Life would be a whole lot easier if someone would just Venmo us $1 million, but unfortunately, the chance of that happening is, well, probably zero. (Venmo doesn’t allow transactions that large anyway.)
But even though our chances of becoming a millionaire are slim, we can still manage our money like one. No, we’re not going to tell you how to buy hundreds of shares of Apple stock. Or how to pick out the perfect yacht.
These are simple money moves any normal, non-millionaire person can make today. Each tip can get you closer to achieving your big goals.
Take a look:
1. Use This Strategy to Spend Within Your Means
OK, so not all millionaires spend within their means, but it’s essential if you want to start beefing up your bank account.
So how do you do that? Create a budget.
Ew, gross. We know. But it’s easier than you might think with the 50/20/30 budgeting method. Here’s how it works:
- 50% of your income goes toward essentials.
- 20% goes toward financial goals.
- 30% goes toward personal spending.
By creating these categories and sticking to them, you’ll get a more clear picture of your finances and make sure you’re not spending above your means.
2. Get Showered in Cash Back (Without Being ‘Gold Status’)
Here’s the deal: If you’re not using Aspiration’s debit card, you’re missing out on extra cash. And who doesn’t want extra cash?
Yep. A debit card called Aspiration gives you up to a 10% back every time you swipe. How much does your current bank offer you?
Need to buy groceries? Extra cash.
Need to fill up the tank? Bam. Even more extra cash.
You were going to buy these things anyway — why not get this extra money in the process? Do yourself a favor and deposit $100 into an Aspiration account today so you can start taking advantage.
To get started, enter your email address here, and link your bank account to see how much extra cash you can get with your free Aspiration account. And don’t worry. Your money is FDIC insured and under a military-grade encryption. That’s nerd talk for “this is totally safe.”
3. Find Out if Your Car Insurance is Ripping You Off by $887/Year
Some millionaires have assistants who can do everything for them. For us non-millionaires, it’s not so simple. Even checking rates on your car insurance feels like a huge chore.
But we found an app called Jerry, and it can tell you if you’re paying too much on your car insurance. In fact, Jerry says it finds that people, on average, are overpaying by about $887 a year.
Penny Hoarder writer and editor Robin Hartill cut her bill by $70 per month for the same basic coverage.
“That’s more than $800 that I’m planning to add to my emergency savings over the next year,” she says.
Once you sign up, you don’t have to worry about shopping around for insurance again. Jerry will automatically do that for you. Also, it won’t cost you anything — it’s all free.
And if you’re worried about ditching your current policy, know you can back out at any time, even before your policy runs out. In fact, by law, insurance companies have to give you a refund for the remaining unused days on your policy. If there are any cancellation fees involved (these are usually small), Jerry will let you know.
To find out if you’re getting ripped off (and how much you could save), start with a quick online questionnaire, then see your final price in minutes.
4. Leave Your Family up to $1M
We’d all like to leave our family with something after we die, right? $1 million* would be great — it could help your loved ones stay in your home, pay for the kids’ college and get rid of debt.
You’re probably thinking: I don’t have the time or money for that.
But a company called Fabric can help you apply for a term life insurance policy that could give your family a big chunk of money (the coverage amount you applied for) if you pass away. (We’ve heard people are getting policies for as little as $14 a month.**)
Maybe you’ve thought about this before, but it feels too overwhelming. The truth is, this is one of the easiest (and smartest) things you can do with your money right now. It takes about 10 minutes to apply, and you don’t even have to leave your house — you can do it all from your browser.
So if you want to help make sure your family is set up for life after you’re gone, take 10 minutes to fill out an application.
5. Put $5 in the Stock Market
Take a look at the Forbes Richest People list, and you’ll notice almost all the millionaires have one thing in common: They own another company.
But if you work for a living and don’t happen to have millions of dollars lying around, that can sound totally out of reach.
That’s why a lot of people use the app Stash. It lets you be a part of something that’s normally exclusive to the richest of the rich — buying pieces of other companies.
That’s right. You can invest in pieces of well-known companies, such as Amazon, Google or Apple, for as little as $1.***
The best part? When these companies profit, so can you. Some companies even send you a check every quarter for your share of the profits, called dividends.
It takes two minutes to sign up, plus Stash will give you a $5 sign-up bonus once you deposit $5 into your account.****
6. Follow a Financial Guru
One of the best ways to get better at managing your money is to learn from the pros. These could be the millionaires themselves, personal finance experts or real-life people who’ve had success. Search the internet for blogs and websites, listen to podcasts and read books.
Here are a few of our favorite resources (ahem, besides ourselves):
- How to Money podcast
- “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey
- @CleverGirlFinance on Instagram
- The Money Nerds Podcast
Picking up new tips and tricks each week will help you get on track to managing your money like a millionaire!
*Coverage Amount is based on eligibility
**Sample pricing based on $100,000 in coverage for a 28-year-old female in Colorado with excellent health.
***For Securities priced over $1,000, purchase of fractional shares starts at $0.05.
****You’ll also bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of the ETFs in your account, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash and the custodian.
The Penny Hoarder is a Paid Affiliate/partner of Stash. Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. This material has been distributed for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Investing involve
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.