On this side, we choose rich every time. Am I there yet? Not quite. Have I done well for myself? Absol-motherfuckin-lutely. At this point, I am a 26-year-old dude who is in a financial situation where I feel comfortable talking about how to develop the habits needed to replicate what I have.

I do not come from money, in all honesty, I am just like you. The one thing that always set me apart is that I loved to learn and I always listened to people ahead of where I wanted to be. Doing these two things has put me in a situation where I have three checking accounts with five figures in it and a six-figure portfolio. In some cases, I got lucky but I’ll take being lucky versus being unlucky any day of the week.

If someone was at my level or below or not where I want to be, the “advice” or opinion should be in one ear out the other.

What I won’t talk about here is penny-pinching. I don’t believe in living like that. Sure, if you are in a really bad place and need to get yourself out of it, penny-pinch and get yourself back to a decent place. I am writing this in mind for the people who may have not learned about personal finance and how to set themselves apart.

Maybe you have a kid (or kids) and want to pass them along something. Maybe you are young and just want to set yourself up for the future and maybe buy a home one day.

Whatever your goal is, I hope to help people in some way shape, or form by telling you what I have done.

6 Ways You Do Not Build a Better Financial Future for Yourself

I always found it helpful to hear what not to do growing up. It gave me a clear idea of what to avoid, who not to be, and take a wise approach to the way I partially handle my finances. So if you are anything like me, here are 6 things to avoid when it comes to managing your money so you can build a better financial future for yourself and your family.

1. Taking on Accesive Debts

Sometimes, debt is unavoidable. Cars, homes, and student loans are all things that many people take out debt for. Maybe your profession calls for you to have a high education and the area you live in requires you to have a car, but that’s not really what I am talking about here when I say taking on too much. At the end of the day, always staying within your means and avoiding the lifestyle creep to keep up with the Jones is going to save you there, but that is more of an ego/insecurity thing than making bad choices.

The big issue people have is with credit cards. Credit card debt is the easiest way to destroy your financial health. Most credit cards have 20%+ interest rates on them, meaning that if you carried a balance of $5,000 over a month period and did not pay it off, the next month you would owe your provider $6,000. The next month if you carried that same balance you are taking on another 20% meaning your new balance will be $7,200.

Just over two months, your balance went up $2,200, do how dangerous this is. I am not one of those people who will sit here and say credit cards are bad because, when used right, they can be incredible.

The simplest way not to take on more credit card debt: say no to the things you cannot afford and find a way to level up your skills so you can make more money.

2. Living Above Your Means [Lacking Financial Discipline]

This one is simple. In the early days of creating wealth for you and your family, sacrifices will have to be made. You will not build a solid financial future by living above your means.

I know people, who have six-figure salaries living paycheck to paycheck due to their lack of financial discipline. Discipline, long-term goals, and short-term pain are the prices you have to pay for creating a better financial future for yourself and your family, if it was easy everyone would do it and that is why more than half of Americans cannot pay a $1,000 bill in an emergency.

3. Not Having a Budget or Building an Emergency Fund

One thing I am so happy about is that my mom taught me at a young age how to create a budget when I went off to college. It’s cool looking back an seeing the growth I have been able to see since I started doing this back in 2017. Now, if you are not someone who is a wizard on Excel or Google Sheets there are plenty of apps out today that make this part easy.

At the bare minimum, you need to know how much your income and expenses are. Bare minimum. I personally have a Google sheet that is formulated so I know how much I need in my accounts to build a cushion for myself. Just knowing what I have to shoot for to have three, six, or nine months of living expenses has been a game-changer, it constantly gives me something to shoot for.

4. You Avoid Automating Things

Apps make it so easy today to save money and invest. I have applications on my phone like Sofi and Acrons that make it super easy to automate both saving and investing in index funds. When things are on autopilot and you let them run for long enough periods you end up with a sizable amount of money pretty quickly.

Make your life easier. If you are serious about building a good financial future for yourself just put things on autopilot, you do not need to know everything about investing to start.

5. Lack of Patience

This is the easiest way to not build a solid financial future for yourself, lacking patience. It took me 7 years to get where I am today. I am still not even close to where I want to be but seven years!!!! I don’t know if it is the Gen Z in me but that feels like forever.

If you cannot focus on doing the things you need to do to protect your money over a long period of time before seeing a number you are happy with, I am sorry to break it to you, but you’re in for a rude awakening.

6. Gambling & Trading

I am all for fun and entertainment (at times) but if you are broke or not in a financial situation that you do not want to be in, why on God’s green earth are you gambling or trading? Some people can pull this off, and if you are one of those people, more power to you and no shade being thrown.

But the fact is that for the majority of people, doing these two things will not work out for you. In my early days of learning about money, I too thought I could be a trader. But I was too emotional with he money I was using (why most people suck at trading to start with) and lost way more than I ever won. Even when I make little side bets with sports or something, I always of into these situations knowing I am pretty much throwing away my hard-earned money.

The house always wins on a long enough time horizon. Stick to understanding long-term or medium-term trends if you are looking to build a good financial future for yourself, when I switched to this approach I started winning way more often.

7. Not Building Businesses or Starting a Side Hustle

Unfortunately, investing in a 401k, saving in a high-yield savings account, penny-pinching, or just putting small amounts into index funds will not set you up for an incredible financial future. You need to earn more. That is the only solution to the money problems you have.

I had to have this idea beaten into me over and over again. Everyone has a skill or has the desire (and ability) to pick up new skills. The internet is an incredible place if you are willing to put yourself out there and try. You need to be building something online, picking a side hustle, or going into a high-paying career.

Three Tips for Building a Solid Financial Future

1. Save Money & Investing [Without Taking From It for Years]

2. Avoiding Lifestyle Creep and Sticking to Your Plan & Financial Goals

3. Create Those Financial Goals Make Sure They Push You But Are Not Unattainable

You put your time into getting money. Time is something you cannot get back. It sucks that money management was not something taught to us as kids being that it is an essential skill in today’s world. Unfortunately, our government printed 40% of the money that has ever existed in human history over the past 4 years and caused a wave of inflation that many people were not prepared for.

The rich got richer than they have ever been and it was simple economics. It was easy for me to see because I have a degree in economics but for the majority of people only saw the wave of inflation hit when they saw the bills in front of them.

Disclaimer: None of this should be deemed financial or legal advice. This content is for educational purposes only and should be viewed as such. This article is written from personal experience that may not be applicable to all parties. Digital Whale Club will not give financial advice.