I'm reading a book called The Girls Guide by Melissa Kirsch, and it's teaching me certain life hacks when it comes to health, table etiquette, and my favorite, finances. As a woman, I haven't had anyone teach me about the importance of finances, and this book helped me out A LOT. So, I've composed some finance and money tips for you so that we can learn together how to better our finances.
1. Get A Part Time Job
For those times where you're off work on the weekends, maybe pick up some babysitting gigs. Find an apartment that costs a little less. Maybe cut down on eating fast food, and buy groceries for the week.
2. Credit Scores
Checking your credit is completely free via creditkarma.com, but here's some tricks. When dealing with certain websites or purchases that require credit checks, they can decrease your score! If your credit score is low, you can improve it by applying for a credit card, and making sure you are paying back the monthly minimum ON TIME. Once you pay the minimum required, they will reward you by increasing your credit limit, which mean more money. Who doesn't like money!?
3. Track Your Finances
Download Apps such as Mint, or even check your bank transactions. Apps like Mint give you a weekly breakdown of where your finances go. Whether it's food, transportation, bills, etc., you're able to visually see where your money goes and how you can better manage it. You can even link your credit card and recurve email alerts about changes in your credit score.
4. Make A Financial Calendar
In my room, I have a dry erase calendar. Whatever the month is, I write down when bills are due and what the amounts are. I'm a visual person, so I like to see where my money goes and how much I'll be spending when the time comes.
5. Sell Some Of That Junk!
Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay will let you sell almost ANYTHING. Gather some of those old things that you've accumulated since your college years and sell them for some extra cash.
6. Reduce Your Finances
Have cable? Maybe get rid of that cable bill and stick to streaming sites such as Netflix or Hulu. Maybe rent out your home to flight attendants who need a place to stay while having long layovers on your city.
These tricks have helped me so far in choosing to be financially responsible, and I'm hoping that they do the same for you. Let's start making it a priority to take care of ourselves by taking care of our finances.
