How to Manage Your Money Better
5 Min Read | Last updated: January 29, 2024
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Learn how to manage your money and finances for the future with these smart money management tips.
At-A-Glance
- Learning how to manage money wisely is a relatively simple skill that most people can master.
- Creating a budget that allows you to pay your bills on time is usually a good place to start.
- Once your current spending is under control, you can begin saving for the future.
Stressed out about money? Join the club. According to a 2023 Gallup survey, more than half of Americans are concerned about having enough money to maintain their standard of living.1 Still, some people are much better than others at making the most of what they have. What do they know that others don’t?
Money management is not a mysterious art known only to a chosen few. However, there are some practices you might consider, such as paying your bills on time and setting a realistic budget.2
Here are a few guidelines that can help you learn how to manage your money and save for the future:
How to Manage Money Better? Create a Budget
Think budgeting sounds difficult or tedious? It doesn’t have to be—and even if it takes you a while at first, it’s well worth the effort. Creating a budget can help bring your finances under control. It can help you manage your money wisely. It may help you to stop spending money you don’t have, and to spend the money you do have on things that will make a real difference in your life.3
The envelope strategy. There are many ways to make a budget, but one of the simplest and most effective is to label an envelope for each category of your monthly spending (e.g. food, rent/mortgage, auto payments, cell phones, nights out, etc.).4 Then take the total amount of money you have to spend that month and distribute it among the envelopes. When the cash in an envelope is gone—that’s it. You can’t spend any more money on that category until the following month. This will make you keenly aware of how you spend your money and encourage you to stay within your limits.
The 50/30/20 plan. With this approach to budgeting, you spend 50% of your funds on necessities, 30% on things you want but don’t have to have, and the remaining 20% on savings or paying down debts.5 This method can be a good way to set your spending priorities and then make progress toward your financial goals.
For a deeper dive into how to create a budget, read “How to Make a Monthly Budget, One Step at a Time.”
Manage Your Money Better by Paying Bills on Time
Want to live within your means and stay out of debt? Consider paying each bill in full as soon as it’s due. If you commit to that approach, then you won’t spend money you don’t have, won’t need to borrow, and will save on interest charges and late payments. Plus, your credit score may improve, making it easier to apply for a credit card, lease a car, take out a mortgage, and manage your money in general.6
But most Americans (65%) spend everything they earn and sometimes more each month, according to a Harris Poll commissioned by Barron's,7 pushing them into debt and giving them very little leeway in the event of an emergency or unexpected expense. Setting a realistic budget and then staying current on your bills can help improve your financial health.8
Smart Money Management Involves Saving, Too
Followed by paying your bills on time and creating and staying within your budget, the third key component of smart money management is to grow your savings.9,10
Saving money is a way toward living a more comfortable life. It allows you to obtain the things you really want and to prepare for the future. There are four key steps to growing your savings:
- Pay off your debts: Whether they’re credit cards, student loans, or auto payments, these debts can cost you extra money each month in the form of interest payments and fees. Before you can begin accumulating savings in earnest, you have to pay down your debts and—at the very least—get them to a manageable level. So, whenever possible, it’s a good idea to pay an additional amount over your minimum monthly payment to help reduce your debt faster.11
- Start an emergency fund: To weather any storms that come your way, you’ll need money in the bank. Having a small emergency fund helps you roll with the punches. A good rule of thumb is to sock away three-to-six months of living expenses.12,13 If that’s too ambitious for now, feel free to start smaller—the key is to start.
- Invest for the future: Need a down-payment for a house? Hope to send your kid to college? Want to retire comfortably? These goals can be easier to reach if you begin investing in them early.14
- Persistence: Your savings may not seem like much at first, and the temptation is always there to spend more on life’s immediate pleasures. But by staying the course each month, your savings can grow and bring your dreams closer to reality.10
The Takeaway
With practice, the ability to manage money wisely is a skill everyone can master. Following three simple rules—creating and sticking to a budget, paying your bills on time, and saving earnestly and regularly—will help many people improve their financial outlook.
1 “Americans Remain Discouraged About Personal Finances,” Gallup
2 “5 Valuable Financial Tips for College Students,” U.S. Department of Education
3 “Making a Budget,” Consumer.gov
4 “Budgeting and Savings Tools,” FDIC
5 “Analyzing budgets,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
6 “What is a credit score?,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
7 “Living Paycheck to Paycheck Is Common, Even Among Those Who Make More Than $100,000,” Barron’s
8 “An essential guide to building an emergency fund,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
9 “Savings-Related Resources,” FDIC
10 “Save and Invest,” MyMoney.gov
11 “Paying Off Credit Cards,” National Credit Union Administration
12 “Start Building Your Financial Resilience Today,” U.S. Department of Labor
13 “Emergency Funds: The First Step to Financial Freedom,” Office of Financial Readiness
14 “Saving Early = Saving Smart!,” Federal Student Aid
Elliot Kass is a journalist who has covered global business and technology from New York, London, and San Francisco for more than 30 years.
All Credit Intel content is written by freelance authors and commissioned and paid for by American Express.
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The material made available for you on this website, Credit Intel, is for informational purposes only and intended for U.S. residents and is not intended to provide legal, tax or financial advice. If you have questions, please consult your own professional legal, tax and financial advisors.
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