When it comes to finances, being stress free doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intentional work. One of the best approaches you can take is to try to improve the way in which you approach all things financial, if you are not currently satisfied. Think about any relationship, especially a romantic one. It gets better as each party gets to know and understand the other. Happiness becomes a reality when people are on the same wave. I recommend applying the same mindset to finances. Money will not get to know you back, but surely, understanding the proper management of money will certainly avoid you stress in that area. In today’s article, we will look at a few powerful ways in which you might be able to improve your relationship towards money, so that you can be sure that you enjoy the many benefits that derive from it.
Learn About Money
First, you will find that it makes a surprising difference to how you approach money if you first learn how money operates and the implications of its use in different situations. For instance, understanding how credit works and its impact on your life will help you make the right decisions when it comes to lending. On a more basic level, consider check writing. It baffles me that so many millennials today have no earthly clue about how to read, write or cash a check. If you were trying to improve your appreciation of anything else, you would not expect to be able to do so without first learning about it to some degree, and the same is true of money. You should make a point of learning as much as you can about money – how it works, how it functions in different areas, and so on. All of this will accumulate, and you will then find it easier to appreciate how to make more of it and improve your understanding of it in general. The more you learn about money (whether that means reading up on loans, investments, debt or something as basic as the difference between the US Dollar and the Canadian Dollar) the more you will be comfortable handling yours.
Consider Your Mindset
Consider how you tend to think about money, and after learning more about it, evaluate if some change in mindset is necessary. Unless you’ve had some good education about how to handle money from your parents and from your education, I would guess that in most cases, some improvement would make a huge difference. Trust me, I worked in banking and an overwhelming portion of the population has a wrecking mindset about money management.
Stay Positive
You’ve heard it thousands of times. Being positive and looking for the best helps you to find the opportunities where there seems to be none. It is natural to allow yourself to become overly worried or negative, and there might be very good reasons. When you are in debt, struggling to make ends meet and working towards a goal that seems to far, giving up comes to thought. But if you find a way to stay positive, I have found that you become more creative and eventually, you will experience a positive change in your wallet. I’ve been there. One of the best advice that I’ve ever received about money is to keep my ego in check and be willing to get perspective from someone who is truly doing well. Mentorship goes a long way and when you establish a trusting relationship with an individual who can guide you in better money management and help you stay positive, the future then become much brighter.
I hope these simple tips are tools that you use to improve your ‘relationship’ with money. That is the goal of moneysmartmillennials.com.
Money-Smart Millennials 