Today is Memorial Day in the United States, and I thought what better day than today to talk about financial freedom. I hope everyone enjoys their day, remembers the true meaning of Memorial Day, and I hope you learn a little (hopefully a lot) about reaching financial freedom from the articles I pulled together.
In case you don’t know what financial freedom is… Financial freedom is when you are able to live life without constantly worrying about money. It’s when you feel comfortable enough to follow your passion instead of thinking about the income you are bringing in. It allows you to not stress about an unexpected expense because you have an emergency fund.
Financial freedom isn’t about how much money you make. It’s about how much you save, your financial habits, your financial goals, and more.
The list goes on and on.
Here are my 10 favorite posts that will help you reach financial freedom.
1. Create a budget.
The average family carries a lot of financial stress. Most people have student loans, credit card debt, a mortgage, car loans, and sometimes other forms of debt. However, not many people have a budget.
According to a survey done by Gallup, 68% of households in the U.S. do not prepare a budget.
Budgeting can help you take control of your financial life, which can help reduce stress and let you reach your dreams.
Read more at The Complete Budgeting Guide: How To Create A Budget That Works.
2. Pay off debt to reach financial freedom.
Paying off your debt can lessen your stress levels, allow you to have more money to put towards something else (such as retirement), stop paying interest fees, and more.
Read more at How To Eliminate Your Debt.
3. Start investing.
I always say the first thing you need to do if you want to start investing is to just jump in. However, what if you don’t even know how to start investing?
If you are like many out there, you may not know how to start investing your money.
Investing your money can be a scary, stressful, and overwhelming topic to tackle. You want to invest so that you can:
- Retire one day
- Prepare for unexpected events in the future
- Allow your money to grow over time
Read more at The 6 Steps To Take To Invest Your First Dollar – Yes, It’s Really This Easy!
4. Make more money to reach financial freedom.
Here on Making Sense of Cents, I discuss extra income, side hustles, side income, and how to make money online a lot. I believe that earning extra income can completely change your life in a positive way. You can stop living paycheck to paycheck, pay off your debt, and more all by earning extra money.
In fact, because of extra income and my blog, I was able to pay off $38,000 in student loans within 7 months, I was able to leave my day job in order to pursue my passion, travel full-time, and more!
Read more at Hundreds of Ways To Make Extra Money.
5. Find ways to save more money.
Finding ways to save more money may allow you to pay off your debt a little faster, improve your financial habits, help you reach your dream sooner, and more.
Read more at 30+ Ways To Save Money Each Month.
6. Don’t keep up with the Joneses.
Whether you are five years old and want that new toy everyone is playing with, or if you are 50 years old and are feeling the need to upgrade your house, car, etc., everyone has experienced wanting to keep up with someone else.
The problem with this is that keeping up with the Joneses can actually make you broke.
When trying to keep up with the Joneses, you might spend money you do not have. You might put expenses on credit cards to (in a pretend world) “afford” things. You might buy things that you do not care about. The problems can go on and on.
This can then lead to an excessive amount of debt and potentially set someone back years with their financial goals, if not decades.
Read more at Why Keeping Up With The Joneses Will Make You Broke.
7. Have regular family money meetings.
Talking about money and conducting regular budget meetings is an important task for every family and serious relationship to take part in. A family who has regular money talks and budget meetings is more likely to be financially successful and happier than a family that doesn’t.
Regular money meetings can lead to better communication between family members, a more unified financial goal, family members being more involved and motivated, and more.
Read more at Family Budget Meetings – Yes, You Need To Have Them.
8. Have an emergency fund.
An emergency fund is something I believe everyone should have. However, according to a report by Bankrate.com, 26% of Americans have no emergency fund whatsoever.
According to this same report, only 40% of families have enough in savings to cover three months of expenses, with an even lower percentage having the recommended six months worth of savings.
This is frightening to me, as having an emergency fund can greatly help you get through tough parts in life.
An emergency fund can help you if you lose your job, if your hours are cut back, if you have an unexpected expense, and so on.
Read more at Everything You Need To Know About Emergency Funds.
9. Improve your life.
Whether we are talking about changing your financial situation or changing your lifestyle, there are many ways to start making changes in your life so you can start living the life you want. After all, in order to reach financial freedom, you will most likely have to make some changes.
Read more at How To Change Your Life And Live Your Dream Today.
10. Stay motivated to reach financial freedom.
Even with how much I love saving money, every now and then it becomes easy to get unmotivated and want to SPEND ALL THE MONEY!
I’m sure I’m not alone either.
While many choose to live a frugal life, it’s not always easy. Some have large amounts of debt to pay off, others find it hard to stick to a budget, and more.
Finding financial motivators will help you continue to work hard towards your goal, even when it seems impossible. Without motivation, one might give up on a financial goal quite easily. This is why it’s so important to learn how to stay motivated.
Read more at Paying Off Debt And Budgeting: Tricks For Staying Motivated.
What does financial freedom mean to you? Have you reached financial freedom?
Jim Wang says
How much you make is sometimes very hard to influence, at least in the short term, so focusing on how much you’re saving is often the most prudent step. You can change that pretty quickly whereas earning more takes some time.
Today is a great time to ponder the future as we remember the past.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Yes, for sure!
DNN says
This is very true, Jim. It’s all about the end financial result when striving for excellence to save money and making every penny work for you.
Kyle Healey says
Good point Jim, but saving money doesn’t grant you financial freedom. Earning enough to never worry about it is true financial freedom.
How free are you if you’re constantly worried about squirreling away more money?
The Green Swan says
Great tips to always keep in mind. My wife and I make sure to have regular conversations about our finances so we’re both on the same page. If there are big decisions to make we always discuss together before making any changes.
The Green Swan
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Good job!
Amanda says
Great article Michelle!
Such great advice! The emergency fund thing is such an important step! However my goal is to have 3 months worth of expenses saved up, this would require us to have around $9,000 in savings just for this purpose. Obviously this isn’t super easy right now. Making more money, cutting back when able, and not keeping up with the Joneses are how we plan to gain our financial freedom.
Happy Memorial Day!
Amanda
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thank you! Good luck with your goal 🙂
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thank you, Rachel!
Linda says
These are all really great tips and I do these every day. However, one thing I’m struggling with is the time it will take to reach FI. It needs to come sooner! I think we have 10-15 more years before we can FIRE, and I’m getting impatient. I probably just need to work on making more money so we can reach FIRE earlier!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Yes! Remember to enjoy life as well 🙂 FI will come!
divorcedff says
Hi, Great post you have there.I’m a divorced dad that seek to get to financial freedom soon even with paying alimony, it is hard but I will get there!! , I have debt that he is still very high, but I will try to lower it.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks!
DNN says
I’ve been reading more and more on building finances online through connecting with people meaningfully and creating quality content. Most importantly, it is essential for every to not care about keeping up with the joneses means nothing later on.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Yes!
Athena says
Loved this post!
It’s been very admirable to watch you achieve financial freedom over the years! Now that I am finally out of school, I will be channeling your tips to start paying back my student loan debt ASAP. I also need to start saving again for retirement so I am not eating cat food with my cat!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks Athena!
Lindsey says
These are all great tips. Honestly the best thing we ever did was begin tracking our expenses. It helped us realize where our money was going.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Yes, same here!
Lloyd Phillips says
Completely agree with all of these, budgeting being the number one priority for anyone in my opinion.
I can’t wait to get to the point where I’m financially free. Another great article Michelle!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thank you 🙂
Eric Bowlin says
The most important part of it all is to invest in income producing assets. That income helps you reduce debts, save more, earn more, etc.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
What are you invested in?
Eric Bowlin says
I personally love real estate, though there are more ways than one to achieve that goal.
Stefanie O'Connell says
I’m all about number 4! Making more has made the biggest impact in bringing me toward financial freedom (though yes, it can take longer than some of the strategies like cutting your expenses that you can benefit from immediately)
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
YESSS!
Monica@wellideclare says
Financial freedom would bring a collective sigh of relief for most people. I can’t wait to get there! Today, I’m struggling with #10. I want ALL.THE.THINGS. I’m going back to read your article on staying motivated. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom here!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Welcome 🙂
Norman says
This is all great advice! Equally important, resources for how to do all the things you mentioned are readily available online. We live in a time when almost everyone can work towards financial freedom.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks!
giulia says
GGreat pos, I am totally agree when I understood that was time to think about future and retirement I started to understand the importance of budget and emergency fnd, plus in this moment I have some personal and financial goal to achieve:D
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks! What goals are you trying to achieve right now?
Natalie @ Financegirl says
I love everything about this post! It’s all true!! I am trying to get out of student loan debt, and the best way I know how to do that is to make more money, which is why I’m blogging and freelance writing.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks! And yes!
Andrew @ DebtFreedomJourney says
It’s also helpful to set manageable money goals and to focus on just one or two things at a time. I find that to be especially important when trying to pay off debt–make that your sole mission and then once it’s gone, you can focus on wealth building by investing.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Yes, definitely!
Sophia says
I’ve followed your blog for a while and I really appreciate your advice. We’re looking at paying off our debt and getting our financial house in order so we can retire. I wish I could have had someone like you to show me the way back when I was just out of school. I’m going to share this with my teenage children. Thanks!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Welcome 🙂
Elizabeth says
I agree that having an emergency fund is such a weight lifted. Now I just need to work on the investing part….
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Thanks!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
One thing I haven’t been focusing on that I should have been is the “long game.” Too many people are focused on this week, this month, or even this year. But what are you building towards? What can you work towards this year that will pay off in 5 years? There’s a huge opportunity to focus on the long game because so many are focused on the short game.
Colleen B. says
Where do you announce the winners of your giveaways?
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
I email the winners directly, but I don’t share their information because Rafflecopter usually lists the first name, last name, and photo, and I think that breaches privacy.
Colleen B. says
Could I have a list of winners?
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
If you send me an email, I can share their first names with you. Does that work?
Julie @ Millennial Boss says
I wish I could keep my family financial conversations to just one meeting per month! I love talking about finance stuff!! My poor fiance is not as into it as me though. 🙂
Crystal Walker says
I love your info and I can understand , my husband and I are on very fixed income and we have to stay by it or be in trouble with our finances but we trust in the Lord to help us stay positive and so we go on
ZJ Thorne says
Freedom will mean not having to work for others. I will then only work at my LLC working for clients I care about. I will sleep enough. Eat well, and have time for the people I love,
Jane Allen says
I found that tip on having family financial meetings useful. I never thought of that before now. I’m so glad I read this article. Now, I can implement that tip with family and see how it goes.
Morgan says
Wow, this is awesome! Building a good financial foundation for yourself and getting rid of debt is really difficult but it can be done! Thanks so much for sharing your tips! Enjoyed reading this!
Pauline Linares says
Love the tips, thanks!
sanaa says
😇😇😇😇
Betsy Barnes says
To me, financial freedom would be having a good retirement savings and to have an emergency savings, not having to worry about day to day expenses. 🙂
Sharon Braswell says
Thank you for the great tips. I have to have a budget because I am on a limited disability income! I’m also constantly finding ways to save or cut back and I feel SO great when I do. I also have a few little ways to make extra money that go in to an emergency fund that is a must for me!
DNN says
The greatest financial freedom is working for yourself. And keeping the motivation going after your employer wrongfully got you fired.