{"id":2083,"date":"2016-07-06T00:15:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T08:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2016-07-05T15:32:04","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T23:32:04","slug":"6-financial-habits-twenties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/6-financial-habits-twenties\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Financial Habits for Your Twenties"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SinceIn three short months I\u2019ll be turning the big 3-0. Instead of fearing this number I\u2019ve been looking at it with the glass half full mentality. I learned some hard lessons in my twenties and because of that I feel like I\u2019m entering this new decade of my life with much more wisdom than I had the last.<\/p>\n

One area that was hit and miss for me was finances. I did a lot of things right, like staying out of debt and building an emergency fund, but there were definitely other areas I should\u2019ve been focused on in my early twenties.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re getting ready to enter your twenties adopting these financial habits will greatly benefit you.<\/p>\n

# 1 \u2013 Learning to Set Financial Goals<\/h2>\n

One of the most important skills to be learned, not just in regards to finances but life in general, is goal setting.<\/p>\n

Proper goal setting can help you map out a plan for your life in the short term and long term. You should regularly set goals for your finances, career and personal development and check in on those goals regularly.<\/p>\n

# 2 \u2013 Setting Up Spending Guidelines for Yourself<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not a hardcore budgeter, in fact, I believe super strict budgeting can often backfire<\/a>. With that said I do operate on guidelines and I think these are completely necessary when you begin to earn money.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t make a plan for how your income is going to be spent you\u2019ll wind up with no money left to pay your bills at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

To get started figure out the amount of income you\u2019ll be bringing in each month and what financial obligations you need to meet. Figure out what each of your bills will be every month, add in your financial goals and savings and then you can spend the rest as you please.<\/p>\n

# 3 \u2013 Consistently Saving<\/h2>\n

When I got my first \u201creal job\u201d my Grandma told me that I needed to save at least $20 each paycheck. Even though $20 per week is a fairly small amount I didn\u2019t do it. A couple more years passed before I realized the importance of savings.<\/p>\n

You need to develop the habit of saving money NOW. Even if it\u2019s a small amount like $20 per paycheck.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have savings you\u2019ll be relying on debt to pay for unexpected expenses.<\/p>\n

Start by saving an emergency fund<\/a> with at least three months\u2019 worth of expenses. \u00a0After that start saving for more personal financial goals like a down payment on a house or money for a vehicle.<\/p>\n

# 4 – Avoiding Debt<\/h2>\n

Debt is a trap. I\u2019ve only had a little bit of consumer debt in my life and I felt horrible each and every month making those payments.<\/p>\n

If you get yourself in debt, especially credit card debt, and only make the minimum payment you\u2019ll spend years paying back that money and end up paying more in interest than the items you bought were worth.<\/p>\n

Avoid consumer debt like credit cards, pay-as-you-go furniture and electronics, and of course, payday loans. Save cash for your purchases instead. And if you do take out debt for a car or a house make sure that you\u2019re leaving plenty of room to pay those bills.<\/p>\n

# 5 \u2013 Learning About Investment Options<\/h2>\n

Just like with saving early the earlier you get started investing the more money you\u2019ll have in the future. Because of the way interest compounds investing just a few years earlier can leave you with tens of thousands of extra dollars in retirement.<\/p>\n

If your employer offers a retirement plan sign up! Invest as much as you can as early as you can.<\/p>\n

You should also learn about other investment opportunities so you can figure out what interests you the most.<\/p>\n

# 6 \u2013 Acquiring the Skills Necessary to Earn More Money<\/h2>\n

One of my bigger mistakes was not looking for ways to earn more money sooner. I\u2019ve finally hit a place where I\u2019m happy with my income and able to meet the goals I have set for myself, but this definitely wasn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n

There are tons of different ways to earn extra money. If you feel like you aren\u2019t earning enough to meet your goals, explore your options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In three short months I\u2019ll be turning the big 3-0. Instead of fearing this number I\u2019ve been looking at it with the glass half full mentality. I learned some hard lessons in my twenties and because of that I feel like I\u2019m entering this new decade of my life with much more wisdom than I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14],"tags":[347,582,581],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}