By Lisamarie DeLeon

What is Basic Personal Finance?

To me it is banking, budgeting and the very beginning of all things money related. This is what we should be learning and focusing on before "personal finance" aka investments, insurance, retirement, etc.

When I started working at the bank I realized how little I knew about money and how bad my financial situation really was (especially when I started to learn about credit scores). I knew at that moment I had to do everything in my power to learn about finances and how to help myself along with others. Money was never a topic in my home and sadly this is very common.

Working at a Bank I quickly found out that I wasn't the only one who didn't know about Basic Personal Finances. It became my personal goal to help teach others all about it. I have seen people from teens to adults, struggle with basic personal finances and I am here to let everyone know that you are not alone. I am a Life Coach, but I do have a focus in Basic Personal Finances because this is something I can relate to and something I am very passionate about. Money doesn't have to be a part of your every thought but it is a part of your everyday, so why not learn about it?

Banking

Most people don't give two thoughts about banking, especially if no one talked to you about it growing up or as a teen. Most of the time people think a bank is for cashing checks and that's it. Now a days as long as you have a checking account your good, and direct deposit for your job. Direct Deposit is more of a job requirement though, it's not even something everyone thinks about. The first time I opened a bank account was actually because of my job and literally no other reason, I didn't want to hear nothing about it either. As far as I was concerned bankers were almost as bad as car salesman. Then my next job was working for a bank believe it or not and my entire outlook changed!

Budgeting

This is another part of Basic Personal Finance, and one of my favorites. People with little guidance growing up also have a hard time with this (along with most basic personal finance topics). I never budgeted before I was 28yrs old. All I knew is as long as I paid my bills on time I was good. I was not good, I was sadly mistaken, in fact budgeting is everything. Since I started budgeting we started "finding" extra money! We started saving a lot more money, paying off more than the minimum on bills and started doing so much better for ourselves. The biggest thing I learned though is budgeting is NOT a one size fits all! Every person is different, every journey is different and every persons bills are different. I also quickly realized that for some of us we don't need a fancy spreadsheet, even a simple checklist will work...it just all depends on what's visually appealing to you!

Money Matters

If you ever want to talk about Basic Personal Finances then please feel free to reach out and also check out my services! Basic Personal Finances is one of my favorite topics in the entire world. I went from being a basic banker to being a manager in a matter of 2 years and I will never forget my time or experience at the bank I worked for! It's the whole reason why I found my passion, my dream for helping others.

To reach out to Lisamarie click on the image below for her informative and empowering website and blog!