- Have Regular Money Dates to Check in on Goals
Money dates help make reflecting upon your money a more consistent, fluid part of your life practice. It helps you to be more intentional and involved with your money goals and avoid shocking financial surprises.
The best time to set a money date is typically within 1-3 days of receiving large/many sums of money so that you can plan out and monitor the movement of that money before it’s divvied up in other ways. Additionally I find that most people cannot easily recall their purchases when they spend without awareness of their updated financial picture.
This doesn’t have to be boring, stressful or scary. Make it cute!
Pour yourself your favorite tea, and pair your money date with another self-care practice like a weekly face mask. Play some fun music like Toni Jones “Worth Ethic” from my Money Minded Maven playlist to get you in the vibe to make serious, aligning goals and decisions about your money.
2. Automate Your Savings and Investments
Automating your savings and investments offer a beneficial compound effect. For example, by removing “adding to your savings and investments” from your to-do list using automation, you ensure your money is being built up regardless.
If you’re automating into index funds in tax-advantaged investment account, your money has the opportunity to earn returns that significantly dwarf high yield savings accounts with moderate risk. This means your money is likely to go further faster with minimal effort on your part.
Another benefit is giving you less access to spend during those times where we may be a little less conscious about our purchases.
You can easily set up auto deposits and transfers with most banks online in just a few steps. Typically, you click on a “transfer” option and follow the prompts to select the accounts you’re transferring between, and the frequency.
3. Negotiate for Better Rates on Services
In general, negotiation is a helpful life skill that can save you in a number of ways, especially financially.
Many times, you can kindly ask your utilities companies, credit card and other service providers for more affordable or competitive savings rates.
Take a look at the various plans across providers. Many companies offer à la carte service bundles where you’ll find there are a few underutilized or unnecessary features you can remove for better rates.
It’s also possible to receive savings without service alterations, as I did with my cell-phone service provider. I managed to negotiate my cell phone bill down $20/month by just asking.
4. Add an Additional Stream of Income
To have an additional stream of income means more money toward a financial goal of your dreams like buying property, or a year’s worth of travel.
For many people, an additional stream of income can also offer financial protection if they are currently reliant upon one income stream.
You can have multiple income streams in the form of investments, side-hustling, business creation and more.
The easiest ways to start earning extra income is by using your current skills in ways that solve a problem or want effectively for another person.
For example, if you are artistically talented, you can make and print custom greeting cards that people who like your art can buy in a set for all their upcoming events. You help solve a problem for them to have greeting cards already set to go for different occasions, while you receive money for your skills/product.
5. Increase Your Credit Limit
Increasing your credit limit helps boost your overall credit score by giving you greater access to borrow funds.
If you maintain present-or-lower credit usage, but your limit increases, this can lower your credit utilization considerably.
A lower credit utilization is favored for higher scores, and higher scores are favored for many different types of financial transactions like buying or renting property.
6. Purchase Money Generating Assets
Money generating assets like coin, vending, or ATM machines in strategic places could bring you substantial cash flow with moderate maintenance work. You can even hire someone to do some of the things you may not want or are unable to do (i.e. restocking machines).
Vend Her is a womxn-run business that helps others dive into vending as an additional income stream.
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