4 Ways to Manage Your Personal Finances in 2023

Disclaimer: This post reflects the opinions of the author and should not be taken as financial advice. 

With the economic situation persisting in 2023, many of us are looking for ways to save more cash, or to make more. Understandable, given the rising costs of rent, food, products, and services.

Fortunately, I’ve lived off relatively little in the past six to eight months, and this has equipped me to live more frugally.

I rounded up my top four tips for managing your personal finances in 2023. Hopefully, you’re left over with something extra to fuel a dream or a vacation (or both)!

Personally, my savings focus is security. I like to know that for some reason if I had to stop working, I have enough to tide me over until things are settled.

🏧#1 Auto Deposit is your Friend

We all “want” to save more money, but the majority of us don’t know how much to save, and how to motivate ourselves to save it.

The tip to form this habit is to make it stupid simple and remove any decision-making or willpower involved.

First, don’t blindly come up with a number. I tend to over-exaggerate my goals (overachievers, anyone?) and end up feeling like I’m living on a peanut a day.

I would total up all your expenses, your total income every month, and how much disposable income you want to have in your account at all times— then, whatever’s left over can be your target savings.

It’s recommended you save anywhere between 10% to 20% of your income. But I tend to save closer to 30%, considering I make a conservative amount. 

After you know how much you can comfortably save a month— set up an auto deposit with your bank and that amount will be automatically deposited into a savings account either biweekly or monthly.

I also have an auto-deposit that drip-invests small amounts of money bi-weekly into a mutual fund which is set up by a financial advisor.

Out of sight, out of mind. If you don’t see money in your debit account— you won’t spend it.

📈#2 Do an income-expenditure analysis every six months

Some of us do an income-expenditure analysis every year and kind of forget about it. You have to remember that our circumstances are prone to change, especially considering the current environment. Companies you subscribe to can raise their prices and rent can go up; these are extraneous factors that add up to a larger bill. If you’re spending the same amount or spending more during certain seasons, this will affect the size of your bank account too.

I struggled with this recently because it always felt like there wasn’t any money in my debit account, even though I thought I made enough every month to cover it and some. Then I did a quick tally of all my monthly recurring expenses (excluding rent and food), things like social media tools, websites, gym membership..etc, and identified, “Yeah that’s normal.”

I also determined the minimum amount I needed in my debit account for all this to make sense. Meaning after taking off recurring expenses and savings, the number you’re left with should be your disposable income (wants). Divide that by 4 and you will know how much you need in your account or on hand every week.

Disposable income- meaning anything non-essential. Yes, this means your Starbucks oat latte, because this is non-essential. Other things include:

• Dining out
• Social activities ie. movies
• Beauty routines
• Massages
• Gym
• Shopping
• (Basically, anything that’s not rent, medical, business expenses, and food, but contributes to a happier existence 🙂)

I used to get anxious if there wasn’t a lot of money in my debit account— but the reality is, that’s because I’ve made saving a priority this year. And that means saying no sometimes, so you can say a bigger yes later.

💻#3 Look for a side hustle

Side hustles used to be perceived as “that thing you did to look cool”, but nowadays I feel like people can’t survive financially without side hustles. Luckily, the internet provides a plethora of options. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, get creative, and explore some new ideas. The worst that can happen is that you learn something new or upskill which is great for your career anyways.

Immediate side hustles

Freelancing— Sites like Upwork and Fiverr allow you to advertise your current set of skills and what you do for work. These are easy opportunities you can pick up in the evenings or on the weekends.

Tutoring or coaching— Think about this. Whatever skill you have, or have picked up throguhout the years, someone out there doesn’t have and wants to learn it. I’ve been tutoring English since university to pick up quick cash. Essential skills that parents really covet ie. language, sport, piano, public speaking..etc. are things they’re willing to invest in for their children. I’ve found clients from referrals or off a $5 posting on Craigslist.

Long-term side hustles

Royalties — if you’re an artist or a creative, look at platforms where that offer you royalties for the number of times someone downloads your work. Creator platforms like Etsy allow someone to directly buy your work. There are people that find success in selling anything from special mementos and holiday cards to productivity templates they made through photoshop or canvas.

Social media— Social media is not dead. Utilise one platform to build traction around a niche you want to dive into. This one takes persistence, learning, and patience, but once you’re able to build up a community, there are plenty of ways you can explore turning it into a business.

Create video content— 82% of global traffic came from video in 2022. Video content is more impressionable and reachable. Youtube still has a lucrative business model, but the fact is, you have to be extremely patient and strategic to achieve success in this domain.

• Niche is important: Make sure you siphon down what you want to present to the world

• Value: Make sure your video concept delivers valuable information about what a specific person might be seeking. Discover your audience.

• Consistency and time: You have to keep doing this to have any chance of being successful. There are no shortcuts to this path.

Course creation

Creating a course can be extremely lucrative if you learn how to market yourself well and build a successful online presence. Once all the grunt work is put into this course, you can sell this course as many times over as you like. All your efforts will go into marketing, sales, and nurturing your audience.

Of course, the question is— what do you create a course in? You want to do a little research into what types of topics people are interested in learning. Most of the time, people invest in courses because they want to tackle a pain point. Pain points can be financial pain points, emotional pain points..etc.

I’ve seen courses ranging from storytelling copy and sales to finding love in a “spiritual way.”

I think the best way to go about courses is to not start with one. Start with one social media channel and see how the market reacts to your niche/idea. Once you get enough traction on that front and loyal subscribers, then, think about creating a course.

🗺️#4 Map out your goals- short-term and long term

Have a blend of short-term and long-term goals. I say this because sometimes when our goals are solely long-term, it can deter us from staying motivated with our finances (as it seems sooo far away in the distance). Have some fun, short-term goals integrated into this system as well to help make this journey seem more palpable.

For example, a short vacation can be a great motivator to help us save in the short term. Or it can be simple as saving for a really amazing monthly date night, or purchasing gifts for our loved ones.

In the long term—you might want to establish some grounding goals, so you feel motivated to structure a plan around achieving those.

Conclusion

It’s a tougher season for most of us financially, and with everything I’ve said thus far, I realize how fortunate I am to have money to put away every month. I am aware that some might not have this luxury, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. These are purely my own opinions and do not reflect accurate financial advice. I strongly urge you to consult with a professional if you’re looking for the most accurate savings and investing advice.

And with that, I wish you the best of luck in reaching your financial goals in 2023~