Are you familiar with the proverb “a penny saved is a penny earned”? If you are then you know that this proverb means that it’s easier to save the money that you already have, then it’s to earn it. This meaning has not only been a huge part of my life, but is actually one of my life motto’s. Both my parents come from humble backgrounds & due to their upbringings, they raised both my sister and I with a saving mentally. Our financial education began early in our childhood and continued into our young adulthood. Their way of educating us was by exposure, making the point to show us their struggles and their successes was their way of imprinting their learned lesson on us. Throughout my college years I had a few friends who struggled with their finances and after a few conversation with them, I was surprised to learned how easy it was for them to get into financial trouble. Credit and Money Management can sometimes be a taboo conversation amongst parents, children, family members and friends. However, in my opinion, financial education is an important subject that needs to be discuss, specially with your children. Today, I want to share with you a few Credit and Money Management Tips to help you get the conversation started.

Recently, Wells Fargo collaborated with Telemundo for the “Conversemos de Tus Finanzas” campaign. The campaign is focused on empowering Hispanics to enhance their financial knowledge and help them to reach their financial goals. The campaign provides customized content, tools and resources around the important financial topics of money management and credit.

Credit and Money Management Tips!

Two components of financial education are credit and money management. Establishing, constructing and maintaining your credit and money are some of the most important parts to help you reach your financial goals. Let’s begin by sharing these Credit tips:

Establish and maintain your credit: At the age of 16, my parents decided to help me built my credit, they helped guide me and watched over me while I learned how to manage this new tool. If you think that you may not need to built your credit, think again. Nowadays, lenders aren’t the only ones using credit scores to make decisions, many insurance companies, cell phone providers and landlords are checking them as well.
Pay your bills on time: Once you have established your credit, now is time to maintain your payment history. Keep in mind that your payment history is one of the biggest factors in your credit score, these includes things such as, your rent and cell phone bill.
Keep track of your debt: Paying more than what’s due on your credit card helps you pay down debt faster and can improve your credit score. This part is important because your credit score influences the interest rate you qualify for. The lower the interest rate, the less you’ll pay in interest over time.

This last tip bring us to our next set of tips, this set of tips are geared to help you manage your money. Let’s continue by sharing these Money Management tips:

Understand the various types of accounts available for you: Before deciding which type of account will meet your need, it is necessary to understand & reviewing the terms and features associated with your accounts. Let’s explore the difference accounts available to you:

Checking account: offers easy access to your money for your daily transactions.
Savings account: allows you to accumulate interest on your funds.
Certificate of Deposit or CDs: allow you to invest your money at a set interest rate for a pre-set period of time.
Money market account: are similar to savings accounts, but they require you to maintain a higher balance to avoid a monthly fee.
Individual Retirement Accounts or IRAs: allow you to save independently for your retirement.

Prepare a budget: Understanding and tracking your income & expenses are the most essential parts to help you prepare a monthly, yearly and even into retirement budget.

Organize your budget. Organizing your budget can be as simple as setting up a worksheet with two columns: one for income and one for expenses.
Track your budget. Keep a detailed log of all your spending habits for a month or two.
Analyze your budget. At the end of the month, total your income and your expenses and then subtract your expenses from your income.
Keep track of your budget. Consistently track all of your expenses, separate them into categories and set a budget for each.
Review your budget. Make a habit of reviewing your budget every month, this will help you avoid overspending.

Finally, to help you maintain a healthy credit and in turn to help you maintain your budget in-check, obtain a free annual credit report by visit the AnnualCreditReport website or by calling toll-free at 1-877-322-8228. Above all, the tips I have shared with you on this post are generalized, if you have more in-dept questions visit a financial adviser for a more personalized advice.