Welcome!
My name is Jim Wang and I'm the founder of Wallet Hacks, a personal finance blog I started in September 2015.
My family, 2.5 smiles in a photo is a record!
I think financial systems were built to enrich a select few on the backs of the many… but I'm also not a socialist. I think we all choose how to spend our 24 hours each day and some people are better at it because they've figured out the game. I've figured some of it out and I want to share some of it with you.
That's me in 30 seconds, please tell me about you.
Next, let's talk about the blog. Wallet Hacks contains unconventional strategies to get ahead financially and in life. If you want to be average, conventional results will get you there. You only get ahead when you challenge your assumptions, discard the ones that fail, and keep the ones that propel you towards your goals.
Most of the posts fit into one of these categories:
- Build Systems – Posts about building money systems that work for you.
- Live Fully – Posts about how to enjoy more out of life.
- Save Money – Posts about saving money.
- Earn Money – Posts about earning more money.
- Travel Joyfully – Posts about traveling.
- Spend Wisely – Posts about, surprise!, spending money wisely.
- Pay Down Debt – Posts about paying down debt. I title these very creatively. 🙂
To that end, where you should start on the site depends on where you are in life.
What best describes you?
- I'm just starting out, I need help developing a financial system that's easy to maintain and works for me.
- I'm looking to pay down debt as quickly as possible.
- I have a solid handle on things, show me how to save more money.
- How do I make more money?
- I like hacks. Show me your best hacks.
Just starting out?
If you're new to the game, you need to start with the basics. You can't build a house directly on the ground, you need a solid foundation or your house will sink into the ground. I recommend you take a look at this Epic Guide – How to Build a Rock-Solid Financial Foundation. It contains, soup to nuts, everything you need to do to get started.
Next, you'll want to review our guide on how to establish a credit history. Besides your salary, this will become one of the most important financial figures in your life. (if you have credit, here are ways to improve it)
I'm looking to pay down debt as quickly as possible.
This is a very common goal… I recommend reading this guide by my friend Chris Peach. He's a professional fireman and he and his wife paid down $52,055.15 in credit card debt in just 7 months.
He shares his step by step strategy as well as psychological tricks they used to stay on track. It's powerful reading and I recommend it.
I have the basics, I need to save more money
Saving money comes in two forms, strategic and tactical. Strategic refers to overall approaches to spending money and how you should be thinking about it. For that, look to 5 Money Saving Hacks, backed by science – it explains five things you can do to spend less money. These are ways that have the backing of scientific research.
Next, here are 40 clever ways to save money. I promise you'll save at least $10 each, which doesn't seem like a lot until you consider most tips are a waste of time. Most save you a few cents… well I filter those out. These are 40 ways that are worth your time and easy to execute.
For tactics, check out our Money Saving Guides section. It contains long form articles that will help you save money in specific areas, like your cable bill or auto insurance. We're adding more guides, we want to make sure they're streamlined and tactical, so let us know if there's a guide you want to see.
Lastly, if you need a little more urging… let me tell you about this little thing known as compound interest.
How do I make more money?
Saving money is the first step. The second step is to focus on ways to make more money.
On Wallet Hacks, this takes two different directions.
If you are in search of a job, my two best resources involve interviewing and networking.
- The Ultimate Interview Guide: 110 Interview Tips to Get Your Dream Job
- Ultimate Networking Guide: 47 Tips to Build Your Network the Right Way
If you have a job or just want ways to make more cash, the Earn Money category collects everything I have on side hustles, websites that pay you, etc. Definitely check that out.
Finally, if you're the bonus hunting type –
- 20 Best Bank Promotions & Bonus Offers: Minimum $100 New Account Bonus
- Best Credit Card Promotions
- How to Get Free Money from Sign Up Bonuses – 18+ Companies Give $2,743
I like hacks. Show me your best hacks.
I think of my best hacks as the ones that garnered the most attention on social media, these are:
- Amazon.com Hacks
- Money Savings Hacks for Southwest Airlines
- Secret Santa Hack
- Upgrade and Save Strategy
As you may know, this blog is fairly new (established September 2015, though I've been writing about money since January 2005) and so we're still discovering our path forward.
If you aren't on our newsletter already, I invite you to join us. I send out posts once a week and you'll get exclusive bonus material for free.
Talk to you soon!