The Financial Rule of 1%

What if I told you that you don’t have to do it all? What if I told you that you don’t have to live in overwhelm and fear? You don’t have to struggle with managing money. I know that many times there are situations and circumstances outside your control. But you can absolutely take charge of your money. It doesn’t have to rule over you. Here’s how to quickly take charge of your money without losing your sanity using the Financial Rule of 1%. 

The 1% Rule

You don’t have to do it all. You just need to do 1% better. When figuring out what’s next in managing your money, ask yourself what you can do right now that will improve your situation by just 1%. Not 10%. Not 20, 30, or even 50 percent. Just 1%. 

Now maybe you’re thinking there’s not a lot that you can do to make it 1% better because it’s all horrible and wrong. But here’s the thing – it compounds on itself. All you’ve got to do is get that fire started and then apply the fuel, my friend. Trust me. Once you start taking charge of your money, it quickly compounds upon itself, and you’ll be changing up your family’s story with money sooner rather than later. 

Things you can do to make your situation 1% better right now:

• Cancel all (or most of) your streaming services. (Seriously, it won’t kill you to live without them for a few months.)
• Switch cell phone providers to a cheaper plan (I switched to Mint Moblie last year and have zero regrets). 
• Pick up a one-side hustle this weekend (walk dogs, do laundry, clean someone’s home, drive for Uber, tutor, proofread someone’s term paper, teach on Outschool, mow lawns, etc.)
• Agree not to go to the grocery store until you’ve eaten all the leftovers in your fridge. 
• Cook the majority of your meals at home and only order takeout once a week. Instead of five days a week. (I’ve even got an entire meal planning workbook complete with a month’s worth of recipes for you here).
• Use the library to borrow books from instead of buying them this year.
• Make a Plan of Attack (if you need to pay off debt, make a debt payoff plan of attack. If you need to build up an Emergency Fund, make a savings plan of attack. You get the idea). 
• Call around a get insurance and utility quotes to see if you can save money on your insurance and utility bills. 
• Do a No Spend Month (or even just a No Amazon Month if a no spend is too much to handle).
• Go on a social media hiatus for 30 days to avoid impulse purchases. 

Alright, I know that some of these things sound really sucky. You probably don’t want to do any of them but guess what? If you continue not to do anything at all, you will not improve your situation at all either. You could spend just a few minutes today taking action and making your finances just 1% better. Or you could decide that you don’t want to and just keep going the way you’re going. The choice is always yours. 

Maybe there’s nothing on the list above because you’ve done all these things to the full extent possible. Then guess what? Time to brainstorm! Get those creative juices following and come up with your own list of ideas! You’re an amazingly smart person, so use that God-given brainpower and create your own list!

Here’s the thing – there’s a lot that we can’t control, but there are some things we can absolutely control. And one of those things is what we spend our money on and how we spend our time. So if you’re struggling to pay bills and live paycheck to paycheck, my friend, you need to make some changes. You need to decide now what will help you get just 1% better for today. And then do that again tomorrow. What task can you do tomorrow that will make it just 1% better? Keep asking this question over and over again until, before you know it, you’re halfway there!

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