Over the past month or so I’ve come across many great personal finance bloggers. Some of them I’ve managed to befriend and others I am constantly trying to get to know better. In an effort to accomplish two goals at once, (1) of getting to know each blogger better and (2) providing useful information to anyone who reads Pelican on Money, I thought it would be best to ask some very important questions:
- What is the best money advice you ever got?
- If there was only one money tip you could give, what would it be?
Some of the answers were a bit surprising, showing strong signs of family influence vs. personal experience. Well… I won’t spoil the fun, so take a look for yourself what some prominent personal finance bloggers have to say about money:
Jen from Master the Art of Saving +Twitter Facebook Google+
Know where you money is going.
Lauren from L Bee and the Money Tree Twitter Facebook
The best money advice I ever got was from my Mom: She said, “Never let a man pay your bills. It gives him control”. It was ingrained in me, and I think it’s kept me from making some of the financial mistakes other girls have made. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve made plenty of financial mistakes that were hard to clean up. I can’t imagine having to deal with that and a bad romance on top of it.
Michelle from See Debt Run +Twitter Facebook
My grandma told me a long time ago to always decide how much money you were going to spend before going somewhere. Grab that money in cash. Then be strong. Once that money is gone, you’re done! Go home!
Jessica from Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses +Twitter Facebook
When I was in middle school my teacher taught us all about credit. It was a bit odd seeing as he was our French teacher, but I have a hunch he had a rack of credit card debt and wanted to prevent his students from making the same mistakes he made. Anyway, he told us to only buy something with a credit card if we had the cash to pay it off right away. Ever since then I’ve been conditioned to my credit cards off way because I even get my monthly statements.
Lance from Money Life and More +Twitter Facebook
I never really got any direct form of financial advice as I started reading personal finance blogs in either late high school or early college. The best financial advice I ever read was to start saving for retirement with your first job and I did so with my first post college job! It’s definitely paying off.
Edward from Edward Antrobus +Twitter Facebook Google+
The best money tip I ever received was fairly specific, but it was my then-boss convincing me that I probably wouldn’t find a better opportunity than after the crash in 2008 to start my retirement fund.
Cat from Budget Blonde +Twitter Facebook
Save before you buy. It sounds so simple and so easy, but it’s one of the hardest things to do!
Michelle from Making Sense of Cents Twitter
Always try and be your best, and don’t sell yourself short. If you believe you are worth more, strive for that!
Carrie from Careful Cents +Twitter Facebook
The best money advice I ever got was from my dad. He always has two money clips in each of his pants’ pockets. One is for spending (for the family/himself) and the other is for giving. While saving money and earning more is great, the best thing you can do with your money is give it to someone who needs it more. There’s always plenty of time to make more money, but you make the best impact when you share and give of yourself and your money to others.
Daisy from Add Vodka +Twitter Facebook
My mom always says “you can’t take it with you’. While it’s important to save and build wealth to achieve goals and live a comfortable, satisfying life, it’s equally as important to enjoy your money.
Sean from One Smart Dollar +Twitter +Facebook
The best money advise I ever received was non-verbal. Watching my parents do things the right way was all I needed. I saw the way they planned out everything. I had a really nice childhood, but I didn’t always get everything I wanted. Sometimes planning for our family to go on a nice vacation came before me getting to buy that new video game or anything else I might have wanted.
Holly and Greg from Club Thrifty +Twitter +Facebook
Live within your means.
Dominique from Your Finances Simplified +Twitter Facebook YouTube
The best money advice I ever got is the same as my money tip: live on 50% of your net income, save 30% and party with 20%.
The PoPs from Planting Our Pennies Twitter Facebook
My high school economics teacher drilled into us the wisdom of the “great Indian chief” – Chief TANSTAFL. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has a cost – know what it is or you’re the sucker in the room.
SB from One Cent At a Time Twitter Facebook
My first advice from my dad was still the best one I consider. That simple statement made the world of difference for me. One day while doing his gardening, he showed me seeds and said, “We can eat the seeds but, then the plant will not grow and we will not get the fruits.” On the same day he showed me a bill and said “like seed in the morning, this money will also not grow if I spend it now, this can only grow if I make it work, then we will have more money to spend.”
My Money Design from My Money Design Twitter Facebook
When I was a little boy, I used to collect baseball cards. Not only did I do it for fun, I realized as I’d go to the trade shows that the cards were worth money. So over time, I started to read the price guides and become aware of what the price was for these cards. Well, one time I thought I hit gold! A store had a few factory complete sets on clearance for $10. Being only about 11 years old and short on cash, I bought 3 of them and figured I could easily sell 1 or 2 of them for $30 each like the price guide said. I’d be rich! Unfortunately, when I tried to peddle them around at the next baseball card show I attended, I was only offered about $8 to $12 for each. ”This is ridiculous” I thought, “If the price guide says $30, why are they only offering so little?” That’s when my Dad told me something I’ve never forgotten: “It doesn’t matter what the price guide says. Those cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay you.” - Since then, I have found out throughout my life that those words hold true to a lot more things than just baseball cards.
CF and Brian from The Outlier Model Twitter Google+
The best money advice I ever got was from a former manager and mentor. She suggested I start an RRSP and said, “It’s pretty easy to set up and they just take $50 a month from my account. I don’t even have to think about it.” She was the most successful person I knew at the time – she had a condo, a cat and a dog, and she even rode horse riding competitions on the weekends. I wanted to be like her! So I started thinking about my own finances and what it would take to save $50 a month. From there, everything just fell together.
Kim @ Eyes on the Dollar Twitter Facebook
My mom always told me to get an education first and always be able to support yourself no matter what.
Jen from Master the Art of Saving Twitter Facebook Google+
It all adds up! Even if you can only start out saving small amounts (or paying off small amounts), it will eventually add up over time, as will your momentum.
Sean from One Smart Dollar Twitter Facebook
My biggest money tip is no matter what you do make a plan. If you are saving for something have your contributions planned out so you know when you should be reaching this goal. By planning things out in advance you are able to hold yourself accountable if you get off track.
Lauren from L Bee and the Money Tree Twitter Facebook
If I could give only one money tip it would be to wait until your junior year of college to get a credit card. Kids rush out as freshmen and get one and they’re not nearly as focused or responsible at 18 as they are at 21. That two years makes a BIG difference, and credit cards are just too tempting for most undergrads who have never had to manage money before.
Michelle from See Debt Run Twitter Facebook
I think about my kids with this question. If there were only one money tip I could give them, it would be to always pay yourself first. This is one that took me years to learn, but I’m hoping they will catch on quicker! By paying yourself first, I mean that you don’t buy things you want before you have enough money to do so, and only as long as you have an adequate savings first.
Jessica from Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses Twitter Facebook
Live within your means. I know it’s not really original, but I really do think it’s easier said than done and is the main reason why so many people are drowning in debt these days.
Lance from Money Life and More Twitter Facebook
If I could only give one tip it would be spend significantly less than you earn and invest/save the rest. The earlier you do it the sooner you will be financially independent.
Edward from Edward Antrobus Twitter Facebook Google+
My best money tip would be to ask yourself one simple question before buying anything: do I actually need this? I could have saved myself tens of thousands of dollars by learning that question earlier.
Cat from Budget Blonde Twitter Facebook
Tell yourself “no” as often as possible when you are considering buying something. Most of our impulse buys only contribute to financial struggles.
Michelle from Making Sense of Cents Twitter
Always spend less than what you make. Don’t put something on a credit card unless you are positive that you will be able to pay it off before interest accrues. Credit cards can work to your advantage with short-term increased cash flow, but if you can’t pay it back, then it can be deadly.
Carrie @ Careful Cents Twitter Facebook
My one money tip is educate yourself. Never do something just because a financial expert tells you to, or because your accountant says you need to. Question everything – even notices from the IRS have been wrong and were corrected after I questioned them. Do your best to read blogs, books and other finance resources to educate yourself, because you are the only one who truly has your best interest at heart.
Daisy @ Add Vodka Twitter Facebook
Start saving young. The younger the better!
Holly and Greg @ Club Thrifty Twitter Facebook
Spend less than you earn.
Dominique @ Your Finances Simplified Twitter Facebook YouTube
Live on 50% of your net income, save 30% and party with 20%.
The PoPs @ Planting Our Pennies Twitter Facebook
Spend less than you earn. A lot less if possible.
SB @ One Cent At a Time Twitter Facebook
The best money tips is, “live below your means”. This is the one point solution for all financial worries. If you start following this one advice you may not need to read anything else.
My Money Design @ My Money Design Twitter Facebook
The best money tip I could ever give is something I’ve been saying for a number of years now: “No one cares about your money the way you do!” Sure you can hire people to manage your money or seek advice from people you trust. But at the end of the day, it’s YOUR money, and you are ultimately responsible for what happens to it. That’s why I think financial education is one of the best things you can do for yourself. We all need to stop sticking our heads in the sand and start taking charge of our own finances.
CF and Brian @ The Outlier Model Twitter Google+
Don’t be afraid of change. Doing things like going back to school for a better career, changing jobs for more income, or moving to a cheaper apartment in a new part of town will always make you more money than making your own soap or reusing yogurt containers.
David @ Young Adult Money Twitter Facebook
Make goals and have a plan. Knowing what you are sacrificing/saving for will motivate you to stick with your plan and make it much more likely to reach your money – or what I like to call life – goals.
Kim @ Eyes on the Dollar Twitter Facebook
Find something you love or don’t mind doing that you can earn a living at then get the training or education to make it happen.
Thanks so much again, Veronica, for including me in this great list. It’s so appreciated!
Best,
Cat@BudgetBlonde
No, thank YOU, Cat. I had a lot of fun interviewing everyone and the range of responses was quite interesting.
Great tips! Looks like I dropped the ball on this one and never got back to you :/ Sorry about that. But you have quite the collection here!
David no worries! If you’d like to share your best advice received or tips for others, you can do so here and I’ll edit the post before the week’s end to include your responses.
Oh that would be great!
If I could only share one money tip it would be:
“Make goals and have a plan. Knowing what you are sacrificing/saving for will motivate you to stick with your plan and make it much more likely to reach your money – or what I like to call life – goals.”
My logo is on the bottom of my blog page (the YAM square logo) and website/twitter/facebook is:
http://www.YoungAdultMoney.com
http://www.Twitter.com/YoungAdultMoney
http://www.Facebook.com/YoungAdultMoney
Thanks so much!
Thanks David!
It’s great to see all of these tips! Thanks for including me.
I just noticed I forgot to link to your website and accounts! let me fix that…
Ah! Yay! Thanks so much for the inclusion and for coming up with such a great post
Lauren, I like your mom’s advise
“Never let a man pay your bills. It gives him control”. It never crossed my mind to let a man handle all the money in the family, not that I have such a man in life yet, but why keep it all behind closed doors instead of discussing it out in the open and managing finances together, right? Today, women work, have very successful careers, and take many leadership roles outside of the house as well, so it only makes sense to learn how to manage money and plan for the future.
Great tips. The best advice I got was from my Stepdad who said to know what you’re money is doing and pay yourself first. I’d add on top of that to live within your means and don’t try to keep up with the Joneses.
John thanks for your tips. “Pay yourself first” advice has been echoing from many personal finance bloggers and for the right reasons – this piece of advice rocks! As for not keeping up with the Joneses, I completely agree, just sad to see people doing this all the time still.
Thanks a lot for including me. Did I forget to give you an image to use?
Sean, thanks for your advice. I particularly agree with the need to plan for things. This has been helpful in just about everything – not just financial sense. We often say we’re going to do something but don’t plan for it. Later on it’s so easy to make an excuse and say “I should have done that,” but didn’t do it. Well, that’s because I had no plan to stick to!
You linked your logo to me, would you like me to replace it with your photo?
Thanks again for including me, Veronica.
It turned out awesome, great job.
Jen, thanks for your advice to save and pay down no matter how little. I’m still working on the savings part but my student loans are getting lower and lower thanks to making bigger and biggers payments as my motivation to pay off that debt entirely grows. I know in the past I’ve mentioned that my payments are auto scheduled, but once in a while I go in there and tweak the payment higher and don’t think about it for a while until I repeat this process again
Sometimes it’s easier to slowly save or pay off stuff and then increase it little by little; especially when you don’t have much money to work with.
I don’t know what’s more fun – reading all the good advice, or seeing everyone’s pictures? This is a great collection and an incredible idea for a post. Thanks Veronica!
Thanks! You have no idea how many times I previewed this post and scrolled up and down to look at everyone’s picture “one last time” hehe.
Thanks so much for reaching out and including my quotes in your money tips roundup! There’s some great advice here, I’m truly honored to be part of it.
Carrie, sharing is caring
Your dad is awesome!
All mega advice. It’s just really hard to commit to some of them. I have definitely been a lot better with my money over the past few years and even better over the past few months. I am no where near being debt free and living a smoother life though. Damn college.
Ryan, I think it was Jen that said to pay down no matter how little it is and soon you’ll have nothing left to pay. I know what you mean about college loans, I’m still paying mine. Just focus on getting a great career and the rest will take care of itself, as long as you don’t forget to continue paying it off ever so faster
Thank you for including me. these were fun to read! We have all had very different experiences with money and financial advice, so it’s interesting to see what others say.
The whole time I was talking to people back and forth I was waiting for some secret tip that would blow my mind. It turns out some of the best advice is often the simplest (gets right down to the basics), save, plan, live within your means. I found it interesting that many bloggers get the best advice from parents and not higher education or something. Family = matters.
Thanks for including us and for putting this together! It was great to read everyone’s responses!
Chief TANSTAFL – got it
It was a pleasure including your answers among a diverse bunch here.
Great ideas. My mom always told me to get an education first and always be able to support yourself no matter what. So my advice would be find something you love or don’t mind doing that you can earn a living at then get the training or education to make it happen.
Thanks for your 2 cents and your mom’s wisdom Kim, I’ll be sure to include your answers in the next revision of this post.
Thanks for including me in this. It turned out great.
Lance, your wisdom of saving early and more echoes through the pages of just about every PF blog. Because it’s quite true and very important.
This is an awesome list. Great job on pulling it together. I hope it is helpful to a lot of people. I know it would be for me.
Thanks! I hope anyone that runs into this page takes something out of it. If you’d like to add your own, feel free to include them in the comments and I’ll revise the post later on to include your answers.
What a great list of PF bloggers. It’s always nice to read everyone’s perspectives and what better than to do it all in one post. Great idea! Cheers Mr.CBB
I couldn’t agree more with you, we have a really great community of personal finance bloggers here. I’m just surprised everyone was so eager to cooperate. I highly doubt had it been another niche that people would go along with my questions so quickly!
This turned out great, Veronica. Thanks for putting this together and including us among these fine folks.
Lots of great tips here.
Michelle, thanks for taking the time to think about two not-so-easy questions, during your already busy schedule.
Best advice I got was make enough money where taxes are your biggest expense. When you’re getting there its not how much you make but how much you keep. Get a good accountant who will find you more deductions than his fee. You can budget all day but if taxes are your biggest expense you have to plan for it.
Thanks for your advice Charles. I remember the days taxes was my biggest expense, but all that has come to an end and now I’m having to restart. It was a wonderful time though!
These are great tips, good idea!
PF bloggers have a ton of great tips, people just need to read and put them to use
Hi Veronica!
Thanks for including us! These are all great tips!
I’m only the messenger
Thanks for playing along Greg!
Great post Veronica! I really enjoyed reading advice from many of my favourite bloggers!
This is an obvious tip and nothing new but:
TRACK your expenses. It’s such an eye opener seeing which areas your money goes to and where you can trim the fat. I track how much is coming in, how much I’m saving each month, my net worth and what % of my income is being saved. I’m a visual person, I enjoy seeing the numbers grow each month. I even went as far to graph the info. Seeing that line steadily up is great motivation for me to keep on increasing my savings!
That’s a good tip, motivate yourself by stimulation through visuals! How about any advice you’ve been given by someone else?
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Avoid credit cards. It’ll bury you down to the ground, even beneath it! Just be wise.
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Good Job..! There are many of the bloggers in the list to whom I read for getting help in some of my financial matters. They use to share many helpful guides. If any one wants to get any kind of financial help then he/she must follow these bloggers.