Three Tips to Manage Your Money with Clear Intentions

• Managing money isn't a skill everyone grows up learning.
• Having a knowledgeable financial base contributes to a healthy lifestyle. 
• The sooner you commit to your financial goals, the sooner you will succeed in achieving them. 

Managing money isn't a skill everyone grows up learning. Parents may shy away from educating their children about finances, and personal finance courses are only required in 21 out of 50 states. However, managing money is an important skill to master because it will help you avoid debt, establish great credit, and ultimately increase your financial health in the long run.

A knowledgeable financial base contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Whether you are an adult paying monthly bills or a high school teenager who plans to start a business, you must have clear intentions when dealing with and managing money.

Check out our top three tips on how you can intentionally manage your money.

Save and spend consciously.

Your spending habits will quickly show you more about yourself than you think. If your banking transactions from the last three months could talk, what would they say about how you spend your money?

Conscious spending will allow you to decide what you want to spend your money on and why. Whether you are allocating money toward your monthly rent, saving for a house, or treating yourself to a spa day, each dollar should have an assigned task before leaving your bank account.

Let's ditch the act of spending money without a purpose and start to mindfully plan how we use our money as a tool to further our goals.

Use a budget to further your money goals.

Many people shy away from a budget because keeping track of your spending may seem like a nuisance. We're here to tell you that budgeting doesn't have to be boring. Budgeting should be viewed as a tool to gain control over your money and further help achieve your money goals.

Choose a day and prioritize 30 minutes to work on your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly budget. Your budget will work to your benefit to provide you with a sense of relief as you get your finances on the right track. Considering which options work best for you, a few great budgeting methods to take advantage of are the zero-based budget method and the 50/30/20 budget rule.

Honor your current money commitments.

Whether you are paying rent or investing, your money commitments should be taken seriously. Decide what you will commit to with your money. Are you dedicated to investing in building wealth? Are you set on saving your coins to live life on your own terms (financial independence)?

The sooner you commit to your financial goals, the sooner you will succeed in achieving them. Honoring your financial agreements will build your self-confidence and support your journey in achieving all your money goals.