Lifestyle

A Little-Known Way to Break Free of the Blues

You’re beautiful, but you just don’t feel it. Your life is going well, but you imagine things are falling apart at the seams like a cheap dress.

Although things appear increasingly better this year, you feel worn out, jaded by all the stressors of 2020, a difficult year. You’ve tried to figure things out—reading self-help books, talking to a therapist, and sharing with your loved ones—but you can’t seem to shake off this sense of futility, this inexplicable funk.

While there are plenty of good things to say about changing from the inside-out, if that’s not working for you, try something else: try changing from the outside-in. Here are some suggestions on how to use this approach to break free of the blues.

Look and Feel Beautiful

You’ll be amazed at how a facial can transform your appearance. Once you relax the tension in the fine muscles of your face with a massage and use steam, extraction, creams, and lotions to improve your skin, you will positively glow. In fact, you won’t be able to look in a mirror without smiling back at yourself, and you’ll also notice furtive admiring glances from the corner of your eye when you’re in public. Use an online directory in your city to get the best facials; so, for instance, if you live in Atlanta, don’t use Google, but a specialized service directory to do a search for facials in Atlanta.

After your facial, invest in a few beauty products that make a significant difference. Vitamin C serum, for example, will protect against skin damage. It also repairs a variety of skin issues, such as an uneven tone, dry spots, sagging skin, sunburn, hyperpigmentation, and photoaging.

Get Fit and Fabulous

Do you need to gain or lose weight? Do you need to lose flab and tone up your muscle? Do you look great but still need more energy, strength, and endurance?

The solution to all these common health and fitness issues is diet and exercise.

Rather than following a popular diet, it might be more beneficial to create a healthy eating plan. Talk to a nutritionist to find out the best foods or spend some time researching nutrition.

After you’ve figured out the best eating plan, then turn your attention to how to exercise. You can join a gym or a yoga class to get your mojo back and start exercising regularly.

Make and Manage Your Money

Now that you’ve spent some time on self-care, and mastered the forgotten arts of dieting and exercising, it’s time to review good financial habits that will gradually improve your net worth.

Some ways to revamp your finances include restructuring your debt to stop worrying about your financial security, creating a budget to control your spending, contributing more to your retirement account, tucking away your savings in a high-interest account, and creating a side hustle to earn extra money.

The Outside-In Approach

Once you make these simple changes, you will feel more confident and do more of the things that the confident version of you would do. You’ll not only look fantastic, but you’ll also be healthier and more energetic than before. And, since you’re taking better care of your finances, you’ll be feeling more secure.

Changing how you look and feel and behave will change how you think about everything. It’s difficult to feel miserable when you look fabulous all the time. When you spend some focused time on self-care, then you’ll feel good enough about yourself and where you are in life to notice the beauty of the world around you.

When you’re feeling blue, introspection isn’t the only way to get out of it. Sometimes changing things within your control, like your appearance, health and fitness, and financial well-being can flip on your optimism.

Good Habits That Will Increase Your Net Worth

 

Good Habits That Will Increase Your Net Worth

Inheritance and high income are not the only things that boost you to the upper tax brackets. Building wealth begins with changing the way you view and spend money. While raises and huge financial wins are great, it is the day-to-day habits that will increase your net worth.

Creating good spending habits marks the difference between financial success or distress. Instead of planning from paycheck to paycheck, you need to have a long-term view and savings plan. Reverse this thinking, and put your financial goals first.

5 Good Habits that Will Increase Your Net Worth

1. Pay Down Your Debt.

Since your net worth is the total sum of your assets minus your debts, it makes sense to pay off what you owe. Debt greatly detracts from this, so regularly paying down more principle on your debt is a good habit to increase your net worth.

If you have a large amount that you owe, you may consider debt consolidation or speak with a debt relief agency.  These programs are especially helpful if you carry a lot of high-interest credit card debt. With one phone call, you can reduce your interest rates and monthly payments.

2. Evaluate Your Monthly Spending.

Not only is it important to build good habits, but also to identify bad ones as well. So, it is good to get into the habit of performing regular budget checks. These reviews allow you to make sure you are living within your means. Looking over your financial statements and monthly bills is an easy way to track your monthly spending habits. It is also a good way to determine if you have too many unnecessary expenses.

Creating a budget will help you save money and move towards your long-term financial goals. This does not mean that you have to give up everything you love, but you may discover monthly memberships or subscriptions you can do without. If you want to establish good spending habits that will increase your net worth, then you must also break the ones that negatively impact it as well.

3. Max Out Retirement Contributions.

Another crucial step in building your net worth is through your retirement accounts. While this may not seem a high priority in your twenties and thirties, it should be. The sooner you begin saving for retirement, the more money you will have for your golden years.

Many employers offer retirement plans with tax-advantaged accounts and contribution matching to help your funds grow even faster. If you do not take advantage of these benefits, then you are missing out on free money you could use to add to your net worth. Furthermore, these investment vehicles save you even more since it defers taxable income until your lowest earning years. Increasing your generative assets puts your money to work overtime and exponentially adds to your net worth.

4. Put Your Money in High-Interest Savings Accounts.

Choosing the correct savings account can help build your net worth more than you may realize. Even though current interest rates have not risen to previous levels, you can still earn more with a high-interest savings account than in a traditional one.

If you do not need immediate access to these funds, shop around to see which type of account will earn you the most interest. Leaving your money in low-interest checking accounts or stashed under your mattress actually depreciates the value of your earnings over time. Simple changes like this will maximize your earning potential. However, you also need to set the habit of contributing regularly to the account to reap the greatest benefits from it.

5. Look for Ways to Increase Your Earnings.

The bottom line is that if you want to increase your net worth, you need to look for ways to earn and save more. It starts by optimizing your savings strategy to best suit your long-term goals. However, you must also find ways to increase your earnings and assets. You could bring in more income by asking for a raise at your current job, looking for a side job, or earning passive income.

In addition to generating more income, any financial advisor will tell you to also invest when appropriate. There are numerous options of where to invest your money, but make sure you do not put all your eggs in one basket. Diversification protects your assets and earns more interest than savings accounts ever could. Let compounding interest help increase your net worth.

Consult with a Financial Advisor

If you ever find yourself with more questions than answers, it may be time to seek professional guidance. Setting up a consultation with a financial advisor can give you an objective assessment of your finances. Asking for help and getting expert advice are also good habits that will increase your net worth.

Many financial planners will offer a no-cost initial consultation free of charge. If you decide to use their services, they can help you evaluate new investment opportunities, begin retirement planning, and ensure you are getting the most out of your portfolio. Even if you are on the right path, expert advice can keep you moving towards your long-term financial goals.

Don’t Wait to Start Creating Good Habits

No matter what plan of action you choose, the most important thing is not to procrastinate in acting on them. It is easy to tell yourself that you will start working on your financial goals later. However, “later” can quickly become “never.” There will always be financial demands that seem more important, but there is no time like the present to start establishing good habits to increase your net worth. It does not require huge sums of cash to start planning for your future. Start small and build on that, using the small gains as momentum towards your savings goals. As you see financial progress and meet milestones, it will reinforce these good habits and keep you on the right track.

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The Cost of Moving to the Suburbs

The suburbs have always seemed like an extremely affordable place to live, especially when you compare the suburbs to city living.

Suburban houses are generally larger and less expensive, and you can usually expect things like gas to be cheaper as well. However, there are a few things that contribute to some hidden costs of moving to the suburbs.

If you are planning on moving to the suburbs, you are more than likely going to be moving into a larger place than your current abode. The median home in a city center is about 1,238 square feet, and in the suburbs, the median home size is 1,540 square feet or more.

Here are a few extra costs that you will need to keep in mind before selling your current home and moving to the suburbs.

HOA Fees

In most suburbs, you will be required to pay a homeowner’s association (HOA) fee every month. This will cover the costs of neighborhood upkeep and amenities such as a pool or a playground.

If there is an HOA, chances are the home price will be higher as well. Houses in a neighborhood that have an HOA typically sell for 4% more than non-HOA neighborhoods.

Bigger Home, Bigger Yard, Bigger Costs

Even if you are moving from the city and have a yard, chances are it isn’t anywhere near as large as one that is in a suburban community. If you are planning on taking care of the yard by yourself, you will need to invest in the proper equipment to do so.

The proper equipment includes a lawnmower, weed whacker, fertilizer, and more items depending on what you are wanting to do. However, if you are not interested in taking care of the yard yourself, you will need to hire someone else to do it for you. This will be a cost you will need to expect to pay every month.

If you are planning on hiring a cleaning service to maintain your home for you, this will also be more expensive in the suburbs. A bigger house means more to clean, so you will have to consider that as well.

Furniture Shopping

When you move to a house that has more space, you are going to need more furniture to fill the space. This could mean a new bedroom suite for a spare room to be used as a guest room, a bigger couch for your living room, or an entire set of furniture for a basement.

Furniture is not cheap, and these expenses can add up quickly. Typically, a homebuyer will spend more than $8,000 on new furniture and decorations within their first two years of living in a new home. Make sure you have this cost accounted for if you need some new things.

Utilities

A larger home comes with larger bills, and that doesn’t just mean a larger house payment. There is more space and an open area that will need to be heated and cooled.

You will also likely have larger appliances that will need more energy to power. You will be using more electricity, water, and gas than you would in a smaller place.

For example, if your monthly electric bill costs you about $100 in the city, you can expect to pay about $120 in the suburbs. This seems like only a $20 difference, but these costs will add up quickly before you know it. That extra $20 a month adds up to $240 a year.

You will also need to remember that you will likely be paying for trash removal in the suburbs. This service can cost you anywhere from $30 to $50 depending on where you live.

Car Payments

When you live in a city, there are means of public transportation that are easily accessible from just about anywhere you would need. In the suburbs, there are way fewer options for public transportation, meaning you will need to own a car if you don’t already.

Owning a car is not a cheap expense. In 2019, the average car payment for a new car was over $550. You will also need to think about the costs associated with owning a car like insurance, maintenance, and gas prices. Speaking of gas prices, this will also make your commute to and from work more expensive.

Natural Disasters

In the suburbs, especially in a house with a basement, flooding is a massive problem that is experienced. If the area you are moving to has a higher number of trees, you can expect to have debris blown into your home, and you face a higher risk of trees falling on your property. It’s also possible for tree roots to break pipes that are underneath the yard.

Property Taxes

Property taxes are a major cost to consider because they can be wildly more expensive than you would think. Look at Chicago for example, the suburbs have rates of about 2% in the suburbs and 1.74% in the city. This is common because the suburbs have larger lot sizes than in the city, so you will have more space to pay for.

Sticking with the Chicago example, the property taxes in some counties of Illinois can range between $6,000 and $7,000 per year, costing more than $500 per month. In some cases, this could even be as much as your mortgage payment.

Property tax is one of the largest costs you will need to pay for your home, so make sure you are aware of how much it is going to cost you.

Conclusion

Living in the suburbs seems like an extremely ideal situation because you get more bang for your buck. You get more house and more yard than you do in the city at a lower price. Hard to pass up on, right? However, you will need to take into consideration all of the extra costs that living in the suburbs comes with.

Chances are, the suburb you are moving to has an HOA fee that needs to be paid every month. You will also need to prepare for higher utilities and transportation costs as well. There is less public transportation, so you will have to have a car, pay for insurance on it, and pay for gas to get to and from work. Check out even more details at the link below:

https://suburbanfinance.com/costs-of-living-in-the-suburbs/

Moving to the suburbs is a great choice if you are wanting to raise a family in a safe, spacious home. As long as you are aware of the costs and you can afford it, absolutely move to the suburbs.

For more great Suburban Finance articles, consider reading these:

Can You Have Two Car Loans At Once?

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