8 Helpful Tips on How to Get Ahead Financially and Live a Better Life

Getting ahead financially is such a great way to get rid of stress and start living a much freer life.

And if you want to get ahead this year, then it’s time to start taking control of your financial life and any money situation that is taking from your peace.

There are so many little ways you can save that you might not even be thinking about. And there are probably quite a few that you do know about, but haven’t taken action on yet. So this month, it’s time to get started and watch your savings go up, and your payments and debt go down.

And if you want learn how to get ahead financially, then keep reading, take some notes, and see what you can take action on today!

1. Cut Out Unnecessary Spending

Savings grow when you start changing your bad habits. So start thinking about alternative things you can do to replace your unnecessary spending. There really are so many ways you can save money and so many things you can do yourself.

Actionable Tip: Make a list of of the different ways you spend money that you know aren’t necessary. So for instance, that daily coffee, impulse purchases at Trader Joe’s, buying lunch out, UberEats, Amazon, etc. Then start figuring out what you can do without, what you can start doing yourself, and give yourself some breathing room.

2. Automate Your Expenses

If you start automating different expenses including investments, bill payments, retirement plan, savings account, or health insurance, then there’s less of a chance for paying late fees or just never having any savings.

Actionable Tip: Open up Google Sheets and track who you need to pay, how much you need to pay, and when you need to pay. Then set up an automated payment so you can save money and get rid of the fees.

3. Try to Get Cash Back & Deals as Often as Possible

There are so many reward apps available that offer cash back and other great deals (and the sign up is free!). So if you want to save money at the grocery store or other shops, then download a few of them and see how much you start saving each week.

Actionable Tip: Before you head out to go shopping, download some of these money-saving apps: Ibotta, RetailMeNot, Receipt Pal, Shopkick, and Rakuten.

4. Create a Plan for Eliminating or Decreasing Your Monthly Payments

This week, take some time to write out the payments you make each month.

So for instance, you categories might include:

• Debt payments
• Monthly subscriptions and memberships
• Bills

Then create a plan around either eliminating those monthly payments or cutting back on them. This is probably one of the best ways to quickly free up your finances and get rid of stress.

So for debts, figure out how much you own, how much you currently make, and how much money you would be willing to throw at it each month so that you can make it go aways as quickly as possible. Also, if you have credit card debt, you can call up the companies and potentially negotiate a lower interest rate.

For monthly subscriptions and memberships, figure out which ones you’re not using or not using often enough. Then cut them out so that you can keep the savings.

And for bills, call up the companies and see if they would be willing to negotiate a lower monthly payment.

If you keep asking yourself, “why can’t I get ahead financially,” then this step should not be skipped.

5. Start Your Savings Today

There are so many great ways to get ahead financially, but nothing can replace savings. It’s a form of security in case something goes wrong and provides you with so much peace of mind.

Actionable Tip: If you can’t save anything from your 9 to 5 job, then start up a side hustle that’ll help get your savings started. Or if you don’t have the time, look at what you can cut out and then put that money into your savings instead.

6. Set Up a Monthly Money Meeting

You have to at least steal 30 minutes to one hour from your monthly schedule to do a financial meeting with your partner or just yourself. It‘s an amazing way to make sure you’re sticking with your goals, seeing what needs to be improved, and look for any abnormalities.

Actionable Tip: Set up a time you want to do this each month right now. Then create a list of what you personally want to cover for each money meeting so nothing gets overlooked.

7. Live Like You Make Less

If you have a hard time living within your means, then pretend that you make a much lower income and allow your spending to reflect that.

It’s a simple way to make sure you’re sticking to your budget and the savings can start to build.

Actionable Tip: Figure out a fake monthly income and then figure out how much you want to spend on living expenses based off of that fake income. Then you’ll have a real plan and not give yourself an excuse to ignore this spending hack.

8. Learn Up on Financial Literacy

Financial literacy gives you the ability to comprehend how money really works and gives you a healthier financial mindset. Reading books on money can help you in paying down debt more quickly and change how you see money and interact with it.

Actionable Tip: Create a list of helpful finance books that’ll teach you more on how to better handle money, pay off your debt, invest, and get ahead. Then take time each month to go through one or more of them to increase your financial literacy.

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