From Overspending to Saving

A quick guide to financial wellness

Part 1 | Reading Time: 4 minues
By Ian Bin

Finances can be overwhelming. Everyone has different levels of understanding, but as you gain financial knowledge you will become more comfortable with your money management. Financial wellness, in the simplest of terms, is how well you can manage your needs and money, short and long term. Just remember before you continue reading: you can’t, and don’t need to, do it all in a day.

So why should I care about financial wellness?

So why should you care about financial wellness? For starters, being financially well has real health benefits like reduced stress. Stress management has been proven to reduce a ton of health issues. Being able to make and stick to a budget (a big part of financial wellness) can help you create healthy habits, build independence, and prepare for most emergencies in the future. The benefits are there, but the hardest part is getting started.

Throughout the years, I’ve often found that people “winged it” because they didn’t know what to do (a lot of this isn’t taught in school). Therein lies the first problem. The unknown can create fear and anxiety which can lead to an intense downward spiral that seems so overwhelming that you ignore your finances and dig yourself deeper and deeper into a financial pit of despair that can seem impossible to get out of until you find yourself unable to retire until you’re well into your 90s and how am I supposed to…

Stop. Breathe.

The first step is figuring out your priorities. Have you heard the saying “Fail to plan, plan to fail”? You aren’t going to get on a plane with a pilot who doesn’t have a destination. If you know where you want to go, you can create a plan to get to that place. With finance, creating a plan can seem scary and expensive. Either you spend hours with a financial planner at $250 per hour, or days on end learning and doing it yourself hoping that you’re learning the right things. Neither of these methods are an ideal choice when you’re first starting out. Once you’ve figured out your goal, start simple. Even creating a weekly budget of how much you spend leads to better saving habits.

Another argument I hear is “It takes money to make money.” Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s more about using the money you have effectively, and the first step is to manage what you have. That means figuring out the best way to pay off debt, cut back costs, and therefore increase the money you have. This can be done easily with pen and paper and some google searches, or using an excel sheet. If you do need extra help from people, the 3Nickels app can help anyone easily plan, get on track, and stay on track.

The app does the math for you and won’t ask you any questions you don’t have the answer to. Instead, it offers information on topics from budgeting to paying off debt to effectively saving for retirement, teaching it at your own pace.

Bottom line: it's possible

Our goal is to help the average person who doesn’t know how to manage their finances week to week or is just getting started. With or without our app, financial wellness is possible. Even creating a simple weekly budget can lead you to good financial habits that will help you in the future. It’s not about doing everything at once. It’s about taking that first step towards a healthier path to supporting yourself overall.