Being financially savvy is a skill you can’t afford to ignore.
When your finances aren’t in order, you may think you have it all together.
But unfortunately, unless you have a plan, things won’t magically improve. Your debt may continue to spiral out of control because you haven’t set any goals. Making poor financial decisions can also affect your relationships!
If you’re fed up with your bad decisions regarding money, it’s time to set on a new course. There are many ways to improve your finances. Even getting personal finance advice on Reddit can lead to better decisions!
So do your homework and decide on a few different methods to get on track. Below are three various personal finance tools. Make an effort, and they will add value to your life!
1. Online Savings Account
Having an online savings account is a great way to sock away an emergency fund. Or, you could save for something like a vacation.
These types of online banks pay people an interest rate. The interest rate is a percentage, and they calculate it by multiplying by how much money is in your account.
The interest rate may increase over time based on if the interest rate of a bank increases. If it does, that usually means your interest rate will improve as well!
One example of an online savings account is Smarty Pig by SallieMae. The site encourages you to save for something special, like a vacation. And, as we mentioned, the more you save, the more money you make!
Look into setting up an online savings account, and you also won’t have to worry about having to visit the bank. Everything is online, making it simple for you to do your finances at home or on the go!
2. Budget Binder
If you are a visual person, consider creating a budget binder.
A budget binder should consist of finance printables. These printables have several monthly budget pages dedicated to different categories. Examples of varying budget categories are entertainment, eating out, savings, and housing.
Having a finance binder is perfect if you don’t like logging everything in on an app or website. You may be too busy and forget to update your app! It would make sense, then, if you prefer to write things down.
Writing out a budget with a pen and paper helps you learn more about your finances. It also holds you accountable!
This method will make it easier for you to create positive habits moving forward if all goes well.
3. Online Money Management Tools
There is an endless amount of money management tools online! With so many to choose from, it can get overwhelming. Our advice is to try one or two at a time until you find something that works for you.
A few tools are:
Mint
Mint by Intuit helps you budget your finances and keeps track of what you’re spending. Learn more about your spending habits and take their advice on what you can do to save.
Credit.com
If you haven’t checked your credit score in a while (or even if you have), Credit.com can offer support. This site does an excellent job explaining why your score is the way it is and what you can do to improve it.
Pear Budget
Understandably so, some people aren’t comfortable plugging in their bank information on an app or site. If you’d rather keep your bank login information to yourself, then a site like Pear Budget might work well for you.
Pear Budget is an excellent tool that uses the “envelope system.” So, you’re in charge of your budgets and how you spend your money.
By forming the habit of logging in your expenditures, you’ll learn where your money is going. Based on that information, you can decide whether you should adjust your spending.
In Conclusion
Working on your finances will always be a work in progress. You can’t expect yourself to get it right away, and that’s okay.
It may take a while to figure out what type of tools work best for you. And if you need assistance from a financial advisor or coach, consider that as well.
As long as you make an earnest attempt to head in the right direction, your finances should be in good shape.
So stop ignoring the debt you have and come up with a plan of action. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when your debt gets paid off a lot faster than you thought it would!
