Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Tip 1 – Maintain an Income
• Tip 2 – Control Spending
• Tip 3 – Avoid Debt
• Tip 4 – Develop The Right Habits
• About Mike Greco MBA

Introduction

Whether you’re just starting on a personal financial journey or nearing retirement, it is never too late to improve your finances – and – achieve personal financial success. All journeys, including the financial journey, start with baby steps. Here are three baby steps to develop the habits you need to achieve your financial and life goals – maintain an income, control spending, and avoid debt.

Tip 1 – Maintain an Income

One of the most critical aspects of achieving personal finance success is having an income and climbing the income ladder. Without a source of income, you really can’t build your finances. Having and maintaining your income is essential to your financial success journey. I recommend getting a career you enjoy – however, even if you don’t enjoy your current job, keep at it until you find something better – to maintain your income.

You don’t have to LOVE your job, but life is much more enjoyable if you love how you earn an income. Keep searching for the perfect role, and use your current job for income and experience while sharpening your skills. You never know when the skills and relationships you build today will help you find your next role! So, maintaining your income and working hard is my first tip to achieving personal financial success.

Tip 2 – Control Spending

Another critical tip to achieving personal financial success is to control your spending. This applies to people making any income. Just because you have a six-figure salary doesn’t mean you can spend recklessly. The idea is straightforward – always spend less than your take-home income as a general rule. One way to ensure you’re not over spending is to develop a zero-based budget, knowing every cent of income is budgeted for something – including savings and debt repayment. Doing this ensures all your monthly income goes where you want it, and you build your emergency fund, investment accounts, or pay down debt.

Tip 3 – Avoid Debt

The final tip to achieving personal financial success is to avoid debt almost entirely. While ideally, you can avoid all debt, most people cannot avoid paying rent or mortgage. Don’t feel bad if you’re paying down a fixed-rate mortgage on your residence if you have a mortgage. Make sure you put 20% down minimum on the mortgage and avoid any adjustable-rate mortgage (like ARMs) products – otherwise, keep renting.

As for any other forms of debt, such as credit cards and personal loans, avoid them. If you have credit cards, pay them off using the snowball method. You will never achieve personal financial success if you’re trapped by debt. When you want to buy that new car and finance it, consider repairing your old car. If you want to take that expensive vacation but can’t afford it, consider some staycation options. When trapped by debt, you cannot follow your dreams and change your career effortlessly.

I’ve changed my career several times and finally settled on a career I love. I wouldn’t have been able to make some of those career changes with debt. When I lived paycheck to paycheck, it was not fun – sending an entire paycheck to a long list of creditors. So if you have debt and uncontrolled spending, aggressively start paying the debt off – and change course.

Tip 4 – Develop The Right Habits

Once you are debt-free, you will feel much better. Without debt weighing you down, you will be well on your way to developing the proper habits to achieve personal financial success by maintaining your income, controlling your spending, and avoiding unnecessary debt.

Remember, the journey to achieving personal financial success can be difficult. You will learn a lot along the way. If you need help, consider hiring a Personal Financial Coach to guide and support you.

Read my blog post – Benefits of Working with a Financial Coach – for information on the benefits of having someone in your corner who is not trying to sell you a financial product.

About Mike Greco MBA

Mike Greco MBA is a business, finance, and technology website.

Learn more about site founder Mike Greco and his recent eBook – The Debt Free Journey.

Mike is an AI enthusiast and publisher of AI Insights, a LinkedIn Newsletter.

Contact Mike using the form below.