3 Money Moves That Have Made Me Over $100,000

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Some people like to closely track every aspect of their finances. They check account balances often, and they're always looking for improvements they can make, no matter how small.

I'm not one of those people. I don't want to spend too much time managing money, and I definitely don't want to agonize over every small financial decision just to add a bit more to my savings account .

What has worked for me is focusing on the decisions that have the biggest impact. Looking back, there are three money moves that have each been worth over $100,000 for me.

1. Getting into the habit of investing

I started investing nearly 10 years ago, but I made a common mistake: I was inconsistent about it. When I happened to have extra money, I'd deposit it to my brokerage account . Then, I'd spend way too long trying to find the perfect place to put it.

People who are inconsistent about investing tend to invest far less money overall. And if you leave money sitting around your account while you wait for the right investment, you miss out on any gains the stock market makes. Overall, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500 index) has a long-term return of about 10% per year.

When I was 28, I made an important change. I told myself I'd invest at least $1,000 per month. To make it easy, I decided I'd put that in an index fund that tracks the entire stock market. This got me into the habit of investing, and every year, my portfolio has gotten significantly larger.

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2. Being proactive about raising my income

Lots of financial advice revolves around budgeting and carefully managing your spending. There's nothing wrong with this, but in my opinion, your income is a much more important piece of the puzzle.

You can only cut spending so much before it starts affecting your quality of life. If you're able to raise your income, you'll have more money to save, invest, and spend on things you enjoy.

I've done my best to maximize my earning potential. Since I'm a freelancer, I have more control over my income than someone with a W-2 job. But whether you have a business or a full-time job, there are plenty of methods you can use to increase your earnings. You could:

• Search for higher-paying clients or jobs as part of your weekly work routine.
• Invest in yourself by going through training programs to improve your skill set.
• Be easy to work with. Soft skills can make a big difference in who gets new job opportunities and promotions.
• Ask your manager what steps you need to take to get a raise.

3. Avoiding large expenses that would affect my financial goals

As I mentioned earlier, I don't like to micromanage my spending. The last thing I want to do is track where every dollar is going. Instead, I just avoid overspending on big expenses or anything I'll be paying on a monthly basis. Here are the most common examples that many people overspend on:

• Mortgage or rent
• Car payment
• Dining and entertainment

For example, I make sure my total housing costs are no more than 25% of my income. That's just my personal rule -- some financial advice recommends up to 28% or 30%. I like to stay a little lower to play it safe, and so I can invest more.

When you have a big housing payment, an expensive car, and you go out to eat all the time, that can add up to thousands of dollars every month. But if you're careful about how much you spend in those areas, your overall spending will likely be fine, even if you aren't closely tracking everything else.

These are fairly simple money moves, at least in theory. In practice, they can be challenging, especially in the beginning. But they've all been well worth it. They took me from having almost nothing saved to being financially stable and seeing my net worth go up every year.

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