Quick Start Action Tips

As this guide draws to an end, I would like to share with you some quick tips that you can start practicing immediately.

No, it would not make you a runaway millionaire tomorrow, but I assure you that the sooner you take control of your personal finance, the sooner you will live a happier life free of financial worries.

Start Saving!

First thing’s first – start saving! Your first step to managing your finances, to your surprise, perhaps, is not making more money. After all, making more money takes time to learn.

But you can start saving NOW. It is a no-brainer, really. If you have $100, just save $20 and you can spend the rest. It is that simple!

All in all, saving is very basic. But I know that giving this advice to anyone is almost as effective as saying “smoking is not good for your health”. Right…! And the result? The advice goes into one ear and out of the other – most people spend all their income and later “enjoy” horrible financial disasters.

It is a small wonder why making more money does not necessarily equate to managing one’s finance better, but in fact, makes financial management more out of control because more money means more spending and more spending means more debt!

But saving a portion of your income is not really the entire picture, either. Not just yet, because you need to know how to…

Budget Your Income

Played soccer? Can you imagine a soccer team going all out for offense and neglecting their defense line? Can you also imagine what happens when not only the strikers fail to score a goal, but the ball ends up in the other half of the field – the other half with no defenders around to defend their own goal post?

Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with most people, again. All out making more money – doing the offenses! But when their plans fail and backfired, there is no safety net for them to fall onto.

As mentioned earlier, practice a good saving habit, regardless of how much or how little money you are making. And to have that accomplished, you need to budget your income.

I know that big time money-makers look down on this finance management method as “too safe” or “for dummies only”, but I also know very well that in spite of the huge incomes they make, most of them are almost as broke as the janitors, too!

The true definition of budgeting, therefore, is “the art of spending money wisely”.

This is why I strongly urge you to make it a ritual to record and keep track of your income/expense on a daily basis using the Daily/Monthly Cash Flow statement. That way, you know and can control how much money comes in and goes out. Quite simply, you now can decide how to spend your money and invest wisely.

A big percentage of us often wonder where our money goes – but not you with this cash flow statement in your hands!

Invest in Your Financial Education

We have already established that most of us neglect our financial education and conventional schools hardly teach about money, you have to invest in your financial education.

How? I will start with the good news first: investing in your financial education is nowhere near as costly as entering college. In fact, a finance seminar can range from only a few dollars to a thousand dollars. Not to mention, they are often nowhere even near half as boring as lectures!

Do you think that a thousand-dollar 3-day seminar is expensive? Consider the following scenarios:

• You pay $20,000.00 to enter college for 4 years. After 4 years (and that is also assuming you pass your papers with flying colors), you start to look for a job. Since you are a fresh graduate, your starting income is probably less than expected (all the time). Even if you re-enter college as an adult, there is often 10-20% increase in your periodical income for the knowledge and expertise you apply. But then, it would take you a couple of years as well.

• You invest $1,000.00 in attending a seminar on finance that runs for 3 days. After 3 days, you already know what you need to know and you can apply the information instantly. Since most financial seminars are results-driven and motivational, taking action is often the next thing you would do. Armed with information not found in conventional schools on finance, your profit margin and finance management will soar and in extreme cases, it can be an infinite percentage!

Now, in your opinion, which one do you think is more costly? Personally, I think trading $20,000.00 and 4 years of your youth for a low increase in your income or meager pay is very, very, very expensive.

Tip: You can find out when is the next and nearest financial seminar if you read the daily papers often. Believe me – some financial seminars are truly life changing! But if you strictly cannot afford to attend an expensive seminar, there is always a more affordable alternative – make an effort to read one or two books on finances by ordering them from your nearest book store.

Find a Mentor or Competent Advisor 

Remember what I have said about how expensive “free” advice can be? If you are surrounded by “false prophets” and lousy advisors, say what Donald Trump says to them: “YOU’RE FIRED!”

And what next? Start choosing the right people and mix with them. Remember that choosing the right people is a skill you must have (very important!). People can either be assets or liabilities to managing your finances.

I am not saying that you should ask them to manage your finances for you. However, it is equally important that you surround yourself with people who know what they are talking about when it comes to money, a subject so important because you make and spend it everyday.

And here is another hot tip for you: it has never been easier to become wealthy or financially secured today. With so many tycoons and millionaires being made everyday as well, you will do well to go under the wings of a trusted mentor who is already doing what you want to do.

Trust me, some are already so successful that very often, they are willing to help budding people like you – just treat them to a meal and show them how serious you are.