It would be easy to sit here and wag my finger at you and explain how you should be budgeting every dollar you earn, leaving room for investing. BUT GUESS WHAT. A lot of people are never going to maintain a budget their entire lives. And that’s ok. You can live a long, successful, happy life without having a budget. Your friends and family will still love and respect you. Well, actually I guess it depends on your whether your friends and family liked you in the first place. If not, the budgeting thing probably isn’t gonna help.

Anyway. What a lot of us do is get paid, then just spend the money in we see in our bank account! Simple, right?! The problem is, that money can tend to ALL get spent. Then when we think about investing, the money is already gone! If that sounds like you, try flipping the script! Before that money hits your bank account, devote some to investing! This could take the form of an increased 401K contribution, splitting your direct deposit, or setting up an auto-investment into a Roth IRA. If you “pay yourself first”, then you can default back to your “no budget” status and spend the money you have in your bank account resting easier knowing that your automated system is building wealth along the way too. This can also work for savings goals, like a car, house, wedding (don’t get me started), etc.

Do you pay yourself first? Do you have any automated investments, transfers, etc?

As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.

-Jeremy