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As we prepare to welcome the new year, we need to also bid farewell to 2018.
2018 was a pretty sweet year for Savings and Sangria! We brought you 115 new posts, fielded over 200 comments, and landed features on sites like Rockstar Finance, Collecting Wisdom, and The Money Mix.
Plus, our little community grew by 261% in 2018!
We’re thrilled to be able to help so many young(ish!) women master #happymoneymanagement. And we’re super stoked to keep growing in 2019.
But before we toast the new year, here’s a look back at our 10 best financial posts from 2018. Enjoy!
10 Best Financial Posts from 2018
10. Your 7 Most Common Personal Finance Questions Answered
In Your 7 Most Common Personal Finance Questions Answered, we (you guessed it!) answered the 7 most common questions we get from our readers. Questions like:
- How much should I be saving?
- When do I HAVE to start saving for retirement?
- Should I buy a car or lease one?
- And should I refinance my student loans?
Check out the post to get detailed answers to each of these pressing questions.
9. 10 Tips to Grow Your Retirement Savings Over $1,000,000
Who here wants to be a millionaire? If you follow our 10 Tips to Grow Your Retirement Savings Over $1,000,000, you will become one! In fact, if you start asap and practice all our tips, you’ll easily retire a multi-millionaire!
Btw, this post isn’t about turning you into an old miser. It’s about making sure you have enough money to actually enjoy retirement and support yourself no matter how long you live.
You’ll get actionable advice like:
- Automate your savings plan so you never even have to think about it,
- Set up automatic re-balancing so your retirement can adjust itself to meet your preferences for risk and growth, and
- Stick with index funds if you’re not sure what you should invest in.
Spend your retirement traveling, going out, and spoiling grandkids instead of staying in and doing nothing because you can’t afford to have some fun.
8. I’m $800K in Debt…But It’s Fine…
Personal confession: I currently have over $800,000 in debt. Yeah. Like I owe almost a million dollars.
But I’m ok with that. In fact, I’m good with it! Read I’m $800K in Debt…But It’s Fine… to find out why.
PS: no, that’s not me in the picture. But that’s what I imagine a chick who owes $800K looks like when you confront her about her debt, and she’s like who, me?!
7. 10 Subtle (But Important!) Money Lessons from Disney Movies
Disney/Pixar’s Up
Ok, I love this post about money lessons from Disney movies! Because I love Disney movies and I love money lessons. Match made in heaven!
I had a ton of fun reviewing some of my fave Disney movies looking for hidden financial lessons, and I think I found some good ones:
- Frozen teaches us about supply and demand pricing.
- Lilo and Stitch shows us how to leverage debt.
- Zootopia demonstrates entrepreneurship.
- The Incredibles teaches us the importance of career back-up plans and income diversification.
Check out the post and share it with your Disney-loving friends who need a little lesson in #happymoneymanagement.
6. Um…Excuse Me…But You’re Paying Your Bills Wrong
Who knew there was a wrong way to pay your bills? Believe us, there is!
In Um…Excuse Me…But You’re Paying Your Bills Wrong, we showed you 4 common bill paying mistakes many (if not most) people make. And we show you how to make little tweaks to avoid these mistakes.
Side note: Avoiding mistake #4 is saving me about $40,000!
5. High-Paying Ways to Make Extra Cash
Hooray for side hustles!
Whether you need extra cash to make ends meet, to pay down debt, or to afford something awesome, side hustles can help. But some side hustles pay better than others.
In High-Paying Ways to Make Extra Cash, we listed 10 different ways to make at least $20/hour in your spare time.
But we didn’t stop there. We also listed the pros and cons of each side hustle to help you choose the hustle that will be the best fit for you.
4. The Personal Finance Index Card: Everything Money in 4×6
Harold Pollack set out to prove that personal finance doesn’t have to be complicated. So he grabbed a 4×6 index card and wrote everything you need to know about personal finance on that one card.
It ended up being a list of just 9 things. All we have to do is put these 9 simple concepts into practice, and we’re basically guaranteeing ourselves financial success.
In The Personal Finance Index Card: Everything Money in 4×6, we give you all 9 things from Harold’s index card.
Personal finance has never been easier!
3. What to Do When You’re too Afraid to Invest
You want to have any degree of financial success? Then you need to invest.
Too scared to invest? We’ll show you how to get over your fear and invest like a pro!
In What to Do When You’re too Afraid to Invest, we break down the common concerns about investing. We show you which fears are unfounded, and which are legit. And we show you how to minimize your risks and maximize your returns.
Before long, you’ll be wondering what you were ever afraid of in the first place!
2. 100 Insanely Powerful Money Hacks to Change Your Life
This post was written to celebrate Savings and Sangria’s 100th post. And it is packed full of financial tips, tricks, and hacks that will literally transform your life.
But wait, I thought you just said everything personal finance could be summed up in 9 points on an index card?!
Well, yeah. You can sum up personal finance on an index card. But if you want to learn a bunch of clever little tricks to support those 9 index card concepts, check out 100 Insanely Powerful Money Hacks to Change Your Life.
1. How to Start a Side Hustle in Under 2 Weeks
Did I mention that we love side hustles?
Most people generally like the concept of a side hustle, but they don’t know how to get started. They don’t know what steps to take to go from idea to payday.
So in our #1 post from 2018, we give you a straight-forward, step-by-step plan to launch your side hustle just 2 weeks from now.
How to Start a Side Hustle in Under 2 Weeks is a must-read!
You’ll learn how to:
- craft an irresistible offer
- choose a product/service delivery platform
- set up a payment system
- design a workflow
- and much, much more. And all in just 2 weeks!
So go read the post and take action today to line up your new hustle and boost your income in the new year!
BONUS: How To Make Over Your Finances in the New Year
Technically, How To Make Over Your Finances in the New Year was published at the end of 2017, so it doesn’t qualify for the 2018 Top 10. But it’s an awesome post for anyone looking for a financial makeover. So it gets a special mention 😉
Thanks again to everyone for making 2018 amazing.
Wishing you health, happiness, and prosperity in the new year.
Here’s to 2019!
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