These helpful financial strategies are great for millennials

Being a millennial isn’t always easy in today’s economic climate. Low wages and the expensive cost of living don’t really make life easy for many millennials. Besides, it is now more and more difficult to make a living with just one job, so people tend to need more and more other sources of income. Still, there are tips you can follow to be more secure financially and to save some money.

1. Create a monthly budget plan

First of all, it is important to have a general overview of your finances. First, you should pay attention to how much you have to spend every month, which includes mostly expenses such as rent, electricity, water, insurance, food, cell phone bills, etc. They are expenses that are necessary for our survival, which therefore means you cannot avoid them. In some cases, it could be worth it to make comparisons (between electricity and cell phone providers for instance) in order to get the best deal possible and to change providers if you can. 

You can also save money by checking your ongoing subscriptions and getting rid of those you don’t really need. For instance, you can sometimes get a trial subscription and forget to cancel it while you only wanted to use it for a short amount of time. A budget plan will therefore help you summarize all your income and expenses, and to cut costs where you can. And if you don’t want to work with Excel or budget books, you can also use apps such as Savings 2 or Weekly Budget. 

2. Follow the 50-30-20 rule

If you need an even easier budget rule to remember, you can also use a strategy that will help you achieve financial goals and explain how your “spending costs” should be divided in percentage terms. According to the rule, people should spend 50% of their income on monthly fixed expenses, 30% on personal fun activities, such as shopping, dining out or traveling, and 20% on investments and savings. When spending on fun activities, you should also avoid impulsive buying, especially when shopping. Do not rush to buy the latest dress or pair of sneakers, and make sure you actually really need them.

Of course, the 50-30-20 rule cannot be followed by everyone since some of us end up spending more than 50% of our income on our rent, which can be really expensive. That is why you should create your own personal budget rule that perfectly suits you. And even if it seems little, if you make sure to put some money aside every month, you will always manage to achieve something in the long run and at least to have an emergency fund for rainy days. Besides, if you are looking for the perfect investment strategy, a good financial advisor can also be really helpful and even create a portfolio for you in order to match all your needs.

3. Talk about your finances

Finally, even if it is a taboo in many cultures, talking about money with friends or acquaintances does not hurt and can sometimes be really helpful. Talking openly over a glass of wine and exchanging ideas about financial strategies or earnings could help you see better and even give you ideas. Speaking with your colleagues for instance could give you an idea of how much you are actually worth on the job market given your qualifications and experience, and therefore help you negotiate better during job interviews.

Another strategy is to invest in yourself, to train and learn about certain computer software or language skills for instance, which could be particularly attractive given the job market and get you an even better income.