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Are you wondering how to manage your money? You’re not alone.
Money management can be quite intimidating, with tricky steps, heaps of paperwork, and hacks which you may only find out about only after paying the bill.
We’ve all been there, wondering about how to manage money or be better with money. The key is to research how to manage money better and then following through.
For those wondering how to manage your money better, it comes down to two essential options: save more than you spend or put the money you have in accounts which can grow.
There are so many ways to manage your money these days, that there’s no limit to helpful technologies which can improve the way you interact with money.
So, without further ado, here are our top 15 strategies for how to manage your money more effectively. Pick one or two or even adopt all of them!
Table of Contents
1. Get Free Financial Help
When you consider how to manage your money, why not consider using a professional?
Navigating finances can be quite a headache and it might truly be easier, faster, and less energy-depleting to get help from someone who already knows what they’re doing.
There’s no shame in getting financial help, especially if it’s free! In fact, getting help from an experienced source is simply a smart money habit.
Hiring someone to help you with your finances can be quite expensive. So, instead, consider downloading Long Game.
Long Game is a savings account with cash, crypto rewards, and slot games which can help you get back on the right financial path. It’s essentially financial help on your phone for free!
You really can’t go wrong with Long Game, as it makes it more fun to save money and even gives you prizes for playing games.
2. Find a Support System
Trying to manage your money better probably isn’t going to work out that well if you’re surrounded by people who drop hundreds of dollars all of the time.
It also won’t work if you try to keep up with other people or stay around people who don’t really understand what saving or investing is all about.
What you need when you first start out on your money management journey is a support system — a person or group of people who will support your goals and help you stay motivated.
You need to get motivated about what you want to achieve so that you can overcome any mental barriers you may have placed between yourself and your goals.
An interesting way to illustrate this is with HealthyWage, a platform which turns your personal weight loss challenge into potential cash prizes. The money you win is dependent upon the amount of weight lost and if you hit your goal target in time.
Success stories and thousands of dollars of cash won are evidence on the HealthyWage site of how well the system works. Find your health cheer squad today and find the motivation you need to save money by losing pounds.
3. Learn How to Use What You Have
To earn more monthly and develop smart money habits, you need to learn how to use what you already have.
A great way to be better with money is to actually assess what you already have, what you aren’t using to its full potential, and how you can best utilize that asset going forward.
This can be as simple as repurposing an item or renting out a space you’re not currently using. Think of all the extra rooms you might have in your apartment or house!
Everyone knows about Airbnb by now. But have you actually considered renting a room, floor or property that you’re not using?
You can make quite a significant amount of cash if you know how to spruce up a property and then list it for maximum reach.
To get started with Airbnb, all you need to do is sign up for free. For those willing to go the extra mile, renting an Airbnb property can provide some side hustle income flow or even main income salary if it takes off enough.
4. Buy Properties as Investments
When wondering how to manage your money, it’s a common idea to just stash all the money you have in the bank and then forget about it.
But, that’s not always the best option. There are many other options available which can help your money make you more money.
One such option is to use Roofstock, an online marketplace created for investing in single-family rental (SFR) homes. Roofstock treats the buying and renting of SFR homes as an investment move, much like adding assets into a portfolio.
Roofstock has over 40 markets across the U.S. and has completed over $1 billion in transactions. Why not buy an investment property which can help you manage your money wisely in the long-term?
5. Invest Small at First
Another way to manage your money is to try investing small amounts at first.
If you are interested in investing to grow your money but don’t really know how to go about it, then Worthy Bonds may be the perfect app for you. It’s a free app that lets you start small and then stack up savings over time.
Worthy Bonds puts away small savings at 5% interest each time you spend. For example, if you spent $9.50 at the grocery store, then $0.50 gets put into your investment account.
It’s an amazing way to start saving without thinking about it too much.
6. Use a Money-Management App
Okay, so this piece of advice totally feels like cheating, but you can actually use a money-management app to help you be better with money.
Personal Capital offers you free online money tools combined with insight-driven advice. The app allows you to see your net worth, analyze your investments, spot hidden fees, as well as set spending and saving goals.
Why not try the easy way and just sign up for Personal Capital’s free tools? Use our link and make $20 to start!
7. Make a Budget and Stick to It
Another one of the best money-managing tips is to create a budget and then follow it. It may seem simple, but many people just don’t actually create a budget that they stick to.
For help creating a budget, look to Mint, a budgeting app.
Mint can create budgets, offer suggestions based on spending, track bills, get alerts before you miss one, and offer free credit checks and ways to improve it.
Why not get a little extra help with your budget? Mint can help you today!
8. Track Your Spending
For those wondering how to be better with money, sometimes it’s all about tracking what you spend. Seeing your spending habits over time can really illuminate problem areas.
That’s where an app like PocketGuard comes in. It can track spending and help you lower your bills. That means you can stay on top of your finances while seeing the bigger picture.
Link your credit cards, checking accounts, savings accounts, investments, and loans and see all of your assets and expenditures in one place.
9. Assign Each Dollar a Home
Here’s another tip for how to manage money wisely: give each dollar an assigned purpose.
Estimate how much you should have coming in and then place every single dollar into a category of use. Whether it’s rent/mortgage, electricity, water, groceries, etc., it’s important to give each dollar a home.
Apps like YouNeedaBudget can significantly help you to know where your money should go in order to stay on track in day-to-day purchases.
Not sure? You can try YouNeedaBudget for free for 34 days so there’s nothing to lose!
10. Have a Personalized App Manage for You
Sign up for Digit and you don’t have to remember to save money at all. In fact, the app analyzes your spending and automatically saves the calculated perfect amount every day.
Once you add your credit card and goals, such as saving for an emergency fund, a vacation, a trip or paying off your student loans, then Digit will use sophisticated algorithms to learn how you spend.
The entire point of Digit is for it to learn how you prefer to live your lifestyle and to find ways to save without impacting your quality of life or making you live off of Cup Noodle.
11. Use Your Phone
In this day and age, pretty much everyone takes their phones everywhere. This is great in terms of tracking spending.
Apps like Wally allow you to log in on your phone and update your balances. The great thing is that Wally is completely free and has all currencies available.
Why not give mobile-based money saving a go with a free app? You’ve got nothing to lose!
12. Build an Investment Portfolio
Again, another way to manage your money is to invest. For example, Stash is an investment app aimed at helping beginners find and select investments, specifically exchange-traded funds and individual stocks.
When you sign up for Stash, their service repackages existing funds into easy-to-understand themes based on risk tolerance, values, goals, and interests — customized for you.
While Stash doesn’t manage investor accounts directly, it does help guide you through the process of building your portfolio.
Manage your money, build your savings and earn more monthly by growing your investment portfolio with the help of Stash.
13. Invest in What You Believe In
Manage your money by investing in causes you believe in. For example, Wealthsimple is an investment opportunity for people looking to increase their savings.
It has diverse portfolio choices, including socially responsible options that align with your beliefs, clear pricing of $0 minimum and fees, and unfettered access to certified financial planners for all clients, regardless of how much money you have.
In fact, Wealthsimple will manage your first $10,000 for free for one year when you sign up.
14. Sell and Buy Second-Hand
When considering how to manage money, you need to think about how to make money with what you already own.
If you have a bunch of tech goods laying around that you don’t really use, why not sell them? Decluttr is the app that pays the most for second-hand tech, meaning you can save more money.
Of course, Decluttr works the other way too. If you need to buy tech goods, why not go for second-hand? Being better with money is really all about knowing where to splurge and where to save.
Decluttr makes it easy to make and save money by selling or buying second-hand electronics.
15. Don’t Ignore Your Student Loans
Good money management habits are the backbone of boosting any savings plan. If you’re saddled with a student loan that is making even the word “savings” laughable, then Credible is for you.
If you’re hoping to get a better interest rate or lower your payment for your student loan debt, one of the best things you can do is to refinance it. Don’t just ignore it.
Credible is a student loan marketplace which allows borrowers to shop around for student loan refinancing and private student loans, as well as personal loans.
Credible allows you to fill out a single form, compares multiple lenders at once for you and finds you the best possible rates and terms for your student loan.
Manage your student loan debt, even if you don’t want to. Get help with Credible today!
Author:
Logan is a practicing CPA and founder of Choice Tax Relief and Money Done Right. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.
