Money Admiration: The Practical Steps to Financial Freedom

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What is Financial Freedom

Financial freedom is having enough cash and investments on hand to be financially secure. With financial freedom, you’re able to make important life decisions without being held back by a paycheck, debt, or any other financial obligations that you owe.

In essence, financial freedom ensures that you can support your family in the lifestyle of your choosing without financial strain or worry. And the steps to financial freedom that I will be sharing with you today are far simpler than you may think.

Remember, materialism can easily shackle you to a job you hate, dependence on a regular paycheck, and an ever-growing desire to impress others. But life isn’t about buying everything you’ve ever wanted. As the great Paula Pant always says, you can afford anything but not everything. It really is that simple.

By living a comfortable lifestyle with a reasonable amount of consumer spending—especially on things like groceries, cars, and utilities—and an extraordinary amount of saving and investing, you can obtain financial freedom and build a safety net for you and your family. The steps to financial freedom are within your grasp, even if you don’t know it just yet.

In all honesty, the best part of creating a personalized financial freedom plan is that you can do it on any income, with any level of education, and with any size family to support. It just takes time and preparation.

Let’s get educated!

Why is Financial Freedom Important

Financial freedom is important because it gives you control over your own life so that you can make the lifestyle choices that matter most to you.

The whole basis for building a financial freedom plan, therefore, is to understand why financial security is important to you specifically. Here are 5 financial freedom affirmations to help you focus on your own financial goals, not the goals of others.

Steps to Financial Freedom

Learning the steps to financial freedom ensures that you are prepared to use your money wisely, avoid taking on unnecessary debt, and succeed in your goal of reaching financial independence. As you move through the steps to financial freedom, you secure a safe future for yourself and your family.

Here are the 5 steps to financial freedom so that you can take control of your life and use money as a tool to get ahead:

1. Invest in Yourself

Go to college, learn a trade, or take some classes online. It really doesn’t matter how you do it. You just need to gain marketable skills for the career you’re interested in pursuing. Educating yourself is one of the most critical steps to financial freedom, so don’t take it lightly.

2. Know Where Your Money is Going

You should know exactly what you’re spending your money on each month and why. If you can’t answer the why behind what you’re buying, you don’t need that item in the first place. Each of the steps to financial freedom is designed to put you in control, and you can only make educated decisions if you know where your money is going.

3. Automate Your Accounts

By automating your savings each month, you’ll be sure to pay your future self before you pay others. The best part is that automating your accounts is one of the easiest steps to financial freedom because you only have to do it once.

4. Avoid Lifestyle Creep

Whenever you get a raise, receive a bonus, or take on a second job, hide the money from yourself immediately. Bump up your emergency fund, put more money in your HSA and retirement accounts, or transfer more into your kid’s 529. Don’t spend the extra money on frivolous things just because you can. You’ll never obtain financial freedom if you keep falling for the life-sucking force called lifestyle creep. In fact, avoiding lifestyle creep is one of the most powerful steps to financial freedom.

5. Save More Than You Spend

The last step to financial freedom is to save more than you spend. Don’t worry about keeping up with the Joneses. They only pretend to be successful and happy on social media. Be way smarter than them and save as much money as you can. No one needs a house that big, a brand-new car every few years, or the latest iPhone.

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Mastering the Steps to Financial Freedom

Money mastery should never be left to a select few. Anyone with any income and any skill level can gain the knowledge needed to reach financial freedom.

Here are the top 11 reasons why you should consider mastering the steps to financial freedom today:

1. You can educate yourself and gain skills that make you in demand in the labor market.
2. You can become a self-sufficient adult who no longer relies on your parents or romantic partners to get by.
3. You can live debt-free.
4. You can escape a bad relationship that is no longer serving you.
5. You can provide a safe home for your family.
6. You can feed your family healthy, nutrient-dense meals.
7. You can provide physical and mental health services for your family.
8. You can walk away from a job that is killing you with stress.
9. You can build a safety net so that you never have to worry about getting fired or laid off again.
10. You can take a gap year or retire early so that you can focus on what brings you joy.
11. You can leave a legacy behind to those you love.

Remember, it’s your choice whether you live a life of constant wants and needs or live a comfortable life with financial independence as your ultimate goal.

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The Financial Freedom Movement

The financial freedom movement is a lifestyle choice in which people from all socioeconomic backgrounds decide to take control of their money and allow it to work for them so they can lead richer, more fulfilling, and more peaceful lives with financial security in place.

It should come as no surprise then that the financial freedom movement is gaining a lot of traction these days. People from every walk of life are sick and tired of being controlled by their money. I mean, who would want to work long hours at a job you hate for your entire life just to get by? I certainly don’t, and neither does anyone else for that matter.

So the financial freedom movement was born, but what exactly is it?

You know that old saying “money can’t buy happiness”? Well, it’s incredibly true. There are plenty of rich people in the world who are completely miserable. Just think of all the celebrities who finally had the money and fame they always dreamed of just to die young from alcoholism, drugs, or suicide.

They seem to have everything in life to us mere mortals, but the one thing that was missing from their lives was happiness. And happiness means everything.

Of course, there are also plenty of people living in extreme poverty who are miserable too. I mean, honestly, how can live your best life when you’re constantly worried about food, clean water, and shelter? Basic necessities are incredibly hard to come by when you don’t have the education, skills, or community support needed to make a name for yourself out in the professional world.

Can someone from extreme poverty lift himself out of the poverty cycle and find success? Of course. Will it be easy? Heck no!

Money can’t buy the happiness you’re looking for in life no matter what your financial situation is, but it can definitely bring you financial freedom. And financial freedom will make you a whole lot happier in the end. That’s a win-win in my book.

Now that you know the steps to financial freedom, it’s easier than ever to come up with a financial freedom plan that is personalized to meet your wants and needs.

Financial Freedom Plan

Are you ready to create financial freedom in your life? There’s no time like the present to create a personalized financial freedom plan that works for you.

Here are 8 things to keep in mind as you develop your own financial freedom plan:

• You didn’t grow up daydreaming about how amazing it would be to be unemployed, hungry, and homeless.

• You don’t want to be stuck living in your parent’s home for all of eternity.

• You never think about how great it would be to feel trapped in an abusive relationship because you can’t afford to leave.

• You haven’t hoped to provide a worse childhood for your own children than the one you had.

• You didn’t want to keep working at a job that made you physically ill from stress every time you headed to work.

• You don’t look forward to getting laid off or fired from your job and losing everything.

• You never want to be an elderly person working a menial job because you have no retirement savings to speak of.

• You haven’t hoped to be a financial burden on your family in old age.

So sit down, have a financial conversation with your partner, family members, or close friends, and start working on the 5 steps to financial freedom today.

It’s time to take control of your life by educating yourself on financial topics, bankrolling your emergency and FU funds, and insisting that your money serves you. You will never reach financial freedom by accident. You have to put in the time and effort it takes to get there and making a commitment to work through the steps to financial freedom is your ticket to success.

Forget what advertisers say about where your money should go. Personal finances are meant to be personal, and it’s up to you to decide what your priorities are—not the nameless, faceless people whose sole job it is to get you to buy, buy, buy.

Most of the material items you think you want are a huge waste of money and will only end up being a burden on your home, your to-do list, and your wallet.

The only place your money should go is toward buying you financial freedom and increasing your happiness. You deserve to be free of debt. You deserve to be free of worry. And you deserve to be free of fear.

Today is the perfect day to make that happen.

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Financial Freedom Affirmations

Saying financial freedom affirmations daily helps you stay positive and keep your short and long-term goals in mind. Use financial freedom affirmations as a guide to manifesting the financial security that you desire.

Here are 10 additional financial freedom affirmations to say daily as you work through the steps to financial freedom and build your personalized financial freedom plan:

1. I work hard, so I deserve the money I earn.
2. Saving money is the best gift I can give to myself.
3. I am buying my freedom through financial security.
4. I am smart enough to invest my money wisely.
5. Nothing can stop me from reaching my financial goals.
6. Having a stockpile of cash is better than having a house full of stuff.
7. I have the power to make sure my family is taken care of financially.
8. Living a simple life is incredibly peaceful.
9. I collect life experiences, not material items.
10. My favorite moments in life are shared with those I love, not buying stuff.

Start saying these financial freedom affirmations today, and you’ll be surprised by how much work you get done on your financial freedom plan in a short amount of time. Remember, it’s never too late, and you’re never too broke, to find the success you’ve been looking for. I’m here to cheer you on every step of the way!

FAQs

1. What is the definition of financial freedom?

Financial freedom simply means having your spending under control so that you can save and invest the rest, resulting in a cash stockpile that provides financial security for you and your family. When you reach financial freedom, it means that you can live your life the way you want without being stuck in debt.

2. How does financial freedom work?

Financial freedom means different things to different people. In essence, having financial freedom means that you have a big enough cash cushion that you can make important life decisions without being held back due to financial hardship.

2. Is a financial freedom vision board a good way to get organized?

A financial freedom vision board is a great way to help you determine your financial goals and manifest them. Whether created on paper or digitally, a financial freedom vision board is a visual representation of what you want your finances to look like in the future and a great reminder of the steps you need to get there.

Sources

• American Association of Retired Persons: What Your Stuff is Costing You
• American Psychology Association: The Secret to Happiness: Feeling Good or Feeling Right?
• CNBC: Consumer Debt Hits New Record of $14.3 Trillion
• United States Census Bureau: Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate: 1959 to 2019
• Paula Pant: Afford Anything
• NPR: If Your Spending is Eating Your Savings, You Might Be Experiencing ‘Lifestyle Creep’

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What comes to mind as you work on the steps to financial freedom? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.