• Feelings of shame and blame because you do not have proficient money management skills. Many adults feel they are supposed to know money management automatically, and this is a mentally harmful thought. Replace this internal conversation by showing compassion for yourself for all the money errors you have made in the past. Choosing to become proactive in your money decisions instead of feeling the anxiety over money is a positive move in learning new skills to improve your personal finances. It will surprise you to see that one action at a time improves your money management skills and makes you feel self-assured.

• You feel isolated. I want to remove the idea that you are the only person that doesn’t know how to manage money successfully. There are approximately seventy percent of adults that are making it paycheck to paycheck. Seventy-six percent of individuals feel that their personal finances are uncontrollable. This information is provided by current research data. If you experience these feelings, it means that you are part of society’s majority. Money anxiety makes you feel disappointed and fearful. It is time to give yourself a break.

• You don’t have a point of reference. I am resisting my tendency to preach on this point specifically because this article would become a lecture. Acknowledging the fact that personal finances and money management skills are not part of our educational system’s curriculum nor is it passed on to the next generations. From this confirmation, I ask the question of how is it possible for you to know to manage your personal finances well since you were not given this information. Acknowledging this truth that money management skills are not consistently taught this creates a significant obstacle to overcome in order to reach financial independence. I assure you that proficient money management skills are teachable in an orderly process.

The first is letting go of any blame you may feel for the past money mistakes you have made as well as any blame you may have placed on your spouse or partner.

The second step is to take a comprehensive look at your finances. This means look at all of your financial statements for your bank accounts, mortgage and car loans, retirement accounts and short-term loans. If you are struggling to keep your bank account balanced and aren’t sure why you sometimes fall short, causing you to go overdraft, open a new account and close the old one once all transactions have posted.

The next and third step is to make a strategy to pay off your credit card debt. Not only will this relieve financial stress, it will help you on your way to getting a fresh financial start. Concentrate on paying off the cards with the highest rates first. Be sure to make at least the minimum payments on all of your cards and be on time! If you are able to make more than the minimum, do so as this will help get them paid off even faster. If possible, transfer your higher balances to a zero-percent interest card, even if it’s for an introductory time period. This can save you a lot in interest.

Step four is to take control of how much you spend and save each month. Consider all the ways you can save including cutting down on cable bills, cellular plans, and energy usage. It all adds up in the long run and can put you that much closer to paying off your bills and putting more into savings.

The next step, step five, it to start investing. This is different than saving for short-term goals like purchasing a home or taking a vacation; typically, anything that will happen within five-seven years from now. Any longer financial goals, like retirement, need to be done by investing in a 401K, Roth IRA, and/or stocks.

Step six is to get a handle on your credit score. You can go to MyFico and get your credit report along with your score. It’s important to understand how your credit score affects your financial decisions and how much purchasing power you have when it comes to buying with credit. If your score is low and you are working to rebuild it, be sure to make your debt payments on time and for at least the minimum amount.

Finally, diversify your assets. With step eight, you will put your money into stock, bonds, and mutual funds. You want to be more aggressive when it comes to investing as you want to get the best return on your money. This is where you build a nest egg for the future. Do your research and consult with a financial planner if possible to make sure your investing choices match your future financial goals as well as your income level.

Try to commit at least 30 minutes every day in reading about matters related to money.

Managing your money will not be a tall task if you have enough financial acumen. You may not have a background in finance yourself, but in order to make your money hard for you, you must make the extra effort to educate yourself financially. If you do not have enough knowledge about finances, you ca make a mistake with your investments that can cost you dearly. To avoid such pitfalls, make sure that you spend at least half hour each day, understanding the various aspects of finance. Red books, magazines, look through the internet and watch finance related programmes on television.

Talk to people you admire

Once you feel confident about finance related topics such as spending, saving, credit, debit, investing, retirement strategies, you can also try to consult with people whom you admire. These people may be mentors, entrepreneurs or just those who have found success financially. In fact a great way to do things is by joining many online forums on investments.

Make and test your own financial strategies in life

Ultimately it is all about what works for you. You may read n-number of books and garner advice from people who have achieved financial success, but none of it will work for you if you do not have the wherewithal to chalk out your financial strategies. If you are not feeling confident all at once, start investing small amounts in various places that you think will work best for you. Once you have done so, you have to wait and watch to see the results. If you see that your strategies are working, meaning your money is actually growing because of smart deployment, you can go ahead and allocate more funds in the same avenues. The golden rule of investing is not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Opting for the services a financial advisor

If all of this does not appeal to you and you neither have the time or energy reading about money matters, you can repose your faith in the service of professional financial planners. For a small fee that they will charge you, they will do all the hard work for you to see your money grow. These are people who are cued on to the latest developments in the world of finance, so you can trust them with their decision.

Only use a secure computer

If possible, avoid using a computer that might not be secure when doing online banking. The security protection software of the home computer or mobile devices should be kept up to date, to prevent hacking and viruses. Also, make sure that the bank’s website is also secured. Often, a small lock or key icon will appear in the top of the browser window to indicate encryption. This means that the content being exchanged is encrypted, so that sensitive information is not available for thieves. Also never provide personal information through an email or over the phone. Banks will never ask for sensitive content unless through a secure method.

Be sure the bank is legitimate

Many banks these days rely heavily on online users. This opens their pool of customers to more than just their physical location. Often, with services such as “deposit at home” and waved ATM fees, it is possible to not even need a physical branch to do banking. However, this opportunity has also attracted thieves that set up websites that look like banks, but aren’t. Read about the bank, the official address of the headquarters, and its FDIC coverage. Also, be sure that the website of a legitimate bank is typed correctly. Some unsavory people purchase a website with a misspelling and set it up to look like the real deal in order to get your information.

Be careful in public places

One of the best conveniences of online banking is accessing the accounts for any reason at any time in any place. It is good to suddenly remember that a bill is due and have the ability to pay the account via a mobile device while in a restaurant on a lunch break. However, the that freedom comes with some responsibility. Pay attention to your surroundings. Unscrupulous people will wait until their prey’s attention is focused on their task at hand and their guard is dropped, so they can look at the screen and gather sensitive information. By simply being aware of those around, the situation can be avoided.

Know your consumer rights

Ask the bank about the account’s fraud protection for online banking. Depending on the type of account, the protection might be included or could be added for a small fee that is often worth paying for the security it provides. Also, know how to lodge a complaint if fraud is suspected. The bank should be contacted immediately. Many of them have robust fraud departments that can handle the situation. A number of consumer protection organizations exist that could also be useful in restoring lost funds.

Beginning with easy small steps is the best way to achieve managing money well. Most people are stagnant with the thought that finances affect so much of their lives they become a fluster with how to start confronting this area. Individuals react to situations in the financial area of life so they feel subjected to all that happens. However, to start with a proactive approach toward managing your finances is the best way to change this behavior. Applying this process of addressing financial obligations with the intention of being responsible is an empowering feeling. With this simple change one can stop feeling incapable and start feeling competent.

Part of removing the overwhelming and helpless feelings is by simplifying daily life. Unfortunately, it has become a general practice for people to inundate themselves with activities. Adding too many tasks to your daily schedule is counterproductive and sometimes can cause catastrophic results. Whether you are accountable for many decisions or regularly making yourself busy, it is not the best way to be beneficial. Identifying with this description means that it is time to change. This constant running can have a negative effect on money management skills because it does not allow the time needed to look at your finances.

The next question is where to start. To begin implementing new behaviors to manage finances better and feel powerful in this area of your life, start doing the following:

• Change Your Attitude: Setting an intention to succeed in this area of your life will help you simplify your life. This conscious choice will guide you to take more time to become alert of the self-defeating thoughts that contribute to miss money management actions.
• Identify what IS working well and change what IS NOT working: Becoming attentive to your thinking will lead to the next step. Realizing the thoughts and behaviors that guide to bad money management decisions provides the opportunity to replace them with making mindful choices.
• Organize or Re-Organize: The third part of this process is organizing or reorganizing. Develop a routine to pay your bills and review your finances. This habit is a great money management tip because giving proactive attention to your money improves your financial health.

Successful money management requires structure. Although this process is only the beginning, it will supply a solid financial foundation. Slowing down enough to set a proactive mindset, become intentional about the way you use your money then forming positive habits will help you establish successful money management skills that produce desired results.

• Believing one guarantee covers everything. When you hear, “Your investment is guaranteed,” you’ve got to ask yourself, “What is guaranteed? Is the return guaranteed? Is my principal guaranteed?” Don’t take the word “guaranteed” at face value. Make sure you understand what’s guaranteed, then question who’s guaranteeing it. You don’t want your guarantee in the hands of Conned You Company.
• Making a purchase or sale based on a previous price. “Picture framing” is an interesting and potentially dangerous behavior. It works like this: You believe an investment has a certain value. You’re so proud of that beautiful value that you take a mental picture of it, frame it, and hang it on your mind’s wall. Every day you look at that picture. You love it. Then one day the market goes down, and now your actual value is less than your picture. But you decide not to sell your investment until it matches that beautiful number that’s in your framed picture. You have to look at the investment and its future. Its past worth is not important. The picture you framed is irreverent. You have to look at the probable future of that investment, and sell if need be.
• Owning too much of the same thing. Some people think they’re diversified, but in reality they are not. Make sure you have different things in your portfolio, so that some zig when others zag.
• Not having an exit strategy. A rising market raises all ships, but it will go down eventually. If you don’t have an exit strategy, the market could take away all your gains when it falls. If you want financial peace of mind, you have to know in your heart that you have a strategy that can protect you from bear markets.