Do you feel at ease when you hear the word "bills"? Would you say that you know how to handle your money wisely? Is your money management "on point"?
If the answer was no, it's time to learn how to organize your personal finances! In her book "Orçamento sem Falhas", Nath Finanças brings indispensable teachings for you to learn how to better manage your money.
Are you interested? Then, let's read this summary that was made especially for you who want to build your own flawless budget!
In the book, the author approaches the topic of financial education in a relaxed, didactic, and interactive way.
The book "Orçamentos sem Falhas: Saia do Vermelho e aprenda a poupar com pouco dinheiro", "Flawless Budget: Get out of the red and learn to save with little money" in a free English translation, which contains 128 pages divided into 13 chapters and a glossary, puts on paper the teachings that have made Nath Finanças a digital reference on the subject.
Furthermore, she explains important financial concepts and teaches how to set up your own planning with simple tactics and saving little money, besides she warns about the dangers of mixing emotions and money.
Nathália Rodrigues, also known as Nath Finanças, despite having a degree in business administration, is currently an entrepreneur and works with financial consultancy.
Nath Finanças is considered a digital reference in financial education (almost 25 thousand subscribers on Youtube; more than 300 thousand followers on Instagram, besides having her own podcast on Spotify).
She was listed in the Forbes Under 30 of 2020 as one of the most influential figures in the Brazilian financial world.
In the book, the author talks mainly to interns, freelancers and people with lower wages.
But this is the ideal type of book for you who want to expand your financial education or just understand how to create a personal financial plan!
It is a must-have for anyone who wants to handle their own money wisely.
So, are you willing to learn how to balance your finances and plan for your future? If so, stay with us, because this book shows you exactly how to do it!
In "Orçamento sem Falhas", the author addresses several points so that you can set up your own budget in a simple way and saving a small amount of money.
There are 4 questions we should ask ourselves that serve as a guide to set your budget up. They are:
Ready to learn how to get setted up?
Do you have no time to read now? Then download the free PDF and read wherever and whenever you want:
"Time is money." - Benjamin Franklin
Have you ever stopped to think about how money came about or why it is so important? The author explains that it is believed to have emerged and assumed such importance because it enables equivalence in the exchange of different products.
She clarifies, then, that over time labor became a commodity sold for money. Selling your effort and time for a monthly salary may not induce you to think about how much your time really costs or how important it is.
But, your time is one of the most important things to take in consideration when you are putting together a financial plan.
In the book, Nath asks the reader questions such as, "if you are self-employed, have you considered the hours you put in to get paid a specific amount?"; "if you have a debt, do you know how long it will take and everything you will need to give up to pay it off?".
Besides time, some other factors must be taken in consideration when setting up your budget.
Here the author explains that the first experiences, or lack of, we have with money come from childhood. Although we share the same starting point when it comes to financial education, each family approaches the subject in its own way.
For example, some families started teaching their children to save money after the hyperinflation period Brazil faced in the 1980s, which was not a family habit in previous generations.
Thus, family habits shape our first ideas of how to deal with money, but they don't prevent us from learning different things over time, that allow us to understand and know how to deal with the financial world.
In this part of the book, the influence of emotions on decision making is pointed out. How many times have you said yes to something even though you didn't want or couldn't do it? Most Brazilians have a hard time saying "no".
We make excuses such as "I'll check my schedule and let you know" or the famous "we'll buy it later".
Making excuses creates emotional traps that get in the way of making smart decisions.
To free ourselves from the influence of social pressure and the embarrassment we must understand and accept our reality. Embrace the power of no!
This is the time to reflect on what is really necessary for your life and what is a temporary desire.
We will see below a list of points that will help you. They are:
"The future is now." - Nath Finanças
Many times we don't have a macro view of our finances and end up living from month to month. Thinking this way causes us to not have a long-term financial organization.
To set up this budget, you need to keep in mind some techniques that we will see below.
It is difficult to follow a plan that is only in our heads. So writing down your plan will help you to follow it.
But if you prefer to use Excel spreadsheets or other budgeting templates, no problem! Use the tool you are most comfortable with, the important thing is to be organized.
And what should you put in your plan? Use the following guidelines:
Now that you have written down your planning, it is time to set the goals you want to achieve!
The author suggests the following steps to set your goals:
There are two components that define your finances:
Expenses, as explained earlier, represent the money you spend. The author defines them in four ways:
The income, as well as the expenses, can be fixed or variable, depending on your job. If your monthly income is variable, you should calculate the average monthly amount.
Having savings will help you a lot in case you need extra money for some unforeseen event, or even to maintain yourself in case of salary reduction.
But remember, your emergency fund must be as achievable as your goals! Use a budget forecast to help you to define your emergency fund and follow these three golden rules:
Household savings is one of the most important parts of personal finance. It is a result of your everyday spending. The author gives some tips on how to save money and cut down on expenses:
There are two "villains" when it comes to personal finance: debts and credit cards. The first truly is the big villain, but the second is more of an anti-hero than a villain.
In the book, the author points out that the main causes of unpaid debts are unemployment, wage reduction and lack of financial organization. And, therefore, she shows ways to pay off your debts.
Here they go:
Remember to be conscious and always control your expenses!
With the proper knowledge and awareness, a credit card can save you in many situations or be a tool to organize your financial life. Take the following information into consideration before using it:
Expanding your financial knowledge also means knowing the financial tools available in the market. Let's take a look at each one of them below.
One of the first complications in dealing with the bank happens when we need to open an account, be it a checking or a savings account. So pay attention when you sign the contract when you open your account.
Many times you end up paying for banking services that you don't need just because you didn't read the contract. Contracts can change, but what doesn't change is the anatomy of the account.
As explained before, you need to pay attention to the service package that you are purchasing from the bank. The law guarantees that you have a no-fee bank account and a free package of services (Pacote de Serviços Essenciais, approved by Resolution Nº. 3919).
The following services are included in this package:
There are numerous ways to make a payment or transfer money. For example, you can withdraw money and pay the bill in cash or you can pay at the bank.
Or you can do a TED (Available Electronic Transfer), a DOC (Credit Order Document) or even a PIX (Instant Payment). But what is the difference between them?
The digital age has led all banks to have their own websites and apps. There you can make consultations and transactions from your computer or cell phone, free of charge.
But, one caveat that must be made, use these resources on a secure device and avoid being scammed. Remember:
Can you think how much food you could buy with $50 five years ago? Surely it is much more than nowadays.
But do you know why this happens? The answer is simple: with time and inflation, money loses value.
Therefore, saving money just for the sake of saving money is not a smart strategy. Making investments increases your money value.
First, it is fundamental to demystify the idea that you need to be rich to invest or that investing is complicated.
You need to know two things to be able to start investing:
Study the risk levels of each type of investment, understand your profile, and develop intelligent strategies that allow you to make increasingly assertive choices.
In the book "Me Poupe!", the author Nathalia Arcuri believes that you need to follow 4 steps to manage your money wisely: be aware that it is possible to change your habits; learn to control your finances and set goals; learn to divide everything you earn into percentages and learn about investments.
For the author of the book "The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money", Jill Schlesinger, financial education is essential to understand how to organize your budget and how self-knowledge is indispensable to make this budget aligned to your life purpose.
Finally, in the book "How to Organize Your Financial Life", by Gustavo Cerbasi, we see tips for you to make assertive choices involving your money. He makes the journey of self-knowledge to achieve a faithful and current analysis of your financial life.
You now have enough information and references to start organizing yourself and building a budget without flaws and consistent with your reality.
But to help you, let's highlight the things you need to keep in mind when putting together your plan:
Are you ready to get out of the red with little money? Tell us what you thought and how you put this knowledge into practice in the comments.
You can purchase the full book by clicking on the image below: