We live in a world where financial advice is at our fingertips. Turn on the TV, read it online, or hear it from a friend and you’ll find any number of outlets to get advice from. “Open more credit cards!” “Buy a house right away!” “Cut up your credit cards!” “Pay cash for everything!” It can certainly get a little overwhelming. Instead of being just another voice in the crowd, I thought I’d just give you a little insight into my own personal mindset. I certainly live a little differently from many of my peers, and that’s cause I think differently about my money! Here are 8 ways I think differently about it:

1. Time value of money. Understand that your money is valuable and that interest compounds over time. This can both negatively affect you (debt) or positively (investments). A couple of percentage points over a long period of time will add up to big gains down the road. Conversely, debt can really hinder you and lock you into a vicious cycle that can be difficult to escape. Focus on first getting out of debt (great segway into #2) and then invest wisely in things
   that grow over time!
2. Debt is dumb (in most cases). Humans are notoriously bad at overestimating the riskiness of debt. We minimize the risk level of a decision and will sometimes take on more than make sense at that risk level. Sure debt looks good when the sun is shining, but the sun doesn’t always shine and when the clouds and rain comes in, you better hope you have the coverage to pay up!
3. Inflation is real. Your money today will be worth less (hopefully not worthless) a year from now. As the economy ticks along and grows, so do wages and prices. Some years inflation is negative (deflation), but most years it’ll be about 2%. This means a dollar today is worth $0.98 a year from now. Therefore, keeping your money under a mattress will slowly lose money, despite it just sitting there! Learn to maintain a balanced portfolio that includes some investments; investments that hopefully will beat inflation!
4. It’s the little things in the budget that can break you. A couple of coffees here, a couple of lunches there, the going out for more than a couple of drinks with friends, can all really add up. Know your monthly budget and stick to it. If you overspend in one area, underspend in another.
5. It’s the little things in the budget that can make you. I clip coupons fairly religiously. Sure I might only save a couple of bucks at the grocery store, but hey, that’s $4 back in my pocket. I don’t often get dessert out at dinner and try to limit myself to just one drink when out for a meal. Small, conscious decisions to eat in more, make coffee at home, or carpool every once in a while can really add up over time
6. Income = Expenses + Savings. It’s shocking how few people don’t know how much they take home vs how much they spend. So many of us just hope we have enough in our checking accounts at month’s end. Figure out how much you make, how much you would like to save and how much that leaves you to spend. It’s that simple!
7. Use your money where it counts the most. Should you park cash in an index fund that might earn you 4% while you have student loans with an interest rate of 8%? Why save a lot in your retirement when you have 15% credit card debt on your plate? Definitely pay your expenses (including debt minimum payments) and then with any leftover cash, put it towards the thing with the higher interest rate!
8. Betting the farm is fine, until you lose the farm. Don’t be risk adverse, but be a risk mitigator. Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Be smart and only take on risk when you can afford to. None of us want to go bankrupt and lose it all!