Hey Girl, Listen: Financial Literacy Tips
Budgeting may seem like a daunting task, it may even be boring or anxiety inducing. This is especially true if you have a lot of debt, large bills, or a family that you’re trying to provide for. I know when I was a teenager, I was always so bored out of my mind by budgeting, and though I’ve tried to do better there were times where it seemed like just everything was hitting my wallet at one time and I’d be back to square one with no progress whatsoever.
That being said, in November of 2025 I started making some small changes, and I am now working toward my financial goals steadily just like I’m going to teach you here in this post. Before I dive in, I’m going to leave this little menu here for you guys so that you can skip ahead to other sections if you’d like. If you have any tips of your own feel free to leave them in the comments I would appreciate it!
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Debt˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Budgeting˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Savings˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Tools to Utilize ˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Assistance Resources
Debt
Being in debt can be a scary thing, but it doesn’t have to be, and you don’t have to file bankruptcy just to take care of it. These are some tips that I’m using to help clear my debt as we speak. As with anything in life, these tips may not work for you, but they’re here to try if you’d like.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Snowballing: This is my least favorite method of paying off debt, as it will require a fair bit of money management. The principle is that you write down each of your debts, as well as the monthly minimum payment for each for example
Once you've made your list, the process for Snowballing is simple. You pick either your smallest debt, or your debt with the smallest monthly payment and apply any additional funds that you can toward that payment. You continue making all of your payments as normal, however when you pay off the debt that you picked from the list, you put the amount of that payment toward the next debt. So for instance if I picked the $300 debt to start with, I would continue paying the other debts, apply any extra funds toward that debt, and then when I paid it off I would apply the $80 payment along with any extra funds toward the $500 debt.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Pay Per Check: This method is my personal favorite, and the method is pretty simple. You simply pay your debts off with each check that you get. I get paid weekly at my job, so instead of a monthly payment I pay every week toward my debt to pay it off faster or to keep the account ahead so that if something happens I'm not stressing that bill.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Utilize Your Tax Returns: Utilizing your tax return and applying it toward debt will at the very least help you to pay a chunk of it down. The only problem you might find with this is that you only get these payments once a year, if at all. I personally utilize my tax returns for my credit card payment only to ensure that I keep the balance on it low or even pay over the amount my card actually has on it just in case my emergency savings fund doesn't cover something.
Now, obviously if there is any sort of financial strain with a certain method, it may be more helpful to just go ahead and consolidate your bills, or take out a loan and pay off your other smaller debts to knock them out that way you only have the one payment to worry about.
Budgeting
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Budget Planner: When it comes to my budgeting, I prefer to use a budget planner, while I may be using my card I use budgeting planner inserts to help break down my check each week to ensure that everything is getting paid and paid on time. I prefer this because it also allows me to see what I spent on each week, and what pay periods I may be spending a little more than I should be.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ 50/30/20: This budgeting method is a bit tricky depending on how you get paid. However, at my very first job where I was paid on a bi-weekly schedule I found this to be the easiest way to ensure that my money lasted. The 50/30/20 method runs on the principle that you apply 50% of your check to your savings. With the remaining 50% you would use 30% for necessities and 20% for fun purchases like dinner out. Seeing as I currently get paid weekly, I am not really making enough per check to sustainably use this method, so that is something to keep in mind for those of you that may want to utilize this.
Savings
In today's world, with the cost of everything on the rise it may feel nearly impossible to build any sort of savings. However, you can absolutely do it and I'm going to tell you how. The first, and most important thing, is to find a bank that has a decent interest rate on Savings Accounts and open your account with them. I prefer to use Varo online banking for this, as they have a pretty decent APR if you make enough deposits and keep a positive balance on all of your accounts. You can also use a ROTH IRA account if you prefer, but I'd rather be able to conveniently track my spending and savings.
Once you've picked out the bank that's right for you, you can go about savings a couple different ways. These are just my personal recommendations for how to go about building your savings and really stretching your dollar.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Round Up: If you have change, move it over into your savings account each time you make a purchase. You'd be surprised how those small amounts add up into much larger amounts over time! No matter how much change it might be, if there's anything that's preventing my account from reflecting an even dollar amount I move it on over into the savings account.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ No Spend Month: This savings challenge is a bit harder, however it yields some pretty cool results. The basis of it is, plan out your expenses for the month including your groceries. After you buy your groceries and pay your bills for the pay period, everything that remains goes straight into your savings account and you just leave it alone.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ 50/50 Method: I also, personally, find this method to be really hard especially if you get paid weekly like I do, but the premise is that you take 50% of your check and put it in savings, then budget out the remaining 50%. I do like doing this if I'm saving for a large purchase, but overall the round up and no spend month methods are my personal favorites.
Tools to Utilize
There are so many tools available to utilize for budgeting your money. However, like with anything it's important to do what works best for you even if it requires a little bit of trial and error.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Budget App: I used an app called Money+ for the longest time. I liked the customized settings and the ability to track not only my spending and savings but also my progress in paying off my debt. There are probably more out there that are a little bit better. My only gripe with the app that I used is that it's very easy to become unmotivated to use it just like with other apps such as Duolingo.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Budget Planner: This is both a method of budgeting and also a tool that I highly suggest utilizing. I love my budget planner, however I sometimes have a hard time sticking with planners so it's important that you find a planner that offers what you need. Not all budget planners have the same layout or include the same tracking methods so check with a few different brands and see what you like best!
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Investment Apps: I haven't used any investment apps, however my dad swears by them. He prefers Acorn because it rounds up and invests your purchases which is a really cool benefit.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Rewards Apps: Genuinely I cannot stress this enough, utilize rewards apps if you are the type of person that likes to shop online, order delivery, or play online games this is a great way to get some additional spending money without tightening your budget.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Coupons: A lot of stores offer digital coupons, and in-store shopping deals. It is so SO important to make sure that you put yourself on emailing lists for stores that you may find yourself shopping at often so you don't miss any potential savings.
˗ˋˏ$ˎˊ˗ Rewards Accounts: A lot of stores also offer rewards accounts. The most notable one is a Food City Value Card this is a free, yes you heard that correctly, FREE rewards program that you can join and you can earn discounts and fuel points by shopping. Some other stores that offer these rewards programs and member exclusive discounts are Target, Hot Topic, BP Gas stations (look up FasRewards), Bathroom and Body Works, McDonald's, Burger King, Barnes & Noble even some banks like Varo Banking and Capitol One offer cash back opportunities at select retailers. These are great opportunities to utilize available rewards and often all it requires is an email address or phone number to sign up.
Assistance Resources
When people mention assistance resources, your immediate thought might be government assistance programs like food stamps. However, there are a multitude of other assistance programs that you might qualify for at a state level. To browse your options and see what you qualify for you can call business offices at places like your local hospitals, food banks, and other such places. However, you can also search "Assistance Resources Near Me" and pull them up that way. These resources are a bit different than federal assistance resources, as some of them generally come with work opportunities in order to qualify for the assistance, however if you've been out of work they are really good to look into.
If you do not need government assistance or boxes from the food pantry please do not take spots that could go to people who are in desperate need of them. I cannot stress this enough, don't be the reason someone can't have dinner if you can afford to get groceries on your own.
Closing
That's all that I have for you guys for now, please be respectful of others I know that times are really hard for everyone right now, and it's probably not going to improve any time soon. If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by!
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