Do You Want to be Financially Independent?
The only answer should be yes.
Being financially stable gives you freedom. It’s not shallow to associate your freedom and happiness with money. It makes you more capable and empowered. With it, you can pour yourself more love, while empowering those around you. That’s what women empowerment is all about. And it is why financial independence for women is important. It gives you an empowered life.
So let’s do the money talk.
What’s financial independence? It’s the status of being financially free, not having to rely on anyone else to sustain your financial needs. It’s also the accumulation of income and assets that can give you a life without worries.
To attain that, you need a financial independence plan. Here, we came up with steps to help you on your journey to financial independence.
- Set your goals and plan.
Visualize how financial independence looks like for you. It may differ from everyone’s perspective and where you are in your life right now. But whatever your age is, be realistic about your financial goals. From that, create a plan that works for you and will make you commit.
- Evaluate and downsize.
One thing you need to include in your financial independence plan is personal evaluation. From how much money and assets you have to your daily expenses, you need to have a clear vision of these things. And then, downsize. Remove those extra expenses you don’t necessarily need to simply keep up on a certain lifestyle. What is important is keeping items you will need to live a happy and secure life.
- Find the right financial tools.
Next, find financial tools that will help achieve your goals. There are plenty of apps that can help you track your cash flow. Excel or Google sheet can also help you create a monthly budget plan. It’s important to find the tools that work for you. Everyone is not the same, so use a tool that you can tailor for your needs.
- Create a budget plan.
Once you have the tools, it’s time to do a budget plan based on the goals you’ve identified. This part is crucial in achieving financial independence. How you commit to your budget plan will determine your financial success.
- Spend less than you earn.
This is the golden rule: never spend beyond what you earn. It’s the most common financial rule, but the toughest one to keep. So if you’re spending beyond your means, you need to eradicate some expenses. It’s hard but it’s one step closer to financial independence.
- Eliminate your debt.
If you have a debt, you need to create a plan that will effectively eliminate it for a certain period of time, based on your personal goals. Debt grows and pulls you back. Getting rid of revolving debts is one of the best things you can do for yourself to be empowered and save more money.
- Expand your source of income.
For most people, money is not handed on a silver platter. It requires hard work and commitment. And sometimes, that means creating more sources of income. There are different ways of doing it, whether you invest in stocks, create a side hustle, or make a business. Expanding your source of income also gives you more liberty to create the life you want for yourself, to be an empowered woman, and to empower others.