Are you struggling to get by and living paycheck to paycheck? Do you feel like you are trapped in a cubicle and you can’t figure out how to push yourself from that trap? Or, do you have a stable source of income but you are overwhelmed by your financial duties and expenses? Are you desperate to achieve financial freedom?
This was my situation six years ago, I was struggling to get ahead and I had no idea how to manage my finances and save money. Setting five percent of my salary was not enough. I was struggling to meet my needs and I thought I will never reach financial freedom. I was wrong because there are strategies that will make you financially independent. You just have to find them and implement them into your life. That is the sole purpose of this article, to share, increase awareness, and help you create your own road map to financial freedom.
In this article, you’ll learn
- winning combinations to gaining financial freedom
- Actionable advice to generate enough wealth and retire sooner
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Table of Contents
1. To achieve financial freedom, you have to defy social norms
Every journey has a starting point. May it be learning a language, career, travels, or living abroad. On the path to financial freedom, defying social norms is the starting point. Having the right mindset and changing your perceptions about money is the key to invite abundance to your life. Pay attention to the way you talk about money. Do you talk negatively? If yes, it’s time to start using positive language and present tense towards it. What limiting beliefs did you learn from your family, friends, and people around you? Create a distance from these beliefs because they are not facts. Replace them with new empowering money beliefs.
My culture has molded me to believe that Money is evil. Wanting more money equals greediness but Grant Sabatier taught me to stop labeling money as good or bad, right or wrong. You assign meaning to it. Treat money as a tool to use in exchange for something. It is a tool you can use to generate more wealth. And you can start using money to Its’ full potential. It is not a finite resource to worry about. Believe in the infinite resources of money and if you do your job then it will effortlessly flow to you. You are a badass at making money have taught me to master my money mindset. The book is a gem and everyone is recommending it.
2. Goal setting and detailed planning are the basis to achieve financial freedom
Whenever I hear success stories from people, I notice one thing. They know the exact thing they want to achieve and do. They have a clear understanding of what they’re prepared to invest and sacrifice to accomplish their money goals. So choose and write down your magic number. How much money do you want to make and save for the month or year? Stretch the number but you should still feel that it’s doable. Map out your detailed plan on how to achieve your money goals. Map out dollar by dollar what will you spend money on. And remember:
Spend your money only on the things you value, spend it from a place of joy, not scarcity.
Your desire to generate enough wealth is anchored deeply on your thoughts, words, actions, and values. Write your affirmations about money. Choose a positive language and make it a habit to read them aloud once or twice a day. There is energy on money. If you believe in it, it will start rolling in. Influence yourself by thinking very specific and purposeful thoughts. In this way, you are giving a command to your subconscious and increase your own belief in yourself.
Create a game plan. Create specific action plans to hit your income goal. Think of someone who makes a lot of money and get inspiration from him. How does he operate to make earning such a breeze? Step outside of your comfort zone and make that magic number you wrote. It’s the only way to financial freedom.
RELATED POST: HOW TO ATTRACT MONEY TO YOUR LIFE
3. Learned how to cut your expenses and adjust your lifestyle accordingly
If your expenses are overflowing, you’ll end up fucked one day down the road, even when you have a stable or high source of income. The only way to saving money is to cut your expenses and adjust your lifestyle accordingly. This is easier said than done, but small attempts will add up and will pave your way to financial freedom.
Start with the large costs to optimize your saving. This is my biggest secret of how I can save 900 dollars a month. I had to identify and target my big three. They were housing, bills, and food. I moved to a more affordable apartment, cut my bills and food expenses. Amazon offers a discount for repeat orders. I take advantage of this. I stick to my grocery list and I stick to water, instead of soft drinks every time I eat out.
Procrastination is the biggest enemy when you’re making a big change in your life. In your journey to financial freedom, there will be distractions and you will lose track of your goal. But if you have a burning desire to free yourself from financial worries, you’ll stay focus on your goal. This can mean saying no often to people. Sacrifice those comfortable weekends. Say no to invitations from friends and families. Keep your eyes on the prize and it will be worth it in the long run.
RELATED POST: THINGS TO STOP BUYING TO SAVE MORE MONEY
4. Learn how to do Envelope Budgeting system and increase your wealth
Start with calculating your net worth for the month. Your net worth is all your income sources. Deduct your fixed expenses like bills and rent. Decide how to spend the amount left with budget categories. Examples of categories are groceries, entertainment, emergency fund or household items. The idea is to create envelopes and stuff them with cash. Use cash only. Once you run out of cash from that envelope, you have met your budget for that category and for that period. Try not to borrow money from other envelopes. Stick to not spend any more in that category until your next payday.
Advantages of envelope budgeting system:
- It teaches you discipline
- It is a simple and effective system
- Less impulse purchase and wasteful spending
- Your budget becomes tangible
5. To work toward your financial freedom, change the way you value your purchase
This means you have to work out how much of your work-time you’re trading every time you spend money. Calculate your hourly rate and use it to trade for every purchase you make. How many hours cost your new outfit or vacation? How many hours of work do you need to do to buy a concert or movie tickets? What is the true cost when you eat out?
I used to be an impulsive and emotional buyer. When I go shopping, I buy the first outfit that I like. When I’m happy, I buy things to celebrate my emotion. When I’m sad or stressed, shopping is my outlet to relax and calm myself. But since I learned the concept of trading your work life, it helped me reduce my impulse and emotional buying. Once you shift your mindset to seeing items of hours of work time, they will begin to look expensive. You will understand the true cost of your purchase and it is a good way to evaluate if its worth it or not.
RELATED POST: 15 WAYS TO SAVE AND MAKE MORE MONEY
6. Make multiple income streams to reach financial freedom and retire sooner
There are a lot of opportunities that support our financial goals, we just have to look for them. Aside from your 8-hour job, how else can you generate income? What side hustles can you do? Diversify your income and set up side businesses, may it be big or small.
Evaluate your skills. What are you good at? What can you offer? What problems can you solve? If you are good at designing, I recommend Canva pro. Make your own digital products and sell them. What service can you offer? Once you listed some, build a website on siteground where you can showcase your work and services.
A good thing to look at is your investment. Only when I reached the age of 26, I felt the need of investing my money. Look for long-term investment. Philam Life does a good job of that. It can take care of your future and take away your financial worries when you turn 40.
7. Continue learning about money
Learning more about money and financial strategies, what works and what doesn’t work, is essential in achieving financial freedom. Continue to learn throughout your journey, expand knowledge, and acquire experiences. Try new and different strategies or systems that work now and then because getting complacent and getting stuck in your comfort zone is the worst enemy here. Your income grows as much as you grow.
Read books and blogs that talk about money. Find a supportive community to discuss financial strategies. Swap notes with friends and acquires new knowledge. Take Financial classes.
There are a lot of resources online. Try Skillshare or YouTube. Blinkist is my powerful tool for growth and learning not just about finances but also personal development. There are so many books out there but too little time to read. Blinkist is the solution for this. With over 4,000 summaries of books in its libraries, you can find resources to enhance your knowledge of finances.
BEFORE YOU GO
You made it to the end of the blog. Congratulations. Celebrate because from now on you will start to feel the dollars rolling in. Fully drink in with the things mentioned in this blog post and put it into practice because knowledge isn’t power, Action is.
Stay focus on your goal and believe that your focus will expand. Pay attention to how you talk about money. Choose positive language and track every single dollar that comes in and comes out.
I keep on starting over and over again to achieve financial freedom. Ilang beses ako nag try to save and invest pero lagi nagffail. That’s how I realize na yung problem ko is yung spending habit ko. Discipline talaga kelangan eh and I am so happy to come across this post and read about achieving financial freedom ’cause now, I feel like im taking on the right path.