11 Invaluable Resources to Kickstart Your Financial Freedom TODAY!

Summer is officially in full swing, and although the season is a wonderful, relaxing time, it’s also an expensive season for many, as numerous people travel and enjoy pricey vacations. Before enjoying the summer sun this season, it’s important to ensure that your finances are in order and that you’re on the right track to obtaining financial freedom. 

You’re likely aware of many websites, books, and online courses for personal finances, and although many of these resources are valuable, it can be challenging to find the best available tools among the seemingly-endless options. That’s why we’re here to deliver you 11 exceptional resources that can assist you in the different areas of your financial life including your financial literacy, budgeting, debt management, investing, saving, and more. Use these helpful resources to help you on your financial journey!

Learn How to Become Financially Independent with The Penny Hoarder and Money Under 30

One of the most overlooked aspects of accumulating wealth and securing financial freedom is learning more about money and personal finances. When you invest the time to grow in your financial literacy, you’ll be able to make smarter financial decisions, and learning more will also help you navigate shifting markets and the evolving economy. 

You can get started today with the invaluable online resources The Penny Hoarder and Money Under 30. The Penny Hoarder is a personal finance brand that educates the public about money and the economy so that individuals can make smarter financial decisions. 

The website posts valuable daily articles about budgeting, retirement savings, investing, choosing the right bank accounts, and much more. This resource also features free courses for enhancing financial literacy called The Penny Hoarder Academy. 

Money Under 30 offers similar articles and resources to The Penny Hoarder, but the site specializes in educating young adults. 

David Weliver started the website in 2006, and in its infancy, the resource mostly discussed Weliver’s personal financial journey and how he overcame $80,000 in debt in only three years. 

Although the website primarily aims to assist younger adults, anyone can learn from their valuable articles that cover personal finance concepts and actionable advice for accumulating wealth. 

In addition to these two awesome and free resources, you can improve your financial education by checking out other articles on Greatness.com. 

Master Your Money Through Your Mindset and The Millionaire Morning 

If you’re a regular reader of Greatness.com, you may be aware that an important part of personal finances is money mindset. Your money mindset is essentially your overall beliefs and relationship with money. 

Those with a negative money mindset may live in fear about not having enough wealth, or they may even despise money entirely. 

If you live in fear around your money, you may struggle to use it. Although being frugal at times will be helpful on your journey to building your savings, it’s important not to allow your saving habits to become toxic and control your life. Those with this mindset may also struggle to act charitably by giving away money or possessions, even when they have an overabundance. 

When you have a positive money mindset, you can harbor optimism around your wealth. You can develop confidence in your ability to manage money and allow it to bring more joy into your life. 

You can strengthen your money mindset through positive affirmations, practicing gratitude, and creating actionable goals and habits surrounding your personal finances. 

But what habits should you adopt to obtain financial success?

You can learn all about these habits in The Millionaire Morning by Lewis Howes. In this booklet, Lewis covers routines you can start today that will help you enhance your health, mindset, and financial abundance, all of which are critical components of enjoying life while moving toward financial freedom. 

Some of the topics that Lewis covers in the booklet include essential daily habits, overcoming limiting beliefs around your money, and creating a master plan for accomplishing your financial goals. 

Using the 50/30/20 Budget Rule with Simplifi and PocketGuard

Budgeting is an absolutely critical part of obtaining financial freedom because it allows you to have more control over your wealth. When you begin budgeting, you’ll see where your money goes each month, how much you save, and other essential insights into your personal finances.

A great place to start with your budget is the 50/30/20 rule. This means you spend 50% of your monthly income on necessities — housing, utilities, insurance, and groceries — 30% on non-essential expenses — eating out, entertainment, and vacations — and 20% on your savings and debt. 

Once you master the 50/30/20 rule or another introductory budget strategy, you can craft your budget to fit your unique lifestyle and financial goals. For example, you might be in the middle of taking on an aggressive strategy for overcoming student loans, meaning that you would allocate a greater percentage toward your savings and debt category. 

Although most are aware of the tremendous financial benefits of budgeting, getting started can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, you can use two highly affordable tools to get started: Simplifi and PocketGuard.

Simplifi is a powerful and customizable app designed by Quicken Inc. that allows you to budget and track your expenses with ease. Sometimes, the most challenging part of budgeting is getting organized and tracking day-to-day spending. Simplifi connects to your bank account, credit card accounts, loans, and investments so that you can access your cash flow and ensure that you don’t go over budget. You can try Simplifi for free, and if you like it, it’s highly affordable.

PocketGuard is another great tool for budgeting and tracking your spending, and it has free and paid versions. The application also comes with features that can help you lower certain bills. For example, if you track your monthly cell phone bill via the app, PocketGuard may be able to assist you with finding a better deal. The app can negotiate better rates on your behalf. 

Overcoming Debt with InCharge Debt Solutions

If you struggle with debt, you’re certainly not alone — around 80% of Americans are in debt, and the average American household owes around $96,000. 

Budgeting is a great place to start when taking on debt, but you can also enlist the assistance of a tremendous debt relief organization called InCharge Debt Solutions. This nonprofit organization provides free debt solutions for those struggling with unsecured debts, meaning debts with no collateral like a house or a car. Common unsecured debts include credit card balances, student loans, and medical debts. 

InCharge prides itself on prioritizing its clients and assisting them with valuable debt relief resources including counseling and financial education programs. 

Some of their valuable services include credit counseling, debt management programs, debt consolidation programs, credit card debt forgiveness, bankruptcy counseling, housing counseling, homebuyer education courses, foreclosure counseling, and eviction prevention. 

Building Your Investment Portfolio with Broke Millennial Takes on Investing and Udemy Investment Courses

Smart investing is integral in building wealth because it puts your money to work in the stock market. Many people make the mistake of putting all of their money in standard savings accounts, and although it’s wise to have an emergency fund, a savings account will likely not have an interest rate that outpaces inflation. This means the money in your savings account is losing buying power. 

Fortunately, many resources are available to help you get started with investing, such as Erin Lowry’s book Broke Millennial Takes On Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up Your Money. 

Erin made a name for herself in the world of personal finance with her previous book, Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together, which is also a great resource for improving your financial literacy and upgrading your budgeting skills. In Broke Millennial Takes on Investing, Erin discusses important lessons and strategies for beginner investors. Although millennials are her target audience, anyone can learn from her helpful tips and guidance to start investing.

Another great resource that investors can use is Udemy.com. The site features numerous investing courses taught by industry experts. In fact, Investopedia.com — another great resource for enhancing your financial literacy — cited the Udemy course Stock Market From Scratch For Complete Beginners as the best overall investment course of 2022.  

In addition to this extensive course that covers investing concepts and introductory guidance, you can also use many other Udemy investment courses including Value Investing Bootcamp, The Complete Foundation Stock Trading Course, The Complete Financial Analyst Training & Investing Course, and more.  

Diversifying Your Income with Passive Income Ideas and Fiverr

Increasing the amount of money you make will help you save more and expedite the process of overcoming debt. In addition to making money from your primary place of employment, you can diversify your revenue streams with passive income and through a side hustle. 

Finding opportunities for passive income can be an especially lucrative way to accumulate wealth because these streams typically don’t require as much work as a second job or side hustle. 

Often, people associate passive income with owning a rental property or collecting dividends, but there are numerous ways that you can generate passive income today. Frank Coles’ book Passive Income Ideas: 101 Passive Income Ideas Under $1,000 is a phenomenal resource for getting started with easy-to-access passive income opportunities.

A few examples from the book include peer-to-peer lending, blogging, teaching online courses, affiliate marketing, and publishing E-books. 

Another great way to diversify your income today is by starting a side hustle. There are many side hustles that you can even do remotely such as programming, copywriting, copy editing, video editing, and graphic design. 

If you have a valuable skill to offer, consider using a freelancer website. The site Fiverr.com streamlines the process of connecting remote freelancers with businesses and individuals seeking various services. Some of the site’s categories include graphics & design, digital marketing, writing & translation, and much more. 

Planning For Retirement with Titan.com’s Retirement Calculator

When going through the budgeting process, it’s critical that you allocate money toward retirement. You can save for retirement using an individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k).

Everyone should plan for retirement, but different factors impact the amount you should save each month. This will also affect other areas of your budget including your other investments, debts, and the amount you allocate toward non-essential expenses. 

Some factors that will likely dictate the amount you save toward retirement include when you plan on retiring, your current age, your income, and your expected Social Security benefits.

Fortunately, you can use an online retirement calculator to optimize your retirement planning. Titan.com offers an exceptional retirement calculator that uses your regular retirement contributions and rates of return to estimate how much you need for retirement and what you should contribute each month. 

Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Freedom Today!

The journey to obtain financial freedom can seem long and arduous, but YOU are fully capable of putting in the work to build your financial empire. You can get started with the exceptional resources and tools outlined in this article including The Penny Hoarder, Money Under 30, The Millionaire Morning, Simplifi, PocketGuard, InCharge Debt Solutions, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing, Udemy.com, Passive Income Ideas: 101 Passive Income Ideas Under $1,000, Fiverr.com, and Titan.com’s retirement calculator.

In addition to these resources, you can keep up with Greatness.com to learn even more about personal finances. 

Cheers to you on your journey toward financial freedom!