“How do I get rich?” A question I often ask myself and wonder how others have achieved their own financial successes? What did they do differently?

I’ll be the first to admit, I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING! Especially when it comes to money; I’m a total newb. You don’t either? Well, hey, let’s learn together.

The second thing I’ll also admit, I was a nerd in college. My nose dug into in Anatomy & Microbiology books, hours spent in the library, studying ’til 3 am in the morning, even giving up my Friday and weekends to research while everyone else was partying. BOOORING!

And it wasn’t until after I graduated nursing school where I really started to make up for those college years I felt I had lost. SO now, having a decent paying job, it was time to have some reckless, carefree and careless spending fun. Let me tell you, I spent my paychecks by treating myself to fancy Michelin restaurant dinners, weekend vacations to Vegas, Forever21 shopping sprees, shoes, purses, makeup, concerts & music festivals every time those direct deposits came in on Thursdays every 2 weeks.

I felt like I had everything made and that I was maybe even set for life. Nothing could beat that high I got from frivolous, splurge, living-in-the-moment, I’ll pay for it later, spending. The word “BUDGET” didn’t exist in my vocabulary. I felt like a huge grown-up KID … with MEANS to buy whatever I wanted.

Fast forward the clock, I’m 27 and now 5 years into my career. I came to a point where I was still feeling like I was in the same place I was when I started when I was 22 and newly graduated. I’m getting a little older, but I was starting to feel stagnant and began worrying about where my 30-something-year-old self would be from now. And fearing that I’d still be in the same place where I have been 5 MORE years from now.

I was unhappy because nothing had changed and that my hard work had amounted to sort-of nothing and I had nothing to show for it.

Where did the time go?! By this time of my life, I had imagined myself with my dream car, in my dream house, and with my dream guy happily settled down and married. The reality, I had NONE of these things. Life doesn’t always go out as planned and unexpected things happen. I took a long hard look at myself and took some time to reflect. I also looked backed at what I had done the past 5 years and thought, “WHERE THE HECK DID ALL THAT MONEY GO?!”

Those years, although only a few, went by FAST! I wasn’t making any progress towards my future LIFE goals because I hadn’t planned out how I was going to get these DREAMS I had wanted for myself.

In all honesty I regret NONE of those experiences, BUT maybe I could have gone without those extra pair of shoes or those dresses still hanging in the closet with the tags still on, BUT I could have been doing more for myself now and future self.

I came to the realization that these life goals I had were actually financial goals. With that, the harsh reality of ADULTING meant 401k’s, IRA’s, retirement contributions, savings accounts, health insurance, credit cards, OH MY! WHERE TO BEGIN?! (Did your eyes gloss over? Be honest with yourself.)

When I innocently ask some of the colleagues and friends for advice about their financial goals and retirement some have said, “I haven’t started putting money away for retirement yet”. Others have said, “Retirement is for old people and I’ll worry about it later.” Others have even said, “I don’t understand what a 401k is or what mutual funds are, it’s so confusing.” And even more plainly,” SAVING IS HARD!” Hrm, frustrating when no one seems to have it down packed themselves. Well, truth is it CAN be confusing and hard; but only IF you don’t educate yourself.

Here’s one way to start. Get your money and your mind right.

“I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH” by RAMIT SETHI; this book will change how you think about your money and will light the fire under your butt to get started NOW in taking actionable steps to taking your hard-earned dollars more seriously.

And if your in your 20’s like myself, NOW is PRIME-TIME. If you’re not in your 20’s , as soon as possible for anyone of any age.

This book helps simplify the overwhelming and seemingly complicated world of money and finances. A SUPER EASY, SPECIFIC step-by-step guide which Sethi sets as a 6-week program to help ANYONE start their own money journey to becoming RICH regardless of how much or how “little” income you make. (And, NO!, I WASN’T PAID TO PROMOTE THIS BOOK AT ALL!)

But the main general takeaways I found from this book, so far:

1. JUST GET STARTED! You don’t have to follow every single detail and bit of advice from this book , but just getting started already puts you ahead of the game because most people aren’t even thinking about their finances to begin with.

But with the power of compounding, your investments will grow much larger over time, and the sooner the better.

2. PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS! GET OUT OF DEBT! STAY OUT OF DEBT! This is pretty self-explanatory.

3. OPTIMIZE EVERYTHING. This includes your bills. By shopping around and getting the best rates from your service providers or switching providers. Whether it be your credit cards, phone bill, car insurance, learn to negotiate for better interest rates and/or services by just making a few phone calls to these companies. Also, optimizing your savings accounts and getting the best interest rates; i.e. by switching to an online bank > brick and mortar banks)

4. BUDGET! This includes setting up automatic transfers to your savings/debit accounts, and automatic payroll deductions into your retirement accounts. AND budgeting not just for necessary expenses but this also includes budgeting for things that you enjoy; couture shoes, vacation time, or going-out/Party spending; whatever your vice may be! NOT all budgeting has to be boring. (This particularly has been helpful for me because it tricks your mind into thinking you have less money than you actually do, and tricks you into spending less than you actually have.)

Just listen to the first chapter and you’ll be hooked, at least it did for me. This book is great for beginners just learning the basics when it comes to managing your money.

There are many ways to get to where you want to go, this is just one suggested route of many. So, if you don’t know where to start, just start here.

p.s. Lastly, the best investment you can make is within yourself and no one can take that away from you. -SAIDsomeone

-Stay curious.