Intro

The outpour of support and emails has been truly humbling over the last few weeks. I appreciate each and every one of you, and hope you know that.

Both the supportive and constructive feedback I receive just helps me get better and deliver the type of content you, my subscribers, want to read. Please keep it coming.

With that being said, I wanted to address a few quick pieces of feedback I’ve received that are becoming a theme.

1) The majority of you want to see the newsletters once per week. No more, no less, so I will be sending them once per week. That seems to be the sweet spot and is also ideal for me as well.

2) You want to see more responses to the emails I receive providing direct advice to a reader. These are some of my favorite parts of each newsletter and I’m glad to give you more of what you want. If you want to be featured in one of my newsletters please write at [email protected]. I will always get your consent before posting.

3) Yes, I use AI-generated art on my site and email newsletter. I am a writer (which I do not use AI for), not a graphic artist. I will always give credit to the AI software that I use, which is generally Adobe Firefly. Some have used the words “art thief”, but I disagree and will continue using the software. If you want to provide your own art for me to use, I will gladly consider it and give you full credit if I use it in a newsletter.

Thank you again for the feedback and your support.

Stuck in a Financial Rut

Everyone who emails me is in a different situation in life. Some can’t seem to find a purpose in life. Some are successful in business but are struggling with addiction. Some have lost all hope and just need an ear to listen and someone to provide some friendly advice.

The most common thread that I’ve noticed though, is that most people were simply never set up for success early. They either didn’t have the best guidance or any guidance for that matter and just need a push in the right direction.

This week’s email comes from Justin K:

I would greatly appreciate any guidance or tips you can offer on how to effectively manage debt and make smart choices when it comes to spending and saving money. I’ve watched some of my friends thrive over the years with very little and others who make a ton of money fail. I really don’t understand credit and have been using a cash system for years, but it just isn’t working. Are there specific strategies or resources you would recommend for someone in my position? I'm eager to learn and willing to put in the effort to regain control of my finances.

First off, I’m proud of you for admitting you need assistance and for reaching out. It can be hard to go to a friend and ask this type of advice especially when it comes to how they use and manage their money. You are not alone, there are millions of people out there who need this type of guidance. Check out my story and action items below.

Lessons You Wish They Taught in School

***DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR IN ANY CAPACITY AND AM NOT SPONSORED BY ANY OF THE COMPANIES OR SERVICES MENTIONED IN THIS EMAIL. THIS IS SIMPLY A STORY OF HOW I SET MYSELF UP FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS AND THE COMPANIES, METHODS, AND SERVICES I USED TO GET THERE***

When I was in high school in the late 90s, I remember constantly thinking about when I would ever use the majority of the lessons I was being taught. I was never going to be an architect, scientist, engineer, doctor, etc. It seemed like a massive waste of time to me and it turns out I was right for the most part. I’ve never once used the Pythagorean theorem or had to recite the periodic table again. This is coming from someone who has a degree in education, mind you.

However, during my senior year, I had a choice to take either an advanced “College Algebra” course that would provide me with college credits or a class called “Applied Mathematics” which I knew nothing about other than it was the one that those who failed math took just to get through and earn their high school diploma.

I chose the latter and my mother was very disappointed, but it turned out to be the best class I’ve ever taken to date. I learned how to budget, invest, save, and build credit.

I’d like to share some of these lessons with you in hopes that they can get you on the road to financial freedom and success.

Money Moves

Some of the action items this week will sound like no-brainers to some and very basic, but it’s the basics that get the job done and set you up for financial success.

Actionable Items:

1) Track All Income & Expenses

• Sit down and take a hard look at everything going into and out of your bank account. Either create a simple Excel spreadsheet or download free software like Goodbudget, Nerdwallet, or Everydollar and track everything down to the penny. You need to fully understand and see your entire financial situation on paper.

2) Reduce Your Spending

• It sounds simple but can be challenging to give up some of the luxuries that you have gotten used to. Look for ways to cut your expenses from the budget you made in action item 1 as much as possible while still maintaining your quality of life.

• Have 3 TV services like Netflix, HBO & Hulu? Cut off two of them and just have one at a time. Have the unlimited ultimate mega internet service plan? If you aren’t doing high-end gaming or activities that require those types of speed and unlimited data, call your service provider to see how you can reduce. I personally made cuts to tv, internet, driving/gas, and fast food purchases when I was first establishing myself and all of that money went towards investments. I never missed any of those things and simply found better things to do and food to eat, my quality of life didn’t change one bit.

3) Establish Credit / Review Your Credit

• Understanding how to use credit is probably the most important tip on this list in my opinion. Credit is not the enemy, in fact, it can be one of your best financial friends. I will break this section down into separate parts for folks with different types of credit situations.

• If you have never established credit, your first step will be to find a bank that offers a low-limit card with zero annual fee. Your goal is to pay this card off each month before the due date and not spend more than you can pay. The interest rate does not matter when you are paying your card off each month before the due date, but you don’t ever want to pay interest. That is how people get in trouble with credit cards. After you do your budget in step one and understand how much you can pay, DO NOT exceed that spending limit and only charge that amount to your credit card. The rest will have to be cut from spending until you are more established.

• If you have already established credit and are doing well with a moderate or higher credit score (600 and above), go for a cashback/rewards card. These can be in the form of cash, points, or rewards. Again, go for one that doesn’t charge an annual fee and use the steps above to avoid paying interest. I earn thousands of dollars, travel miles, etc. per year by just with my normal daily spending on credit cards with cashback and rewards features and never pay fees or interest.

• If you have already gotten into debt with credit pull a free credit report from Credit Karma or one of the credit bureaus Experian, Transunion, or Equifax. Understand what debts you have and how much you owe. You will want to pay off the ones with the highest interest rate first and work this into your budget as an expense. If the debt is too overwhelming I recommend consulting a credit consolidation company or an attorney to look at bankruptcy or debt relief options. Beware of folks who charge large fees for these services and scams.

4) Look For Ways To Make More Money

• This can be through a promotion at work or a side gig. I have done both in my life and quadrupled my earnings every five years or so by doing my research and putting in the work to obtain a promotion or side job. See my previous email about putting in research and work to get what you want in life at the link below.

• Side gigs can include all kinds of things. Uber driving, Doordash food delivery, online support specialist, starting an email newsletter, a Youtube page that gets monetized, etc. The sky is the limit with these, some just might take more time than others to get established, but might pay off bigger in the end. Find something you enjoy here and make money doing it.

• None of my advice comes without hard work and dedication attached. It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.

5) Save Your Money and Invest It

• Once you have accomplished all of the actionable steps above and have money left over on your budget, you will need to establish an emergency fund and begin to invest your money.

• For your emergency fund, you will want to establish 3-6 months of money that you can stash away in a savings account in case you lose your job, there is a health emergency, etc. Pick a bank that offers a high-yield savings account with no fee or minimum. There are tons out there, just use Google to find them. Make money on your money.

• Once you have your emergency fund established, start investing. This is taking advantage of a company 401k and contributing as much as the company will match, starting a brokerage account on an app with no fees and investing in individual companies, crypto, or the S&P 500. I will not get too into this on this email, but will have a whole series on investing later. Watch videos and do your research before getting too far into this part and do not overextend yourself or invest recklessly.

Hang in There

I want to end this email the same way I ended last weeks email because I feel the message stills stands.

This is will a long journey, I repeat this will be a long journey.

There will be quick wins, but I know a ton of successful and happy people and none of them, zero, were an overnight success. It takes hard work and dedication so hang in there. I got you.

I hope that you enjoyed this content and will return and read my next email. We are still at the beginning of this journey, and I still have a great deal of advice and guidance to give. I will always provide direct, actionable tips that helped me and will help you find the joy in life that you have been seeking.

Until we meet again, check out the links below to my blog, Twitter (X), and email newsletter. You can also reach out to me anytime at [email protected].

Cheers.

-Tommy

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