The 20-Point Checklist For Getting Good With Money In Your 20s | The Financial Diet

Read about the TFD readers rebuilding their credit here:

50/30/20 budget:

The financial buddy system:

Different retirement accounts to check out:

The savings accounts everyone needs:

Zero-based budgeting:

Broke Millennial’s guide to investing:

The emotional impact of debt:

The different types of financial advisors:

The Financial Diet site:

[airaira]

Chelsea: Many of you are just starting out in your adult life..

Me, a 29 year old woman: yup sounds about right

[AK-jtgx]

Seeing Chelsea so happy about getting approved for a fancy card is the highlight of my afternoon... she has come so far and it’s amazing.

[noveialmanegorres]

I really appreciate the hard work the whole TFD team pours into this advocacy. It is indeed the era of financial literacy, and you all is instrumental to this progress. Thank you!

[sarahlacorte]

If you haven't already, I think you should make a video on financial guilt... I don't know if maybe I am the only one, but I think people sometimes get into a cycle where they know they have bad spending habits, but they are too guilty to face the reality and change their behavior. I definitely know I wasted a lot of money in my early 20's (27 now) and did not make choices that would have put me in a better place now. I am now really overly frugal with my money, but still have a lot of guilt / self loathing around my past habits.

[addictedmako]

Playing video games is a fun pastime, but it’s one that’s easy for me to waste a lot of potentially productive time on. One thing I was spending money on is $10.81 to start another one-month Playstation Now subscription.
After I let my last one expire, I started feeling a familiar urge to fight off boredom by renewing the subscription and playing games for several hours. This time I went to my bank account, transferred that $10.81 to savings, and pushed myself into a cleaning frenzy.
It’s a small thing, but it represented a struggle that I fight against. I still have that extra $10.81 in savings, my apartment is more tidy, and I’m feeling proud of myself for not giving into temptation.

[prettystars]

Didn't see a list so I made one.

1) Analyze Your Purchases @1:46
2) Create a Current Budget @2:24
3) Identify Your Goals @2:52
4) Create a Goal Budget @3:39
5) Get to Know Your Credit Score @4:36
6) Find a Financial Buddy @5:44
7) Work on Your Emergency Fund @6:17
8) Do a 1 Month Financial Cleanse @7:12
9) Known Your Professional Industry @8:09
10) Set Up an Additional Stream of Income @9:14
11) Get Over Your Fear of Credit Cards @10:05
12) Make Your Bank Accounts Smart @11:01
13) Learn to Speak the Language of Money @11:38
14) Set Up a Retirement Account @12:52
15) Write Out Your 5 Year Strategy @14:06
16) Work on 1 Major Money Hang-Up @14:58
17) Set Up Money Check-Ins @17:23
18) Refresh Your Budget Annually @18:00
19) Create Monthly Spending Challenges @19:16
20) Work with a Professional @20:03

[JaselOrtiz]

You mentioned that you've disputed dings on your credit score. You should do a video on how to do that!

[antonea]

Thank you. I literally teared up hearing that it wasn’t my fault for the massive student loan debt I began to take on at 18. For a long time my minimum payments were so high (private and federal loans) and pay so crappy I could see no way out. I’m digging myself out now and I’m not ashamed to talk about it. But for a long time I was really stuck and in a dark place because I couldn’t see a way out. I’m much better now but I’m sad for that girl and anyone else in that position.

Thank you for always talking about it. The dialogue needs to continue if we’re ever going to stop the madness.

[justjaynanne]

TFD is the goat. I have been watching their videos since I was a freshmen in college and tomorrow I start my first day at my girl girl job as a recent graduate. I have loved learning from Chelsea and the TDF team. Thank you for all your honesty and guidance!! Adulthood here I come!!

[CC-kkyh]

I'm part of a 30-something couple and I truly appreciate every video from TFD. As an older Millennial who hay never had money to spare and is now married to someone makes a comfortable living but has never acknowledge his budget, it's been helpful for me to start strategizing our shared household income and expenses.

Can you a video on newlyweds/couples combined budgeting? There are so many ways to do it that it's a bit overwhelming to choose one way over another and to be able to discuss the pros and cons of each possible budgeting strategy for dual or single income couples.

[cherrytung]

*I just like seeing Chelsea on this channel...*

[luky]

My credit score took a while to improve but it's in the 800s now. I don't have any outstanding credit, vehicle, or medical debt. I've also managed to save three grand in savings over the last six months.

[katefromouttaspace]

OMG yes - I was pushed into studying when I wasn't ready. And to take a job I didn't want, which I later found out was illegally underpaying me. But I felt the guilt on my shoulders all the way through when these things left me struggling.

I should have trusted my internal compass and instinct. But I allowed myself to be working-class guilted.

Only recovering from these setbacks in the last few years. Your channel has helped so much! Thanks for helping us all to think and to heal from the burdens of the past. Now we can see the possibilities of the future and can take charge. I'm actually hopeful again and looking forward to success in finding financial liberation.

[StefanieOConnell]

I love how you mention that even if you are in you 30's or 40's, you can start this now- it's not too late!

[tallicedlatte]

Please please make a video series on financial literacy for high school students just starting out with their first jobs! There's a lot of vocabulary and skills to learn around money that teenagers could learn!

[LaynaCastro]

The "No shame" part is so simple but so important, being ashamed is not going to help, you're right!

[josephvolgyi]

I really enjoy your voice, your tone, your intelligent grammar. I like listening to you. I get what you are saying. You make it very easy to understand your points of view. I have learned a lot from you. Thank you so much.

[laurenconrad]

Congrats on that big credit card achievement! I’m obsessive about doing things on time in life, which helped my credit to begin with, but this channel certainly helped me to know how to make it better and how to use credit utilization and points to my advantage.

[andreamoore]

As a Gen-X person, I have a different experience than the target audience, and still find this advice valuable. I have two adult children living at home and going to, or readying-to-go to college and use a lot of this advice to help ready them for independence.

[Nerdfighter]

1:37 - number 1, analyze your purchases
2:22 - number 2, create a current budget
2:50 - number 3, identify your goals
3:38 - number 4, create a goal budget
4:35 - number 5, get to know your credit score
5:52 - number 6, find a financial buddy
6:16 - number 7, start working on an emergency fund
7:12 - number 8, do a one month financial cleanse
8:08 - number 9, know your professional industry
9:11 - number 10, set up an additional stream of income
10:03 - number 11, get over your fear of credit cards
11:00 - number 12, make your bank account smart
11:36 - number 13, learn to speak the language of money
12:49 - number 14, set up (at least one) retirement account
14:03 - number 15, write your strategy
14:56 - number 16, work on one major money hang up
17:20 - number 17, set up money check-ins
17:58 - number 18, refresh your budget annually
19:15 - number 19, create monthly spending challenges
20:00 - number 20, work with a professional