I do not believe “For the Love of Money” was saying money is something to avoid. I believe it was just pointing out that greed, necessity, selfishness, and/or desperation will cause a person to do appalling things. So how can the greed, necessity, selfishness, and/or desperation be mitigated? The general, healthy solution seems to boil down to budgeting, discipline, and financial literacy then compiling all that information into something that works best for YOU.

My journey, briefly:

As of 11/2021, I am a 24 year old with nearly $150,000 in student loan debt, $10,000 in personal loan debt, and almost $4,000 in credit card debt. I am the first in my immediate family to complete college so I did not know a lot until hindsight became 20/20. Until now my average income was about $3,600/month. Living expenses were (and still are) about $1,000/month and student loan payments (before the federal waiver lifts) is $968/month. Leaving about $1632/month for groceries, gas, car insurance, health insurance, savings, etc. And I live on my own, 10+ hours from family so all the bills and stress fall on my shoulders. Doesn’t it make sense to move back home? Yes but I could not for personal reasons I am working on in another aspect of life. The point is…no matter how I got here, I am here and I own my part in it. The question is: How do I get out?

After graduating in 2020 and getting my first “adult job”, I started seeking financial advise from financial advisors. I spoke to about 3 before internalizing that they were all the same. They wanted to sell me insurance instead of learning my situation and helping me through it. I guess I needed someone like Dave Ramsey or Jordan Page or something but I did not want to pay to join their program…how could I?!? I watched A LOT of YouTubers, turned to religion for answers, asked a successful family member or two for advice and so on. I felt like I was getting no where.

Through all that exploration I started to notice a common theme: budget, have self discipline, and learn how money works. I am honestly just getting to a point where I have accepted that these are really needed to master this area of life. I am still increasing my financial learning and growing my discipline. But based on my budget and financial plan I am working on increasing my income for the time being. That is pretty much my only focus because I spent the past year decreasing expenses. So I do not speak to you as a know-it-all but as someone who would rather you know it all (or as much as possible) before you get started instead of when you are in the middle of it.

Budgeting:

First, if you are unsure what budgeting is then that is something you should look into. Basically, it is a way to manage your money by tracking and allocating it. I am not a financial professional or guru nor do I aim to be, there is plenty of information out there if you would like to know more.

I used to think it was about the tracking of money and that is true at first. You must track it to know where your money is going but after a while you have to do more and actually tell your money where to go. Let’s say you have tracked your spending for the last 6 months and see that you spend an average of $500/month on groceries for just you (because you live alone or something). Maybe instead of counting that as normal, you investigate. Why am I spending so much on groceries? Do I use all the groceries I buy in a month? How can I lower that expense? Over the next 2 months I will work to cutting that in half. Because…at some point…you have to take action in order for anything to change :/

Discipline:

Meaning if you do not have the money to buy that purse, watch, car, house, pet, etc…then don’t -_- lol. No one is coming to tell you yes or no. Your friends/family/coworkers/you name it will give the answer you want or the answer that suits them but not necessarily the answer you NEED. You know your situation better than anyone else because you live with it every day, week, month, year.

What I am learning is that the discipline is grown not given. Meaning just because you decided to be better with money, does not you will automatically be better with money. Remember, you have to unlearn the habits that got you there. Discipline is grown by the choice you make with every decision. Again be patient. One month you may do well and keep the budget, another month you may blow it, and another you may fall below it. How serious you are goes back to your motivation for this area of your life.

Financial Literacy:

This is understanding the language of money. Answering questions like: How do taxes work? How does insurance work? How do I know what insurances I need? How do I make money work for me? How do I maximize getting more money for the time I spend? How do I start that business? What is the difference between a 401k, IRA, and Roth IRA? Which of those retirement plans are best for me? What is the difference between good and bad debt? What are tax deductions and do I qualify? What tax advantages do I get for being a student, business owner, unconventional worker, etc?

The list of questions goes on. The more you understand your financial situation, the more questions you will come up with.

Putting it all together:

YOUR financial goal needs a plan. All that knowledge you gained through financial literacy will aid in building YOUR financial plan. This plan will inspire your budget, the one where you tell money what to do. Discipline is needed to stick to your budget.

This is not necessarily the order to do it, just the bigger picture. Because, for example, you could track your spending while you learn about financial literacy. Once you have tracked the spending long enough, you can use discipline to fix areas you know need fixing. Once you have learned enough you can start tailoring your budget to your goal and telling your money what to do.

*Side Note*

Do not think one area of life does not bleed into the other, specifically your mental health. If you know you are someone who shuts down easily. Look for professional help that is patient not challenging. If you like to have your way and be in control, look for help that challenges you and is not a push over. You want to grow in this area of life don’t you?

Professional help is not mandatory but it is helpful in speeding up the learning curve. It is ok to use YouTube, SUCCESSFUL family and friends, Facebook pages, etc. to gain information until you feel comfortable enough to want more. This is your journey so it can be as slow or fast as you’d like.