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When I turned 20 four years ago, I had no idea what I was doing.

Within the last year or so, I’ve started using good money habits that I wish I would have started using sooner.

The earlier you develop good money habits, the better.

I didn’t know what to do financially, and I wish someone would have told me!

That’s why I’m writing this.

You don’t know what you don’t know. Especially in your twenties.

I took a finance class in high school, but it really didn’t teach me anything I needed to know. Knowing how to manage your money is so so important.

Even if you’re not necessarily looking to get rich, you should still learn how to manage your money and implement good money habits to get wealthy.

If you are looking to get rich, implementing these money habits now could be the way you get there.

Here are the 18 money habits to start in your 20s to get wealthy.

Money Habits to Start in your 20s

Create Financial Goals

The first thing you need to do is create some financial goals.

You can think long-term (millionaire by the time you’re 40).

What will really help is to set specific short-term goals that will add up to your long-term goal.

Setting financial goals will keep you on track and motivated to get where you want to be.

Some examples of financial goals could be to

• Pay off credit card debt
• Save X extra every week
• Make an extra x amount of money every week
• Write out a budget each month

Have a Financial Plan

Now that you have some financial goals set, it’s time to make a plan.

This is where you’re going to figure out how you’re going to save money each week.

How long do you plan on paying off of your things like debt?

Having a financial plan is a good way to start making progress towards your financial goals.

Create a Budget

As a part of your financial plan, you should create a budget.

You should create a budget to see exactly where your money is going to go and look for places you could potentially save money.

Start by writing out your estimates for everything you pay for in a month.

Next, see if there’s any way to reduce that amount.

Create a monthly budget for each category that you want to spend, and only spend that amount.

One of the best ways to get more organized when you’re creating a budget is by using a monthly financial planner.

Pay off Debt

One of the first steps you should do to build wealth is to pay off debt.

When you pay off your debt first, you’re going to cut down the amount you actually have to pay because of interest.

You’ll just be stuck paying off your debt way for years if you don’t work on paying them off.

Start a Side Hustle

One of my favorite ways to work on paying off debt is by earning extra money through side hustles.

I make an extra $250 a month just by doing one small hustle.

There are tons of side hustle jobs you can get that don’t take that many hours at all.

I’ve did all of the research for you and put all of these side hustles into a nice little E-book that you can get for free by signing up.

Get your Free Side Hustle E-Book!

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Learn about Investing

Investing is something I just started learning about that I wish I would have started learning about a lot earlier.

Investing is one of the best ways to build wealthy.

Learn all you can about investing early on to make it easier.

Here are some resources for you:

• Investopedia
• Nerd Wallet
• Money Under 30
• Investor Junkie

My favorite way to get started investing so far is by using Robinhood. I didn’t know anything about stocks before, but it’s a great way to start.

If gives you articles to help you along the way and it makes it easy to invest.

You can get a free stock (you don’t pay anything) to see what you think about it using this link. <<

Save Money

Saving money comes down to one thing:

Spending less money than you earn.

Sure, there are all of these different ways you can save money, but that’s the basic premise of it.

Use budgeting to your advantage when learning to save money.

Here are some other ways to save money that you may not have thought about.

Have Multiple Income Streams

The wealthiest people aren’t getting their income from just one place.

That’s part of what made them wealthy in the first place.

It’s best to not only depend on one job for income.

This is not only to make extra money, but now you don’t have to solely depend on one income if something happens.

Start looking into income streams you can add on top of your job.

This can be something small, like learning to invest on the side, or a whole other business.

Learn about Passive Income

One of the best ways to have multiple income streams is by making one (or more) of them passive income.

Passive income is when you only have to do a minimal amount of work (or none at all) and still make money.

One example is creating digital products and selling them. Once you create them, the work is pretty much done.

Check out these passive income ideas you can do.

Learn Everything you Can

One of the best money habits to start is just to learn everything you can.

Read articles. Watch YouTube videos. Read books.

One of my favorite places to go to learn about money is Dave Ramsey.

Dave Ramsey is a money expert who has tons of resources available.

Start an Emergency Fund

Starting an emergency fund is something that a lot of people tend to forget, but it may be one of the most important money habits you need to start.

First of all, it’s nice to have a cushion if something were to happen. Imagine if you had spent all of your money and then your car breaks down or you have to pay unexpected medical bills.

You can make possible situations like this less stressful by being prepared with an emergency fund.

Having an emergency fund can also save you more money in the long run.

By starting an emergency fund, you can avoid high-interest loans you may need if you didn’t have any funds.

Build up your Credit

To buy a car or house, you need to have good credit.

Some people don’t even think about credit until they go to buy something and they can’t because they don’t have credit or they have bad credit.

Some ways you can build credit are:

• Make payments on time
• Get a secured credit card
• Have a co-signer for loans
• Become an authorized user on your parents’ credit card

Start a Retirement Account

You probably haven’t even considered starting a retirement account in your 20s.

Most of us haven’t.

If you want to have a good amount of retirement funds, you need to start contributing early.

Open a 401(k) or a Roth IRA account and start contributing a small chunk from each paycheck.

Cut Out Bad Money Habits

There are some bad money habits you need to cut out before you can develop better money habits.

Some bad money habits you need to stop right now are:

• Impulse buying
• Relying on credit cards
• Living well above your means

Pay your Bills (on time)

Paying your bills on time is a money habit you need to start right now if you haven’t already.

You can’t start building wealth if you can’t afford to pay your bills right now.

Everyone’s situations are different, and sometimes it can’t be helped.

This is where we go back to the financial plan.

Make sure that you can pay your bills and you can pay them on time.

Paying your bills on time will improve your credit score and reduce stress.

Use Coupons and Cashback Apps

If you plan on eating out or going grocery shopping, check and see if there are any coupons for something you plan on getting.

Coupons seem like they don’t save that much money and can be a headache, but over time they can save you quite a bit.

Some of the best websites for finding coupons are Groupon, Coupons, and Swagbucks (get a bonus if you sign up using this link).

You should also be using cashback apps.

There are apps that will reward you for shopping. My favorite one that I started using a few months ago is Ibotta.

All you have to do is take a picture and upload the receipt to the app. You can buy certain things that will give you cashback. 

Make a Shopping List and Stick to It

Have you ever gone to the store and gotten everything except what you went there to get?

Me too.

That’s why you could make a shopping list… and stick to it.

You’ll keep yourself from buying all of the unnecessary stuff if you do this.

Review your Finances

Now that you’ve learned about these money habits to start, you can’t just forget about them.

Another money habit you should develop is going back and reviewing your goals and plan to see if they’re working for you or if there’s something you need to change.

Check in on your budget every now and again to see if you need to make any adjustments.

Money Habits to Start: Final Thoughts

Thinking about what you should be doing financially can be hard, especially in your twenties.

I know I didn’t know about a lot of these things until just this past year.

I hope these 18 money habits to start in your 20s to get wealthy were helpful.

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