Very few people understand basic financial concepts. That’s probably because we are taught from a young age that we shouldn’t talk about money. Unfortunately when people don’t talk about money they don’t learn how to manage their money, and finances become something mystical unable to be controlled or understood. But when people take the time to learn about managing their personal finances things turn out better. What if you could apply a growth mindset to hacking your finances?
A growth mindset is something most of us have but don’t realize. It’s the ability to learn from your mistakes and to seek out new information when you need it. It’s such an automatic process that we often don’t realize we are doing it. But with some things that we have been taught are taboo it takes a little more effort to apply this process.
Start by looking at your financial mistakes and habits that you want to change. Chances are you just fell into them without any thought, so reasoning your way out of them might actually work. Look at all your debts and interest rates. Cut out any unnecessary items from your monthly budget and add that amount to paying off the smallest debt first. Once that debt is paid take all the money, both the minimum payment and the amount over that you have set aside, and start paying the next largest debt off.
Work toward paying off debt as fast as you can. Get a second job or a side hustle if you have to. Put as much money as you can toward getting out from under obligations that cost you extra money.
Once your debt is paid off it’s not time to rest on your laurels. Apply all of that money toward savings. Build your savings until you have enough in an emergency fund for six months as well as an additional emergency savings for things like home and car repairs.
Throughout all of this you should also be saving 10-20% of your income for retirement.
Once you make a few small changes to your financial choices, the effects will snowball. Learn how to hack your finances with a growth mindset from the infographic below.