Core Principles

Hello Aspiring Chillers,

This is the last post of the year, and for me, it's all about getting back to the basics to start the new year. That's why, starting today and for the foreseeable future, we will focus on the core principles of personal finance. This will be a high-level overview of those topics, and then each follow-up article will delve into the details of each area.

The key to learning and applying any concept you come across is to understand the core principles, knowing that anything more complex is just an extension of these fundamental ideas.

I believe there are really six core principles in personal finance:

1. Cash Management (Budgets & Expenses)

2. Debt & Credit Management

3. Saving & Investing

4. Goal Setting & Planning

5. Risk Management (Insurance)

6. Taxes

Everything in finance is based on one or more of these concepts. The goal for the first few months of 2024 will be to thoroughly explore these concepts so that everyone feels comfortable with all of them.

If you have ever dreamed of waking up and not worrying about your finances, then the first step is to understand them. Once we understand them, we can improve them. If we improve them, we will save more, and that will lead us to one day not needing to wake up and worry about them. Some of these concepts can seem scary and too complex. I am going to do my absolute best to break them down in easy and fun ways so that we can all move forward together! That starts with Cash Management. Next week, we are going to discuss a few of the leading ways to create a basic budget. Just the act of starting a budget will bring your attention to things that need improvement. When we know what needs improvement, it is much easier to do so.

There’s the saying, "What gets measured gets done." So let's all start by measuring.

We are really starting to grow as a community, and it is so great to be able to reach all of you! For those of you that are new, you should check out my first couple of posts to learn more about me and why I am on a mission to help all of you improve your finances to improve your lives!

If you have any tips or tricks that have helped you with Cash Management, please reply to this email and send them my way! I would love to take a look at what has worked for others and work that into upcoming articles.