So often in the personal finance world we hear these astonishing stories of people climbing out from under a pile of debt, or building a thriving business from scratch. These are stories to be applauded. They also often come with a pivotal moment when the switch flipped and they became a financial ninja.
As someone with one of those kinds of stories, let me the one to clear the air. You don’t need the perfect moment to start learning about money. You don’t need to hit rock bottom to climb to the top. Consider this your personal invitation to start learning about money today.
Part of the American narrative is the bootstraps story. The lone wolf, working with nothing to build something spectacular. And that story can be inspiring, but it can also be isolating. What happens if you don’t have crushing debt but you also have no idea how to start investing? What if your parents supplement your lifestyle a little but you need help negotiating a raise at work?
Learning about money doesn’t have to be all or nothing. We shouldn’t forget those in the middle of the road as we all walk our financial journey.
We All Need to Learn About Money
For example, I wish that I had grown up talking about money. I really think it would have made a huge difference in my adulthood. So if you’re a parent, let me encourage you to have money discussions with your children. Share with them the value of a dollar. Try to get them to do a savings challenge so that they become aware of what it means and what it takes to save money.
These can be casual conversations with your children. There is no need for a huge production in order to talk about saving money. Bring it up at the dinner table as something you want to do as a family. Mention it as you drop them off at school. There is no picture perfect moment to begin to learn about money. Money is just a fact of life, and so too should be learning about it.
If you want to make a financial change in your life, today is a great day to get started. The heavens don’t need to open up; you don’t need to find yourself sobbing over a credit card bill to get it together.
A Few Small Steps
I found my way into financial action by reading stories online of how others use their money. I read these blogs and stories online for a few months, and then I started implementing the strategies I saw into my own life.
From there I learned more, and got creative about looking for ways to save and earn more. I couldn’t follow someone’s path exactly, because I was living my own life. Personal finance is personal after all!
Taking a few small steps into learning will open the door to so many chances to be good with money. To learn about money takes time and it takes trial and error- you find what works for you and your lifestyle and you go from there.
So from one personal finance blogger to the world: this is my official invite to you to learn about money.
Looking for more great articles on how I handle my money? Try these articles:
Why I Have Trouble Spending Money
How I’m Paying Off That $1,200 Credit Card Bill
Kara Perez is the original founder of From Frugal To Free. She is a money expert, speaker and founder of Bravely Go, a feminist financial education company. Her work has been featured on NPR, Business Insider, Forbes, and Elite Daily.