wife and I had experienced financial difficulties even before we started our marriage, which mostly was due to my fault. I built a business that failed and incurred a ton of debt in the process.
Luckily, we survived, paid off the debt, and saved a ton of money in the process. We paid off $40K and saved at least 200K in under 4 years while living on one income.
I call these lessons the best secret free financial lessons I’ve learned in my life even though these secret lessons are those tips and tricks that people overlooked and don’t put into action.
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I think I am more than lucky to have learned some of the best financial lessons that one could learn. Here are some of the best personal financial planning tips I have always followed in my life.
1. Get help for FREE (don’t pay if you can find another way).
When my wife and I were paying off our debt and living frugally, one problem we had was we didn’t know what to cut, when to cut, and how to cut our expenses. I think that’s the main and biggest challenge people who want to improve their finances face.
I know you’ll agree with me when I say that sometimes we only need another set of eyes to help us figure out what we are doing wrong so we can make better decisions.
There are two ways to get the help you need for FREE. First, ask for it from people close to you. They’ll be direct in giving you the right advice.
Second, use products/services that provide recommendations based solely on actual data. My family has been using Spentapp and we love it. It is FREE, user-friendly, and it gets the job done.
It analyzes our expenses to see where we are making mistakes and provide recommendations based on data so we can make positive changes. We barely lift a finger and we always get valuable outputs.
For those who feel like doing things in private or just need more than one set of eyes, Spentapp is your best companion.
For example, if our yearly food (and non-food) bill is $5,000 and the cash back is 10%, we get roughly $500 back. That’s savings there.
With the help of my brother who is genius at saving hacks and the Spentapp, we were able to make great decisions (many of the tips are found here) that ultimately helped us pay off our $40K debt and saved $70K all in 2.5 years. Click here for the full story.
Spentapp is such as a game changer we wish we knew a long time ago. We get the advice we need and make money, too. It’s a double win for us. It could be for you as well.
Click here to get Spentapp for FREE and start saving and making money on just about everything.
Note: For every qualified purchase, you get % of cash back. With Spentapp, you can earn up to 45% cash back. Plus, you get to organize your expenses and let Spentapp do its magic and make financial decisions for you to consider. Click here to start using Spentapp.
2. Choose the “harder” right than the “easier” wrong.
Oftentimes in life, we choose the easier routes because they’re more convenient, they’re less of a hassle, among others. But at times, these choices are not the right ones to make.
For example, when a business is failing and the only solution is to cut down on people, it’s hard to make the call of letting people go. It’s hard, but it’s definitely the right thing to do.
However, if you are the decision maker and don’t want to do that, you may think that other areas of your business could be downsized like facilities.
But this solution is not the right one because the only solution is to lay off people (in this scenario). If you choose to downsize the other areas, then, you are choosing the easier solution but the wrong one.
I learned that it’s always best to choose the right solution even when you need to sacrifice some important things in life.
I always tell people to invest early. The truth is, it’s hard to invest money when you are just starting out and have a lot of bills to pay. Investing money early on is the “harder” right and not investing early is somewhat but not entirely the “easier” wrong.
3. Save enough so you can invest.
The first thing you always need to do is save for an emergency, for daily needs, etc. What I mean by this is save enough so you can start investing.
It’s nice to see when your bank accounts are growing month by month or day by day because you save more than you spend. Kudos to you. But at a certain point, you need and should invest.
The interest on your bank accounts is so low that it won’t keep up with inflation. You need to invest so you can potentially grow your money. I say potentially because there are risks and rewards associated with investing.
But if you look at historical data, there is great potential in the stock market. The reason that my wife and I’s net worth has ballooned is primarily due to our investments in the stock market.
As novice, self-managed investor, it’s a challenge to know if your investments are aligned with your goals. One mistake could ruin your financial future. I know you can agree with me on that.
I tried so many robo-advisors but they always ended up wanting to charge a fee until I found Blooom, which helped analyze our 401(k) for free. It was magical. Blooom uncovered the excessive charges we pay in our portfolio.
Had it not been for Blooom, we wouldn’t have known the more than $2,000 we pay in fees, which would amount to at least $200,000 in 20 years (given a 15% return rate and 20 years). Yikes.
If you are a self-managed investor and want to ensure you are going on a right direction, there’s no better investment than to get a FREE 401k analysis with Blooom.
4. Be happy with what you have and don’t have.
The next on my list of best personal financial planning tips is being happy with what you have and don’t have.
In this day and age, it is so easy to want some more. It is so easy to want what other people have. My wife and I tell ourselves that we don’t need to stay in touch with what is current. For that reason, we tell ourselves we don’t need to buy gadgets, new services, new products, etc.
What my father and mother taught me was to be contented with what I have and don’t have. I believe in what they said.
Time changes, and it changes so fast. What‘s in the market right now may not be considered ‘in’ a couple of years later. This is especially true with technology.
My parents taught me to be happy with what I have and that’s what my family and I do. We meet our needs and splurge on some things and that’s about it. We don’t overspend or buy things because everyone else we know has those things.
Are we happy not buying those ‘in’ stuff? Yes. Do you miss out anything? Absolutely, not.
5. Start investing even with cents.
I know how it feels to put your hard earned money in the hands of the stock market. My wife and I have been there. It was the scariest feeling in the world. Imagine you are handing your financial future on something that can tank in a blink of an eye.
If you aren’t comfortable with investing in the stock market or don’t know where to start, you can always start small by investing cents with Acorns to test the water.
It’s the best invention of this century for me. It’s investing with a twist. With Acorns, investing is done in the following ways:
- It will roundup your purchases
- It will give you cash back offers like 20% cash back far higher than those from the biggest cash back sites out there (see image below) even when Acorns is not a cash back site
It will invest your change and cash back to over 7,000 stocks and bonds to reduce investment risk. Investing has never been this easy (thanks to Acorns).
I’ve only been using Acorns for five months without me feeling like I’m investing in it, but I have already invested close to $800 (image below) and have received dividends and cash back and seen capital appreciation.
Now, my investment is around $900. That’s 12.5% return in 5 months. That’s a big return. Banks pay 0.01% per year.
The best thing about this is that I don’t feel like I have invested this much money because Acorns only get cents at a time from my account to invest. The cents that Acorns invested on my behalf really add up.
There are a lot to gain with using Acorns and little to lose. It’s user-friendly and get the job done for you.
Remember the early you start, the greater chance your money will grow for you. Act now and click here to start investing and be on your way to growing your money.
6. Save before you spend.
This is, by far, one of the best personal financial planning tips I have ever received.
Typically, we people tend to save what is left of our salary. In other words, we tend to spend first before save. This is typical and not out of the ordinary.
When we have the money, we pay our bills first. We, then, spend on something we love and save what is left. What this pattern is doing is that it prioritizes spending over saving.
I learned a long time ago from a mentor that in order to build your retirement savings or just savings, you need to take saving as your top priority when it comes to finances. It’s easier said than done when you are bombarded with a lot of bills and not a ton of money to play around.
But when you really are bombarded with a ton of bills and not enough money to save, you should always set up a budget.
Frankly, even when you have more money than bills, you still need to have a budget. The best thing with a budget is that you see where you are also overspending and where you can cut to save some more money.
In our household, we use the Budget Binder Printables and Qapital to help us effectively budget and manage our money.
These printables and Qapital have continuously helped our family get our budget in control and save a ton of money even on a single income.
Having a hard time keep track of your budget or savings goal? Qapital is a FREE personal finance app that lets you set a goal and helps you achieve it. It helps you save money by rounding your purchases and putting it towards your goal automatically.
Qapital helped us saved over $600 without us knowing it.
Because of that, we got to travel to another destination. Click here to start using Qapital and start tracking and saving money the painless way.
We paid off our $40K debt and, at the same time, saved $70K in 2.5 years with the help of these simple but genius products (click here for the full story).
7. Seek help when needed.
Have you been in a situation where you didn’t have any money, carried in mountain of debt, and hid from your creditors?
I know a couple of people who have been in such situation. I believe when they told me that it’s not the best feeling in the world.
You know what I learned from their situation? I learned that it’s always best to face the problem head on. When you feel like you are drowning, then, you need to seek help. There are people, companies, or agencies that can or will help you.
You have your family and friends who you can get advice from. There are reputable debt relief companies that will help lower your debt or even help you get out from one.
I took a loan specifically a personal loan to cut down on interest and/or pay my credit card debt right away. Why did I do that? It’s because the interest I got charged on personal loan was way lower than the interest charged I got on my credit cards.
My loan interest was 4%ish while my credit card interest was 16%. Clearly, in this case, personal loan was the better option.
Had I not seek help, I don’t think that my wife and I would have been able to pay off our debt fast.
8. Make money with your credit cards.
Credit cards aren’t always evil. They can be your best friends, too.
For example, we use our Discover Card because it gives us 5% on certain purchases. In a given year, we average $300 (see image below) in cash back because of the Discover deals plus free FICO score, and ever-increasing credit limit, which is good to increase your credit score.
Now, my credit limit on this card is $60,000 and my credit score is around 765 (get your FREE credit score here, too). Plus, I gt money back all the time. Thanks to the wonders of Discover Card.
Open an account here to experience the benefits Discover Card offers.
We also use our Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express. It works like our Discover Card but we use this for big purchases that we can stagger the payments without having to pay interest.
Plus, we get 3% cash back from most of our purchases plus product warranty, car insurance coverage, and so many things.
This year alone, we have made $300 (see image below) from cash backs and deals with our American Express and over $800 since we opened it in 2015.
Create an account with American Express here to experience all benefits this card has to offer.
9. Take a risk.
I was told that a lot of successful people are those who took a risk and such risk paid of. This is one of the things that I make sure I practice by heart and by mind. Certainly, I took risks in the past.
Some of the risks resulted to good outcomes and some didn’t.
But I came out unharmed and better because of the lessons I learned from those experiences.
In 2009, my sisters and I started a retail business and, three years later, we closed the business and I ended up shouldering $40K of the debt. I was fortunate to pay it off in 2.5 years. I took a risk, failed, and learned from my mistakes.
In 2012, I started investing in the stock market. Now, my investment portfolio is at least $200,000 even when I have been investing $10K – $15K each year for the past 5 years. I took a risk, learned the proper and effective ways to invest, and made so much in 5 years.
In 2016, I started blogging to share my thoughts and experiences on how my wife and I paid off our debt. It turned out to be a money making machine. Now, I make at least $10,000 a month working 15 hours a month on my blog.
While I create new posts from time to time, I don’t have to spend more time that I need to because my contents are evergreen. This means that they are applicable now and in the future.
If you are looking for a side hustle, blogging is a great one. You can make a ton of money doing it part-time.
I took a risk, invested time and effort, and paid $2.95/mo. Think of it as a coffee fix at your favorite gas station. You have little to lose and a lot to gain.
Now, I am making a full time income on a part time basis. Plus, I get to keep the day job I really love and blogging pays for all our bills and then some (click here for the full story). It even helped us bought our house. Can’t beat that. Click here to start blogging, be on your way to making money, and live the life you’ve always wanted.
10. Don’t be complacent. Find other ways to make money.
True. It’s easy to become complacent when you are getting regular paycheck and when you have a regular day job.
The truth is most people are contented with what they earn and that’s absolutely great. A good, steady income is gazillion times better than no income at all.
Of course, aside from our day jobs, we sometimes use our free time for meaningless, unworthy things (e.g. binge watching haha).
Instead of spending too much time doing these meaningless things, it is always best to find other ways to make money doing what you really love. That’s what my mentor told me a long time ago.
Because I like to stay home as much as possible, I try to find side hustles that would generate substantial income for our family.
Aside from blogging, I also refinish furniture and sell them for a profit, do bookkeeping, and take surveys. These side hustles help me make additional $12,000 every month, which is way more than what I make every month.
One site has made us over $1,100. No kidding on that.
If you ever want to try taking surveys and make money out of them, click on this link to see the full post.
11. Don’t spend what you don’t have.
The next on the list of best personal financial planning tips is not spending what you don’t have.
There are so many ways to get money that is not really your own. You can always use your credit cards, secure loans and things like those.
One of the best lessons I learned from my mentor is that if you cannot pay with cash, then, you should not buy at all. It doesn’t mean that you just pay by cash. No no no. That’s what he meant.
You can use your credit cards, personal loans, and other debt instruments as long as you pay them on time. You should use these debt instruments when you get more rewards using them than when you use your cash.
At one point, I secured a car loan because the interest rate was just 0.5%. What did I use my cash for? I used my cash to invest in the stock market. I got a yearly rate of return of at least 16% for such investment.
I could have paid the car in cash but it was not a wise decision because the rate of return from the stock market was way higher than the interest rate of the loan.
Before applying for a personal loan, I recommend you check your credit score. You don’t want to take a chance, get a loan, and turns out you can’t be qualified because of a ding in your credit that you aren’t aware of. So many people go through that, but you don’t have too.
Why go through a headache and not get what you want? Check your credit score with Credit Sesame.
It’s a FREE service, which allows you to see your credit score without making a direct credit inquiry against your credit. Create an account with Credit Sesame and get your FREE monthly credit score, credit report, and ID theft protection.
12. Negotiate to save money.
Almost everything can be negotiated. This is what my mentor told me a long time.
In everything I do, I make sure that I negotiate (when it’s appropriate). When my wife and I started paying off our bills, we negotiated with our bill collectors. We told them that we could only pay this much and that much every month.
What did we get? We got into a payment arrangement and our interest and penalties were waived.
When you are trying to save money, try to negotiate as much as possible. The worse thing somebody can tell is ‘No’.
Some of us don’t like to get into negotiation but still want to save money. Some of us have tried over and over and failed to negotiate our bills.
If this is you, then, I highly recommend you try BillShark, a company that’s been featured on Today, The Washington Post, Fox News, NBC News with Lester Holt, and Dave Ramsey.
BillShark will negotiate on your behalf. BillShark gets 40% of the savings. If it doesn’t save you anything, then, it doesn’t get paid. My wife and I recently tried BillShark to cut down our phone bill. It managed to save us $120 for one year.
Read: 25+ Survey Sites To Add $600/Month Or More
Final thoughts:
These are the personal financial planning tips that I have followed in my life. These tips have allowed my wife and I to get out of a bad financial situation and to save so much money in such a short time. I do believe that without these tips, my family won’t be able to effectively and easily manage our own finances.
What do you think are the best personal financial planning tips you have learned in your life? Share your thoughts or stories in the comments section below.
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Original article and pictures take i1.wp.com site
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