Black Family Green

Tag: money management

  • Young Adult Money Management

    Young Adult Money Management

    Young Adult money management can feel like an impossible task, but with some guidance, you don’t have to feel overwhelmed. To get started on your journey to better money management, you might want to start with a few items that will make the process easier to organize.

    Things to help you or your young adult get started:

    BUDGET PLANNER for tracking your expenses and organizing your accounts

    POCKET PLANNER for those who like to keep their plans close at all times

    ERASABLE PENS or pencils so you’re always prepared

    Recently, I spoke to a family friend and congratulated him on his impending graduation from welding school. 

    I decided to send him a gift by cash app upon graduation. Before I did, I wondered if he had received any training in money management as a young adult. Young adult money management is a significant consideration when leaving high school or college and entering the workforce.

    I did not doubt that he would be prepared to do the work. But I wondered if he was ready for the many financial decisions that would come his way. 

    I have a real soft spot for young adults and money management. At that age, I was very naive about managing my money. I had big ideas about life after college and how much money I would make one day.

    After we graduated and started a young family, my husband and I struggled to stretch our humble first salaries. I worked for a non-profit, and he was a teacher. We had a lot of love but a minimal concept of a financial future. Moreover, we didn’t know how to use our finances to set up our future. 

    We spent the money on the present. We knew we had to work, pay our bills, and provide for our family’s immediate needs.

    Neither of us had been taught money management at home, high school, or college. We did not have a long-term financial plan or sound economic strategies to implement. Like many young adults today, we were left to our devices and made many mistakes.

    Money Questions for Young Adults Money Management

    I am always amazed at the raw potential in the lives of the young people I know. They are talented, driven, and savvy.

    Part of helping them meet their incredible potential is helping them plan and prepare for their financial well-being. 

    Perhaps you’re a young adult new to the working world or know young adults new to the labor market.

    If so, here are some good questions to ask to get started on sound financial grounds.

    1. Do you have a cash management account like checking, savings, or both?
    2. Do you know how much money you gross and net and the difference between the two?
    3. Do you know how much you spend daily, weekly, or monthly?
    4. Do you have a plan for your money before you get it?
    5. Are you putting money away for an emergency?
    6. Are you investing in your future?
    7. What kind of lifestyle do you want for yourself and your family?
    8. Do you know how much that lifestyle costs?

    Purpose of the Financial Plan for Young Adults Money Management

    Grocery, gas, and energy costs continue to rise. Many young adults also have to negotiate the price of daycare and automobile needs. Inflation affects us all at any age; young people are being hit on all sides.  

    Having a sound financial plan from a young age makes life easier. On the other hand, having no plan makes many matters more complicated.

    Difficulties (even calamities) are a part of life. They are even worse when they strike, and you’re living paycheck to paycheck.

    Many of those difficulties occurred in our early married lives, forcing us to change how we did things.

    Write It Down! 

    Young adult money management is a matter of learning good financial habits. One habit that helps prepare for all contingencies is to begin writing everything down simply. 

    Several excellent budgeting and planning apps exist, but pencil and paper are great ways to start. Then, gradually move to other methods if you want to.  

    Things to write down for your new habit of planning:

    1. Write down your net pay per pay period.
    2. Write down your expenses and leave space for the miscellaneous or unexpected. 
    3. Write down how much you will pay yourself first.
    4. Write down how much you will donate or give away.
    5. Write down specific goals you may have or priorities that need to happen during the pay period.

    Now that you have an action plan, remember that this is the starting point. You may need to adjust or make cuts or reductions to your budget, and that’s okay. Think about what you need first, the absolute necessities, before what you want. 

    If you would still like to try a cash management app, one you might consider can be found at nerdwallet.com. This app offers a free account for managing your money and access to various articles on money management. While I have no sponsorship from NerdWallet, I often visit their site for good articles and resources.

    Action Steps and items that you can buy to help Better Young Adult Money Management starts here:

    1. Start your budget planning today

    2. Learn financial literacy regularly, especially if you have children

    3. If you want to learn about emergency funds, the article link here may interest you: https://blackfamilygreen.com/financial-record-keeping-how-to-organize/


  • 5 Ways to Manage Financial Procrastination

    5 Ways to Manage Financial Procrastination

    Did you know that financial procrastination is a personal goal-stealer?

    Do you often have countless plans to improve different life areas and circumstances? Yet, you constantly stall when it’s time to make money moves. Working to move forward on overcoming financial procrastination is doable. I had to find ways to manage my behaviors to be financially healthy.

    It was time to consider what to edit from my surroundings or circle of influence.

    Today, I was thinking about things I must do to fine-tune my family’s financial plan for the year. I had only one problem: I couldn’t stop playing a game I had downloaded onto my iPhone. Those bobbles and whistles had me captivated, hahaha! I told myself I would quit when I lost the last coin.

    But I keep gaining coins because I don’t lose(positive self-talk only). Finally, I decided to cut it off cold turkey and delete the app from my phone instead of allowing it to drain my time and energy—time and energy that I could use working on the family budget.

    Sometimes, we want to forget everything for a moment and relax or distract ourselves from those things that need our attention. Let’s face it: sometimes, that is what we need to keep our sanity intact.

    However, when we procrastinate on financial upkeep, we can find ourselves in a world of difficulty. Take, for instance, the act of overlooking or neglecting financial obligations, whether they are necessity items and services or impulse drags on our finances. Placing bills on the back burner, letting the mail pile up, or simply refusing to acknowledge that things need attention can result from many dynamics in your life. Still, the focus of this article isn’t to figure those things out but instead to make prioritizing your finances more doable.

    Take things in small bites. That’s all! Do enough to be productive while not turning the task into a whole gallery of things to do.

    5 Ways To Manage Financial Procrastination: Some of the things I choose to do to limit my stress and anxiety and to curb procrastinating tendencies over finances are:

    1. Take 5-10 minutes to check the budget 1-2 times weekly to ensure we are on track. If you don’t have a template, no worries; use pencil and paper and write it down. I did this for years before converting to doing it digitally. If you would rather have an online tool, there are many options, such as Nerd Wallet’s free budget tool.


    2. Tweak the budget if needed and refuse to feel wrong about doing so. Listen, budgets are living plans open to change as you see fit. Don’t let it stress if you need to adjust, add, or delete items from your plan. It doesn’t have to be perfect; in truth, nothing is. I see it as an attempt to organize my financial thoughts by providing my family with a roadmap or financial GPS.


    3. Check credit accounts once a week to ensure that there are no fraudulent transactions. One thing that helps here is setting up credit account alerts. You can set threshold amounts for spending notifications to be sent immediately to your phone or email. This feature enabled me to recognize fraudulent activity on one of my accounts in the middle of the night. I could contact the credit company and protect my credit right away.


    4. Write down what I want to give more time and attention to for good financial health. A friend uses a vision board to help her achieve her financial goals. This is great for people who prefer visual cues to stay on task. You can also use the notes feature on your phone to jot down your ideas for financial health. I set goals in notes and come back and visit them to see how I have succeeded or what I need to work on.


    5. Give yourself some grace. Managing your money can be daunting when you incorporate everything your needs, obligations, and desires entail. I’m constantly reminded of a quote by Aristotle that I love: “Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit”. This helps me to fine-tune my family’s financial plan better and question my motives for spending, saving, and investing responsibly as a steward of my finances.

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