Are you worried about a recession? You cannot control what happens in the economy, but there are certain things you can control. Here are seven strategies for singles to survive a recession.
Strategies For Singles To Survive A Recession
Signs Of A Recession
Are we in a recession? Go Banking Rates lists ten common signs of a recession:
- More people can’t pay their loans.
- Taxes bring in less revenue.
- Rapid increases in fraud rates.
- Oil price shocks.
- Rising interest rates.
- Decreasing home prices and sales.
- Declining prospects for bellwether companies.
- Stock market crashes.
- Unemployment rates drop too low.
- Inversion of the yield curve.
Those are just some common signs to be aware of to determine if we are in a recession. The prices at the grocery stores and gas stations continue to rise. Another option could be that we have an inflationary recession. That would mean that, along with the regular recession signals, we would experience inflation. It would be the worst of both worlds.
7 Ways To Survive A Recession
Save Money
You want to make sure that you have money saved. Most Americans do not even have $1,000 saved in an emergency fund. You will be ahead of most Americans simply by having money in a savings account. Once you have enough money saved, you can start investing in assets.
Precious Metals As Insurance
Once you are comfortable with the money in your savings account, you can decide to save a percentage of your money in precious metals. Precious metals are a form of financial insurance. It is generally recommended to have ten to fifteen percent of your net worth in precious metals. This is simply a way to diversify outside of a currency and into a hard asset.
Physical precious metals are often considered lifetime investments to be passed down to the next generation. If you want to invest in precious metals that are more liquid, you could invest in precious metals ETFs.
Negotiate A Raise With Your Employer
You could negotiate a raise with your employer. This means they may be unwilling to negotiate with an employee who wants their wage or salary increased. There are seven steps to negotiate a raise:
1. Research data for your current position.
2. Review the company’s financial performance.
3. Reflect and list your achievements.
4. Figure out what your target range is a raise.
5. Prepare a presentation to your employer.
6. Practice your negotiation skills first with your friends and family.
7. Schedule a meeting to negotiate for a raise with your employer.
The difficulty with doing this during a recession is that many employers will look for ways to reduce and cut costs. Employees will often be the first on the chopping block.
Get A Second Or A Third Job
You could get a second or third job to make more money. This may work, but you are still trading your time for money. You can only work so many hours in a day or week.
You may get away working multiple jobs at a time, but eventually, it may negatively affect your health and personal life. You could decide to look into side hustles.
Start A Side Hustle
You could start a side hustle. You could start a side hustle to turn it into a new revenue stream. When looking at side hustles, consider ones you can turn into a passive income stream.
Some everyday side hustles that are active income streams or other jobs include Uber, freelancing, or being a virtual assistant.
Some side hustles that could turn into passive income are starting a YouTube channel, writing a Substack newsletter, or writing eBooks.
Build Passive Income
The beauty of passive income is that it pays you while you sleep. Your paycheck from your employer is active income. You are trading your time for money. You can only work so many hours in a day. It has been found that the average self-made millionaire has a minimum of three passive income streams.
There are many ways to build passive income streams in the Internet Age. You want to learn to play to your strengths. You can then decide if you want to set up a business to be a financial asset to protect your passive income streams.
Start An Online Business
You can start an online business. A business is the ultimate financial asset because you can build it to be as large as you want. You can create as many products and services as you want for customers. You can then pay yourself through your business each month.
You built the business. You can then pay yourself for the hard work to make it once it generates revenue and eventually a profit. Some ways that you create revenue streams for an online business are:
- Advertising on a website, YouTube, or other social media.
- Sell merchandise.
- Sell physical or digital products like PDFs or books.
- You can sell products on a third-party company like Amazon or Etsy.
- You can find ways to earn royalties.
- Provide a consulting or coaching service.
- Sell a premium newsletter and have premium articles on a website.
You are your own limit when you are responsible for a business. You can also find creative ways to make more money with a business.
Secure Single recommends:
- Introduction For Singles On The Different Types Of Savings Accounts
- How Mindset Affects Success
- How To Be Single In 2023
- 15 Habits To Build Wealth For Singles
- 12 Reasons Why Young People Should Not Go To College
Summary
It is up to you to take action to prepare for a recession. These are just some strategies for singles to survive a recession. Whether you think there will be a recession or not, it is always a good idea to be prepared. One of the ways to be prepared is to save money and find ways to increase your income.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. The content is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free to receive more content like this directly in your inbox.
There are different types of savings accounts. Savings accounts play a crucial role in personal finance and building wealth. Here is an introduction for singles on the different types of savings accounts.
Introduction For Singles On The Different Types Of Savings Accounts
What Is A Savings Account?
You can earn interest with the money you deposit in your savings account at a financial institution. A savings account is a good choice to leave cash for your short-term needs. There are different types of savings accounts.
A savings account can accrue interest daily, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. You will want to check with the financial institution to understand how often it will compound interest.
You will always want to check with the financial institution where you are saving your money to ensure you are not penalized if you exceed their minimum amount.
A savings account is best used for short-term to medium-term financial goals.
Standard Savings Account
You can open a basic savings account when you open a checking account at a bank. A regular savings account will pay you less than other options. But you can automatically set up your checking account to send money to your savings account each month. This is an easy way to build up your savings.
You can keep three to six months of money in a regular savings account. This can help you to cover your everyday financial expenses in your checking account.
High-Yield Savings Account
A high-yield savings account provides a higher interest rate than a standard one. A high-yield savings account can pay you up to twelve times more than a standard one. The bottom line is you will earn more interest by putting some of your money away in a high-yield savings account.
A high-interest savings account is an excellent choice for saving your emergency fund money. This is because it earns you higher interest. It is recommended to have a minimum of $10,000 for an emergency fund. You can tailor your emergency fund goal using Nerd Wallet’s emergency fund calculator.
Money Market Account
A money market account is yet another type of savings account. A financial institution may refer to the account as a money market account (MMA) or a money market deposit account (MMDA).
Money market accounts also offer other features that a regular savings account does not provide. These features include higher interest rates, check-writing, and debit cards.
Certificate of Deposit (CD)
Another savings tool at your disposal is the certificate of deposit (CD). A certificate of deposit earns interest on an agreed-upon percentage rate between you and the financial institution. You cannot touch the money in a CD until maturity, or you will be penalized. The tradeoff for a higher interest rate is less liquidity compared to a savings account.
A certificate of deposit can range from seven days to a few years. The interest rate that is offered will vary for each term length. You will want to research by looking at financial institutions where you live and online to find who provides the best rates and fits what you are looking for with a certificate of deposit.
Solutions
You can make it a habit to save a certain percentage of money each month to build up your savings accounts. The 50/30/20 budget recommends saving a minimum of twenty percent each month. Saving is a financial tool that can help you deal with financial emergencies and invest in other assets.
Once you have saved enough money, you can invest money in:
- The stock market.
- Real estate.
- Start a business.
- Commodities.
Secure Single recommends:
- Self-Validation For Singles
- Anti-Dating: Dating Is Not The Answer For Singles
- 30 Ways To Make The Most Of Being Single Today!
- 15 Habits To Build Wealth For Singles
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Summary
You have many choices when it comes to savings accounts. It ultimately depends on your financial goals and where you are in your financial journey.
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Society emphasizes romantic relationships and not internal validation. Single people must deal with this problem. How can you live your best life single? You have come to the right place! Here is how to be single in 2023!
How To Be Single In 2023
Secure In Yourself
You want to be secure in yourself. The worst thing you can be is insecure. Insecurity shows others that you lack confidence, are unsure of yourself, and are susceptible to being manipulated by others.
There are different ways that you can be secure in yourself. You can be emotionally secure. You can be financially secure. You can be prepared for a disaster.
You can become emotionally secure by understanding your emotions. The six common emotions that people experience are happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise. You can learn to handle your emotions. The more you allow your emotions to direct your life, the less control you will have in reaching your goals. It would be best if you learned to handle your emotions.
You want to learn the basics of personal finance. Financial education is not taught to most people. This is a problem. The fact that many families do not understand or teach their children this is an issue. You deal with finances every day. You go to the grocery store. You buy something online.
You also want to spend time to learn how the financial system works. Understanding how the financial system works can help you better understand money. You can then follow the basic steps of money management.
You can also prepare for a disaster. You do not need to become a prepper, but you can do some basic things to give you peace of mind. You can have at least one to three months’ supply of canned or emergency food stores where you live. There is nothing wrong with being prepared. It does not mean that you are paranoid. It can help you feel more secure since you are ready for things beyond your control to protect yourself while other people are not.
Focus On Yourself
It would be best if you learned to focus on yourself. Society tells people to focus on other people and things. You are often told to work in groups. This is common in college classes and group work projects. The problem with always doing things in a group setting is that it implicitly teaches you to put others in a group before yourself. You can then expound this to caring about the community and society instead of caring first about yourself.
A group, community, society, and country are abstract concepts. You, as a single individual, are concrete. They are external outside of oneself.
The more you listen to what other people tell you about what you must do to get a job, be a good person, or be successful, the less you focus on yourself. You are the only person who knows yourself. You can learn from people, but you are a unique individual with different skill sets.
You want to learn your strengths, weaknesses, and what you are passionate about. You then want to find a way to make money from it.
For the longest time, I believed you must go to college to get a good job. I misdirected my focus because I thought the lie about the higher education system. Rather than focusing on my strengths, I was worried about attaining the right expensive pieces of paper. My strengths are writing, synthesizing information, and understanding how a website works (especially search engine optimization).
Granted, that was not presented as a viable career option since the knowledge and content economy was still starting when I was in college. There are many ways to make money online once you put in the hard work, pay attention to your skills, and be creative. Work hard and smart to escape the nine-to-five job that you may hate to become your own boss. The Internet gives you options to create passive income streams.
Financial Literacy
Being single is a time to learn to be financially literate. The schools and the higher education system do not teach students financial education. Many parents do not teach their children because they are often financially illiterate. Yet, you use money every day.
The basics of financial literacy are not to have any debt, to save money, and to invest money.
Debt is the financial equivalent of slavery. This is because you become subjected to high-interest rates and may eventually reach a point where you can never pay off your debt. If you have debt of any type, from student loans to credit cards, you must first pay off your debt.
You then want to save money. Savings accounts continue to pay low rates of interest. For this reason, it is best to find a high-interest savings or money market account. You can then start to save a percentage of every paycheck into your savings account. This will help you to build wealth over time slowly. Once you have enough money saved to cover a year’s worth of your fixed expenses, you can start to invest.
There are different types of investment. You could invest in the stock market. You could invest in real estate. You could invest in commodities. You could start a business—the more risk you take with investing, the higher your potential return. The stock market is on the lower end of the risk-taking g spectrum. Starting your own business is on the high-risk side of the risk range.
Tell People ‘No!’
You must learn to tell people ‘No’! The longer you continue to say to people ‘Yes’ to things you are not interested in or do not want to do, the more you waste your valuable time and attention. You cannot please everybody. You do not need to please anyone.
Your greatest competition is with yourself, not with other people. The sooner you realize this, the better your life will be. Your competition is not your friend, co-worker, or another business. It is with yourself.
The sooner you recognize that you can turn down people, the more you will get your time back. You can then direct your time and attention to bettering yourself.
Go Your Own Way
It is not selfish to look out for yourself and go your way. Self-interest is natural. You naturally want to improve yourself. There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve yourself, from how you look to your interpersonal relationships to your financial situation. But sometimes, to do that, you must turn inward.
When you focus inward, you begin to learn about yourself. If you do not know yourself, other people will easily use you. You can start to stand up for yourself. You can work on yourself. You can work to reach your goals. You can take responsibility for your life. You can go your own way.
Secure Single Recommends:
- 15 Habits To Build Wealth For Singles
- 3 Ways To Increase Your Value As A Single Person
- How Mindset Affects Success
Summary
Society is full of distractions. You are tempted to direct your time, attention, and resources toward others, not yourself. The best thing you can do is to focus and invest in yourself. Make a point to learn to manage your money and become financially literate. Do not be afraid to tell people ‘No’ and to go your own way.
You are the one who is responsible for your choices and future. No one else is. It would be best to acknowledge that reality or continue believing in society’s narrative that focuses on external validation.
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Society tells young people to focus on romantic relationships instead of focusing on themselves. Young people often get caught up in chasing the latest thing, whichever it may be. They feel social pressure to conform to people around them. You can stop listening to the mixed messages from society and embrace the power of going your own way.
The Power Of Going Your Own Way
Self-Improvement
When you go your own way, you can start to focus on self-improvement. Self-work is the process of becoming the best version of yourself. You care more about self-work than about pleasing other people. Some of the ways you can invest in your self-development are:
- Health
- Social Skills
- Money management
- Increase your income
- Focus on things you can control
Your health is vital to your well-being. You can work toward your goals if you have health problems. You can consistently follow a diet and exercise. You can see a doctor to help you deal with other health issues.
You will slowly, over a period, notice your life improving. This is because you have begun focusing on the things you can control.
Focus On Internal Validation
You can start to focus on internal validation rather than external validation. Typical forms of external validation include romantic relationships, wanting more material possessions, and caring about status. The problem is that you can only control yourself.
You cannot control another person regarding dating or a friendship. You could be dumped by a significant other or a friend for any reason. You may never even learn why.
You may receive temporary happiness from buying the latest gadget, watching the newest movie, or going to the newest restaurant or bar alone or with friends. The problem is that there is always another new shiny object that comes along. You cannot keep up.
You may care about your status. You may receive value from how many likes you receive when you share a picture on Facebook or Instagram. You may worry about how big your audience is on YouTube or TikTok. You may care more about your number of followers- some may be bots and fake accounts- but the large digits make you feel good about yourself.
You can start to work to reach your life goals rather than caring what others think about you. The longer you continue to care what other people think about you, the longer you stay where you are. The best things happen when you take risks.
The more risk you take and begin to recognize that you can achieve your goals, the more self-confident you will become. Self-confidence will then affect your personal, social, and professional life.
Your time, attention, and money are precious. Do not waste them on people or things not worth your time or money. Start to invest your time, attention, and money to improve yourself!
Practice Self-Responsibility
You can begin to practice self-responsibility in your daily life. You will begin to see signs of your life improving as you start to accept responsibility. You will notice that you begin to reach the goals that you set for yourself.
Some basic ways to practice self-responsibility are to follow a budget, go to bed and get up consistently, and list the steps needed to complete a goal.
Self-responsibility has been lost today as most people want to rely on an external force outside of themselves. It could be always blaming others and having a victim mindset. It may be an employer. It could be the government.
Once you start to accept responsibility, you will see your life change. You can become one percent better daily by practicing self-discipline to help you achieve your goals.
Find Ways To Increase Your Net Worth
Society does not teach you how to increase your net worth. The education system teaches you only how to be an obedient student, which prepares you to be a compliant employee. That is great for employers but not for you.
Your salary can only grow so much as an employee. You also must deal with the human resource department, annoying coworkers, and listening to a boss you probably do not like. If you are entrepreneurial and unafraid of taking risks, you could start your own business.
One of the best decisions you could make is to go into business for yourself, which is the best way to increase your net worth. It requires more risk, but you will learn valuable lessons as a business owner. You will make many mistakes. You will learn how to work with people. You will learn how to read and budget for a business. You will learn how to develop a product and service to sell to your customers.
The Internet has made it easier to start a business today. You simply need to file with your state. You must determine the fastest way to generate revenue and build a profitable business.
Go Your Own Way
It is in your self-interest to go your own way. You are the only person who is responsible for you. No one else is.
You can be a follower or a leader by going your own way. By going your own way, you are acting in your self-interest. You are deciding to do what is best for you. You choose to be a leader.
Many people may tell you not to do something, but if it goes against your interests and intuition, do not listen. One of my biggest mistakes was not listening to my gut. It delayed me from publishing a book by at least a few years.
Society does not care about you. The financial system actively works to prevent you from becoming financially secure. It is in your interest to learn how the financial system works so that you can better understand money. You can then learn how to make money.
Do not be afraid to go against the crowd. Reject conformity. Reject mediocrity. Reject modern society. Choose to invest in yourself. Go your own way.
Secure Single recommends:
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15 Habits To Build Wealth For Singles
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How To Use Failure As A Learning Experience
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12 Reasons Why Young People Should Not Go To College
Summary
You may experience many pressures to fit in with other people. Those are forms of external validation. Start to focus on internal validation. Work to set realistic goals and aim to reach them. Accept self-responsibility for your life and learn the art of online business. Do not be afraid to go your own way in a culture that wants you to be mediocre.
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Popular culture presents being single in a negative light. Singles are pressured to date, marry, and find their soulmate. There are no soulmates. Yet, society tells singles that they cannot be happy until they are in a romantic relationship.
There are many reasons to enjoy being single. This is an incomplete list. Here are ten reasons why being single is awesome!
Ten Reasons Why Being Single Is Awesome!
Focus On Yourself
You can begin to focus on yourself. You must know yourself before you can start to reach your goals. You will likely struggle to reach your goals if you do not know your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you know your strengths, you can learn your likes and dislikes. The things that you enjoy doing will help you.
You can then start to pursue your passion. What you obsess over will often overlap with your strengths.
You can then find a way to monetize your strengths, interests, and what you are passionate about. That is the perfect combination.
You will likely live happier if you can figure out those four things. Many people work jobs that they hate. You can avoid that by discovering what drives you and making money. You can make money either as an employee or as a business owner.
I have worked many jobs that I have disliked. Many were some types of random sales jobs. I have sold Nespresso machines, and printers, and delivered food with Grubhub. The one thing I have always enjoyed doing is writing. My writing has dramatically improved since I began to take it more seriously. I am now preparing to self-publish my first book.
The best thing you can do is to focus on yourself. That is how you can reach the goals that you set for yourself. Focus and invest in yourself!
Solo Travel
You have the freedom to travel solo anytime you want. It could be simply visiting the nearest nearby town or city. You could plan a trip to see a nearby state. Or, you could rent or buy an RV to see your entire country.
You could also travel solo abroad. What countries have you always wanted to visit? Make a list. Make it one of your goals to see some of those countries before you die.
Traveling alone can help you develop confidence. You may spend the entire trip by yourself. Or, you could spend the trip traveling with a group.
Focus On Your Health
You can focus on your health. Health plays a vital role in your everyday life. Your health affects your productivity.
You can improve your physical health by regularly exercising, going to the gym, getting Vitamin D from the sun, and following a diet. These are some basic things that can help you to feel better about yourself. It takes time to lose weight and follow a diet. You will feel and look better when you do. Improving your personal health can positively affect your mental health.
Your health is one form of wealth. You want to start to value your health.
Self-Love
You can practice self-love. There is nothing wrong with learning to love oneself. If you do not like who you are, you will most likely not enjoy life.
You can start to love yourself for the unique person you are. You have innate value as an individual. Once you start to live out self-love in your life, you can begin to develop self-confidence and experience happiness in your life.
You do not need a significant other to be happy. Your happiness does not come from other people. You are responsible for your own satisfaction.
Learning to love yourself, despite your flaws, is one way to live a happier life.
Self-Education
Self-education is a vital skill that anyone can learn. Self-study is one of the critical skills that many self-made millionaires develop over their lifetimes. Self-learning means being curious and open to learning new things about yourself and the world.
The education system teaches you the bare minimum. In many cases, it only teaches you knowledge that the authorities have approved that you can learn. That means you are not reading or learning about things people in power want you to know.
Self-education is critical to your success and developing self-confidence in your field or expertise.
Self-Confidence
Singles must develop self-confidence. Being confident can help you in your daily life, from interacting with people at the grocery store to wanting to spend quality time with someone. Self-confidence also plays a vital role in your professional career.
If you are not confident, it shows. If you are timid and insecure, it is a sign of a more strong-willed person that you can easily be manipulated. I have experienced this in my own life with some friendships in my past.
If you doubt yourself, other self-assured people will find ways to use you for their ends. You can be a confident single.
Discover What Makes You Happy
You want to discover what makes you happy. You can be comfortable single. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship to be satisfied. You can find happiness and meaning in life without dating or being married.
You must know yourself to figure out what makes you happy. That requires you to go on a journey of self-discovery to understand what you are passionate about, your unique skills and interests, and how you enjoy spending your time.
You are responsible for your happiness. No one else is. You definitely do not need a significant other to experience bliss.
Learn Time Management Strategies
You can learn essential time management strategies. Time management techniques teach you self-discipline and self-responsibility.
A simple way to gain more time each day is to go an hour later each night. The next day wake up an hour earlier than you usually would. You will gain two extra hours doing this.
Another strategy is to make a to-do list of what you need to get done for the next day. Make the list manageable. Only list three to five things. One can be a larger task that may take a couple of hours. The rest may be simple things like responding to emails or running errands.
Set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. When you set goals, you plan what you want your future self to look like in one month, six months, a year, and even a decade. You will set yourself apart from most people if you set yourself goals, then follow through on accomplishing your goals.
Money Management
You can work to get your financial life in order. You can learn the basics of money management. The education system does not teach the basics of personal finance to students. Many parents do not even teach their children the essentials of money management.
You can learn the basics of personal finance and get ahead of many people. Here are some of the basics of money management.
You do not want to be in debt. Common ways that people get into debt today are having student loans because they decided to attend college, leasing a car they cannot afford, and spending more than thirty percent of their income on rent.
You can learn to follow a budget. A popular budget is the 50/30/20 budget. Another budgeting strategy is the 60/30/10 budget. You want to learn to differentiate between your needs and wants. A budget can help you to understand that vital distinction.
You can start to build an emergency fund. A standard first financial goal is to save $10,000 in an emergency fund. That is not a lot of money today, given inflation and the rising costs of goods and services, but you need to begin with a basic goal. You can then aim to increase it to one year’s salary or cover your cost-of-living expenses for a minimum of one year.
You can begin to think long-term and save and invest money for your retirement. You can save a percentage from each paycheck in a high-interest savings or money market account. That account will be only for retirement. You will not use it for anything else. You can start small by putting five to ten percent of what you make into that account. As you make money and age, you can increase the monthly percentage to at least ten percent.
You can then invest in the stock market and other retirement accounts as you become more financially literate. You can start to find ways to increase your net worth.
Find Ways To Increase Your Net Worth
You want to always be on the lookout to find ways to increase your net worth. In most careers, you eventually reach a peak and cannot raise how much you can make in your field. You may need to consider learning new skills to move to another career path.
You can also invest at least ten percent of your monthly paycheck into the stock market. This is a strategy to help you to diversify some of your money outside of your savings account, where it is losing its value compared to inflation. You may be able to keep up with inflation, depending on your investing strategy and how well your investments do.
The purpose of the stock market is to maintain and grow your wealth. It is not a vehicle to become rich.
You could consider starting an online business. A business is the greatest investment vehicle because you can continue to find new products and services to sell to your audience and customers. Making an Internet business usually costs less than starting a brick-and-mortar business. You can then reinvest your business profits into another venture or reinvest in the stock market.
The Internet provides several ways to make money today if you own an online business:
- Advertisements
- Monthly subscriptions
- Merchandise
- Digital and physical books
- Digital products that you can sell on an e-commerce website.
You are responsible for finding new ways to increase your income. You are
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12 Reasons Why Young People Should Not Go To College
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Summary
These are ten reasons why being single is awesome! You can focus on yourself to reach your goal while becoming the best version of yourself. You can do that by improving your personal and financial well-being. You can also enjoy the freedom of being single to solo travel and see the world. It is up to you to learn the basics of money management and to find ways to increase your net worth.
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Do you want a home bar? This article will help you to set up the perfect home bar for singles.
Home Bar Essentials For Singles
It does not matter if you enjoy wine, beer, spirits, or a cocktail. You may want to have your home bar. You can make your favorite cocktails or enjoy a dram of your favorite spirit. Here is a brief overview of the different types of spirits.
Clear Liquors
Vodka and gin are both essentials in a home bar. Vodka is an easy-to-mix liquor. Gin is another essential since a proper martini requires gin, and add tonic for an easy gin and tonic. Vodka is also one of the most popular liquors among drinkers. If you are hosting a party, your guests will enjoy having a bar that includes vodka. However, consider spending a few dollars more and upgrading from Absolut or Grey Goose to Russian Standard for your standard vodka. Russian Standard received five stars on Vodka Buzz. For your gin, Broker’s Gin is another great choice.
Brown Liquors
A proper home bar also requires brown liquor, that is, whiskeys: Canadian, bourbon, rye, blended scotch, and single malt scotch. A classic Canadian whiskey is Crown Royal. A popular bourbon is Jack Daniels. Templeton, Sazerac, Redemption, Rittenhouse, and High West are options to add to a well-stocked bar for rye whiskeys. The standard for a blended scotch is Johnny Walker Black. For your single malts, the regulars are Macallan, Highland Park, and Laphroaig.
Wine
You may also want to stock your home bar with wine. For your friends who are wine lovers, they will greatly appreciate it. There are red wines. The different types of red wine are:
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Merlot
- Pinot Noir
- Syrah (Shiraz)
- Zinfandel
There are white wines. The variety of white wines includes:
- Chardonnay
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Moscato
- Pino Grigio
- Riesling
Beer
There is used only to be mass-produced beer. There has been a craft beer boom. The big-name beers are Coors, Miller, and Budweiser. There are now plenty of craft beers. Oskar Blues is a craft beer company that you may be able to find at most grocery stores. You can always choose to support your local craft brewery too.
Beer Advocate breaks down the variety of beers. The type of beers includes:
- Lagers
- Pale Lagers
- Dark Lager
- India Pale Ales (IPA)
- Dark Ales
- Bocks
- Brown Ales
- Pale Ales
- Wheat Beers
- Wild and Sour Beers
- Strong Ales
- Porters
Cocktails
You can make a classic martini with vodka or gin. You could also make vodka soda or a gin and tonic. You could enjoy a Manhattan or Old Fashioned for bourbon and rye whisky. There is the Blood and Sand, Rusty Nail, and Rob Roy for scotch.
Summary
These are home bar essentials for singles. You can always add to your bar over time. You could also decide to emphasize one type of alcohol over another one. It is your home bar, after all.
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Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
These are fifteen habits to build wealth for singles. These habits affect different areas of your life. If you start to implement them, you can build wealth over time.
15 Habits To Build Wealth For Singles
Live Below Your Means
First, live below your means. This will allow you to save more money. You must know what it costs to live each month for your necessities. There is nothing wrong with driving a used car, renting a smaller apartment than you can afford, or living with your parents if it is a step to help you toward financial freedom.
[bctt tweet=”It is fine to live below your means. Popular culture and social media messages tell you always to have the latest, greatest, or biggest thing. ” username=”@secure_single”]
Track Your Expenses
Second, track your expenses and follow a budget. When you know where your money goes, you are less likely to waste your money on things you do not need.
A 2019 survey found that Americans spend at least $18,000 yearly on non-essential costs. It has also been found that Americans spend over $300 a month on impulse purchases. So many Americans spend on non-essential items and impulse purchases because they must follow a budget and track their expenses.
You can also follow simple methods like the using the envelope method. You use different envelopes to break your expenses into categories: groceries, utilities, entertainment, et cetera.
Recommended – Self-Validation For Singles
Lifestyle Inflation
Third, be aware of lifestyle inflation. While inflation continues to be a problem and is likely not going away anytime soon, lifestyle inflation is another problem. You do not need to keep up with the Kardashians, the Joneses, or your neighbors. You may have a neighbor that looks like he has his life together.
He may have a nice house in a great neighborhood while driving an expensive car, but he may be in debt to pay for it. While his lifestyle looks nice, he cannot afford his lifestyle. Many people do this to make themselves look better to their friends.
You do not need a fancy house or fancy cars to live. That is just the lifestyle glamorized by movies and social media influencers.
[bctt tweet=”You don’t need to keep up with others. There is no reason for you to try to please people. Living within your means and focusing on reaching your goals is best.” username=”@secure_single”]
Being Cheap Versus Frugal
Fourth, understand the difference between being cheap versus being frugal. There is a vital difference between being cheap and being frugal. When you are cheap, you eliminate things from your life that could help to improve your productivity, efficiency, and quality of life. Frugality is simply cutting out the things that you do not need from your life.
When you are frugal, your spending and budgeting habits help you reach your financial goals. You also want to consider the long-term life of your purchases. This can help you decide if it may be worth investing more money to buy from a brand or product with a reputation for lasting longer.
It is up to you to figure out what things are worth investing more. There are certain areas of life where you may decide to upgrade while you are OK with buying a less expensive product or service in another area.
Avoid Debt
Fifth, avoid debt. The financial system is a debt-based model, which means it wants to get as many people into debt as possible to keep the system going. Many of the common ways that the system gets people into debt are:
- Student loans by going to college.
- Credit cards.
- Car loans.
- Mortgage.
- Buy now, pay later, where someone pays for something in parts.
The problem is that depending on where you may live, you need to know the basic costs of living each year. Your essential costs are food, energy, and housing.
These are seven steps to get out of debt if you have debt.
Don’t Max Out Your Credit Cards
Sixth, don’t max out your credit cards. Credit cards are convenient. Yet, the high-interest rates quickly add up, which can make you into debt if you do not pay your credit card off each month. It is in the credit card company’s interest that you continue to borrow rather than pay in cash. The primary way that credit card companies make money is by charging interest and having many different types of credit card fees. This is why credit card companies want you to sign up for a new credit card or will raise your maximum amount each year.
Credit card companies also entice you to use their service by saying you get airline miles, discounts, and other conveniences. It could be beneficial if you use the things already that the companies use to sign up for their card and pay your credit card off each month. Otherwise, credit cards are a way to make you spend money you don’t have and spend more than you allocate each month with your budget.
[bctt tweet=”It is best to follow a budget and limit your use of credit cards. You could only pay for things in cash or with a debit card. ” username=”@secure_single”]
Self-Learning
Seventh, focus on self-learning. Self-education is the most important thing that anyone can do. However, this is looked down upon in a society that encourages people to attend college. The foundation of the education system is obedience and respect for authority.
Self-learning is what most millionaires and people who started their businesses did. Instead of going through college, most dropped out of college or never attended college. They found another way by discovering what they enjoyed learning about, then found a problem that needed a solution.
There are many ways to learn today that will be less than the cost of attending college. You can read a book. You can read an article on a website. You can watch videos or listen to a podcast on a topic you find interesting.
[bctt tweet=”You want to find ways to apply your skills and use them to increase your income. ” username=”@secure_single”]
Recommended: 12 Reasons Why Young People Should Not Go To College
Create Multiple Income Streams
Eighth, work to create multiple income streams. You can find ways to create multiple income streams. The traditional way has been to invest in the stock market. However, you can build income streams today using the Internet in many ways.
The reason why it is critical to build multiple income streams is so that you can become financially resilient. Some ways that you can make income streams include:
- You could self-publish and write a book.
- You could write a workbook or journal.
- You could start a newsletter on Substack.
- You could start a YouTube Channel.
- You could create merchandise to sell for your business or something you want.
- You could sell jewelry or other crafts on Etsy.
- You could create a digital course to sell.
The bottom line is that there are plenty of ways to make new income streams to help you become more financially resilient. Some of these even are passive income streams. You can then direct the extra money you make to invest into starting a business, reinvesting into another product, or investing in the stock market or real estate.
Understand Your Taxes
Ninth, understand your taxes. You want to understand your taxes to find ways to save more of your money legally. This will mean that you will determine where your dollar goes rather than the government deciding where your tax dollars will be spent.
The IRS takes away a third of your earned income each year. That means the first four months of every year is money the government takes from you. None of the money you make during those four months goes into your pocket.
Death and taxes may be the only sure things in life, but you can take steps to keep more of your money:
- You can see if your company provides a 401(k). This can help to reduce your taxable income by the total amount you invest into your employer’s 401(k).
- Tax loss harvesting – If you made some investments that have gone south and don’t think you will be able to profit from them, you could sell. This will help offset the other gains you made in the stock market and reduce the taxes you must pay.
- If you want to start a business, consider incorporating it as an LLC, S- Corporation, or a C-Corporatio It will depend upon the business venture and if you will have a business partner(s). Each of them has different business structures. As a business owner, you can find ways to reduce your liabilities while protecting yourself legally.
These are perfectly legal ways to save more of your money that can help you build wealth. You must have a good accountant, especially if you are a business owner.
Retirement Accounts
Tenth, learn about the types of retirement accounts. Different types of retirement accounts are another common strategy you can use to invest in your future. You can utilize these accounts to reduce and defer your tax liabilities. These are five common types of retirement accounts:
- Individual Retirement Account (IRA) – An IRA is a tax-favored account that allows you to invest in stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, bonds, and other investments. You can contribute up to $6,000. If you are 50 or older, you can contribute up to $7,000.
- Roth IRA – You can invest up to $6,500 a year, and the amount you invest in that account is tax-free at 59.5. Contributions to a Roth IRA are made from after-tax dollars, and any profit from a Roth IRA will never be taxed again.
- Traditional 401(k) – You can contribute a maximum of $22,500 a year into a 401k. You will not be taxed on the money you contribute to a 401(k) until you reach the age of 59.5. You are deferring taxes with each contribution each year which helps you to save money long term.
- Self-directed IRA (SDIRA) – A self-directed IRA allows you to invest in a private company or real estate. You can get a higher rate of return along with greater diversification with a self-directed IRA. You must also have a custodian with a self-directed IRA. While you can get a higher return with a self-directed IRA, you have more risks.
- Health Savings Account – A health savings account can help cover medical expenses. Any contributions, withdrawals, and appreciation are tax-free with a health savings account. You will want to make sure that you are eligible before you apply. The maximum you are allowed to contribute to an HSA is $3,650.
Between these five retirement account options, you are potentially removing tax liability on upwards of $32,850 a year. That money can is then saved and compounded over time as you put money into the account for when you reach 59.5. The result is a large sum of money to help you during retirement.
Move To A Less Expensive State Or Country
Eleventh, you could also move to a less expensive state or country. This relates to point number two. You could live in a costly city or move to a less expensive state.
You can save on income taxes by moving to a more tax-friendly state. You can also save on property taxes. Some of the top tax-friendly states are:
- Florida
- Wyoming
- Texas
- Tennessee
- North Dakota
- South Dakotas
- Nevada
- Louisiana
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
You could also decide to move to another country. I discuss why it is good to have a Plan B in my post on the Five Flags Theory. The simple answer is that you can have a second residency outside of your home country, have a second passport, and reduce your cost of living. This could also be used to triage the dollar while it remains the world’s reserve currency to enjoy a higher standard of living abroad that you may be unable to enjoy in the United States.
Recommended – 3 Ways To Increase Your Value As A Single Person
Plan For The Worst
Twelfth, plan for the worst. You can plan for the worst by being prepared as possible. While many people do not enjoy paying for insurance, it can help cover themselves for an unplanned disaster.
Regular tracking and planning help to mitigate disasters. You can apply risk mitigation to different areas:
- You can see a doctor regularly and have your insurance cover part of it.
- Another option for a traditional doctor is a naturopath. A naturopath will work to find natural solutions to resolve your health issues so that you can eventually stop popping your prescription pills.
- You can continue to make yourself more valuable to your employer by studying for certifications, arriving on time, and showing your employer that you want to move up in the company and industry.
- If you have reached the top of your field, you could move to a different area or consider starting your own business.
- You can ensure your car is in peak condition by servicing it regularly.
- You can ensure that your car is adequately insured, and you can have AAA insurance in case your car breaks down for some reason.
- You can get house insurance to cover your house. It will usually cover the estimated value of the items and the value of your home. You can also obtain flood insurance if you live in an area where you experience floods.
- You can find an insurance agent and talk to them to get a plan that meets your specific needs.
- You can have an emergency fund to cover a year’s worth of expenses. I like to call an FU fund so you can still cover your expenses for a year in case an emergency happens or you need to find a new job.
You can schedule a time to have these done each year so that they are automated. You can set them on your calendar and forget about them. You will receive an alert on your phone, email, or computer reminding you of your appointment.
Value Your Health
Thirteenth, value your health. Like self-education, your health plays a critical role in maintaining wealth. There is a saying that your health is your wealth. Some ways to pay better attention to your health include following a diet, drinking enough water daily, and exercising. You can use a water filter to filter out chemicals and toxins in the water, and you could use something like a Burkey water filter.
You could switch from regular fruits, vegetables, and meats to organic or locally grown foods. This will decrease your exposure to chemicals in the food you buy at the grocery store.
You could resolve specific health problems, and it could be as simple as losing weight and regularly going for walks or the gym. A regular doctor won’t discuss these options, but alternative medical professionals can help you to find ways to resolve your health issues naturally. This could end up helping you to save money so that you are on fewer prescriptions and could help to decrease your health insurance costs.
Set Goals
Fourteenth, set goals. You want to set goals for yourself. Your goals will depend on your interests and what you want your future to look like. SMART goals are an excellent way to develop a goal you want to reach. SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
You want to create a specific goal that you can achieve over a set period of time. This will allow you to determine if you are successful or not. You can then have different types of goals:
- Short-term goals
- Medium-term goals
- Long-term goals
[bctt tweet=”Short-term and long-term goals overlap to increase productivity. ” username=”@secure_single”]
Plan For Your Future
Finally, plan for your future. If you don’t have a plan, you will be part of someone else’s agenda. It is that simple. You must have a plan, and you must have goals. Some things may delay when you can achieve a goal, but it does not prevent you from finishing what you set out to achieve.
You can start right now to make a plan to improve your financial future. It could be coming up with a strategy to leave the job you hate. It could be working to make a second or third-income stream. You may decide that you want to start your own business.
Recommended – What Is The 60/30/10 Budget?
Summary
These habits can help singles build wealth. It takes time to build wealth. Most people want to get rich quickly without realizing that it took most millionaires and billionaires time to build up their net worth to where it is today. It took them time and resources to create a business, or businesses, that produced products or services that people wanted that made them wealthy.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
The message that popular culture sends is for singles to find their soulmate. Society overemphasizes romantic relationships and external validation. When you focus on external validation, you care more about what people think about you instead of reaching your goals. Self-validation is the answer for singles.
Self-Validation For Singles
Society Focuses On External Validation
There are six ways that society wants you to focus on to receive external validation. These distract you from being able to improve yourself.
Relationships
Relationships can be distractions. That can be true for both friendship and romantic relationships. When you get your value from others, you allow yourself to more easily succumb to pressure to do things you may not want. You will find yourself doing things you may not otherwise have done to seek another person’s approval.
Social Pressure
Society wants you to fall for social pressure. This pressure can come from relationships with people who you put on a pedestal and who tell you what to do. These people include celebrities, influencers, and politicians. It can also come from friends and loved ones.
[bctt tweet=”Social pressure is a form of conformity. It is best to go against the crowd.” username=”@secure_single”]
Entertainment
You can be distracted today in many ways that take away your valuable time and attention. Social media, video games, and streaming videos, and reading or watching the news are forms of entertainment. These distract you from being able to be productive.
Being A Consumer
As a consumer, you receive value from the things you buy. You think you must always have the latest tech gadget, clothes, or items being marketed to you on social media or by a podcast.
Another way that is done is that you think you must be like the Kardashians, Joneses, or your neighbors who have cool cars and live in nice houses. You think you must have the same lifestyle as someone else even if you cannot afford it. This makes you a consumer of things that you cannot afford. You then go into debt.
Victim Mentality
The victim mentality is a negative source of external validation. Instead of receiving your value directly from something, you receive it from something you don’t have. You think you are a victim because you don’t have or claim not to have the same things as others (rights, money, status, rights, or whatever is considered a current problem).
People with a victim mentality claim victimhood status and push off self-responsibility to someone else to solve a problem. The problem could be real, imaginary, or made up to push an agenda. By doing this, people refuse to change their mindset from a negative mindset of victimhood to a positive growth mindset. This makes people think they are victims, mainly because they were taught it going through the higher education system or listening to an influencer say they are a victim. They cannot better themselves.
This then creates a death spiral where you cannot improve your life. You think the things popular culture says are a part of society make you a victim. You remain in a continual state of victimhood rather than improving yourself. You buy the lies that society tells you.
Attention
You choose where to direct your attention. You can choose to direct it and receive it from things externally or focus on internal validation. When you focus on something, you give someone or something your time. Your time and attention are valuable.
4 Ways Singles Can Experience Self-Validation
These are four essential ways that singles can experience self-validation.
Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is critical. Without self-confidence, you will likely find yourself being a people pleaser. If you are not confident, you won’t stand up for yourself. Self-confidence and standing up for yourself can help you in many areas of your life.
You will be more willing to take risks and do things independently when you are confident that your actions are correct. Some people may tell you what you are doing is crazy or out of line because they don’t think it will succeed. Your confidence will help you to succeed.
Priority Management
You can start to manage your priorities. When you manage your priorities better, you will make better use of your time each day. What you prioritize becomes your time. You will manage what you give your attention to.
[bctt tweet=”The combination of being aware of your priorities, time, and attention can help you achieve success.” username=”@secure_single”]
Goals
You can reach your goals when you make better use of your priorities. You will determine the most critical priorities needed to achieve an ambition. You will start to become more confident as you realize an objective. It is up to you to set goals to increase your value as a single person.
[bctt tweet=”You can work both hard and smart to achieve your goals. Success does not happen overnight.” username=”@secure_single”]
Celebrate Your Achievements
When you reach a goal, you can celebrate your achievement. There is nothing wrong with celebrating an accomplishment for the hard work, time, and energy it took to accomplish something you wanted. Celebrating accomplishments is healthy. Gamification is psychologically rewarding. Gamification taps into intrinsic value by helping to build your self-esteem and self-confidence. It can help you to want to reach your goals when you celebrate both your small and large wins.
Recommended: How Self-Discipline Can Improve Your Life
Summary
It would help to decide where you want your validation to come from. It can come from other people. Or, it can come from you reaching your goals. You can also choose to have a victim mindset or a growth mindset. It is up to you.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
These are three ways to increase your value as a single person. The critical point is that your value does not come from a romantic relationship or other people.
3 Ways To Increase Your Value As A Single Person
Internal Validation
[bctt tweet=”Internal validation is more important than external validation. ” username=”@secure_single”]
First, you should focus on internal validation, not external validation. Society wants you to focus on external validation through dating and gaining value from others. It can also come by getting likes on your social media posts. You may think you must keep up with the Kardashians and Joneses,’ but there is no need to.
Internal validation is the opposite. You get internal validation when you set and achieve goals. You can receive internal validation when you complete a project. You focus on improving yourself in every area of your life, from your health to relationships to finances. It is up to you to become the best version of yourself. You are the only one who knows what your goals are. It is up to you to reach your goals.
Self-Education
Second, you can focus on self-education. Education does not come from receiving a fancy overpriced piece of paper by attending a university. It comes from you learning about the things that you are interested in learning about. It does not matter what it may be. It has become easier and less expensive to learn as a result of the Internet. You can now learn from people who have a track record and can present information to you that you would otherwise not have come across by reading articles online, watching videos, pictures, pdfs, and purchasing digital courses.
You know what you’re interested in. If you do not, you can learn. What you are passionate about can help you in other areas. Today, you can even find ways to monetize your interests and skills with the Internet.
[bctt tweet=”The best investment is in yourself. The best education is your own education. Never stop learning!” username=”@secure_single”]
Increase Your Income
Third, find ways to increase your income. Inflation is not going away. You better plan to find ways to deal with that issue by building more income streams.
The traditional options are to get a second or third job, but you will continue to trade your time for money with that option. Another strategy is to find ways to make passive income. Passive income streams do take longer to build. But you only need to create them once. You can then continue to add to them. Some passive income streams include:
- Advertising revenue by running ads on a website, YouTube Channel, and other platforms where you can run ads.
- Affiliate marketing. You can find products and services that meet the need of your audience and customers.
- Self-publish an e-book and book on Amazon.
- You can create and sell your own products or services.
- There are lots of options to do this through the Internet today.
It is ultimately up to you to determine what best works for you. What worked for someone else likely won’t work for you since they have a different skill set. You must know your strengths starting out. Once you have a team around you, you can scale up faster.
Recommended – 5 Things You Control That Determine Luck
Summary
Society wants you to be distracted and get your attention from others. The critical point is that your self-worth does not come from others or social media. You can get validation by reaching your goals. You can then find ways to learn new skills online to continue to develop. Rather than allowing your income to remain stagnant, you can work to find ways to create passive income streams.