4 Smart Moves to Achieve Financial Peace of Mind (2024)

Financial peace of mind is one of the most important things Angie and I have been able to achieve in life. It was a long time coming, but I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt, our financial freedom has had an incredible impact on our lives that goes far beyond money and finances.

In this article, I’ll show you how getting financial peace of mind has changed our lives for the better, as well as some of the most important things you can do to achieve financial independence in your own life.

We Had No Financial Peace of Mind

When we first started this journey years ago, Angie and I were absolutely terrible at communicating about money. Lack of financial unity was causing upheaval in our marriage and making us into stressed out, unhappy people.

When we finally decided we had to do something about it, it took a couple of years for true change to take hold. But once we took the time to learn good financial habits and apply them to our lives, our financial peace of mind has done nothing but increase!

What We Have Accomplished Financially

Since those early days we’ve accomplished some pretty awesome milestones!

We’ve been able to:

• Pay cash for our last five cars.
• Pay cash for Angie’s two completed college degrees at a time when our income was cut in half.
• Totally eliminate money fights from our marriage for over 12 years and counting!
• Pay cash for two more college degrees for my wife and son.
• Use cash to pay for all our vacations.
• Pay cash for our daughter's wedding.
• Pay cash for a rental house that generates passive cashflow every month.
• Teach our kids by example how to succeed with money.
• Achieve a level of happiness and freedom that would not exist if we were deep in debt and worrying about how to pay the bills.

Anyone Can Achieve Financial Independence

One of the cool things about the level of financial independence we've achieved, is that we understand that we’re not special. Over the years of gaining our own financial freedom and teaching others how to do it, we’ve come to realize that financial independence is something anyone can achieve!

How to Achieve Financial Peace of Mind

So what does it take to get the financial peace of mind that so many of us want but only a few actually get?

You don’t have to make a six-figure income or have superhuman powers.

It starts with the willingness to think different, act different, and not worry about what everyone else is doing.

Below you’ll find some of my best tips for achieving financial freedom.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t try to do all these at once. It takes time if you want to do it right.

Tackle them one or two at a time.

Just remember to stay patient and keep moving forward.

Sign up for the FREE “Master Your Money” email course here.

Change How You Think

The first step to achieving financial peace of mind is to change your mindset. How you think about money has to precede everything else.

You should understand there is a huge difference between how the average broke person thinks about money, and how people with financial freedom think about money.

Average broke people believe:

• Debt is an inevitable part of life.
• Only rich people can pay cash for things like cars, college, and vacations.
• You can’t get by without credit cards.
• Most people can’t get out of debt.
• It’s necessary to maintain a high credit score.
• It’s impossible to save enough money to retire.

Consequently, average people are in debt up to their eyeballs, have very little saved for retirement, and have zero hope of ever achieving financial independence.

They simply don’t believe financial freedom is possible. Many believe the lies that the system is rigged against them and there is little or nothing they can do to get ahead.

People with financial peace of mind understand:

• That no matter your income, financial freedom is achievable.
• Maintaining a high credit score has nothing to do with financial success.
• Consumer debt is not conducive to financial peace of mind, and should be avoided.
• Saving for retirement is possible, even if you have a low income.
• Cash is king, and when you set up your finances to reflect that, your financial life gets tremendously easier.

You can’t go from being a normal broke person to having financial peace of mind without changing your mind about how money should be used. Here are some of my best posts on how to achieve a better mindset when it comes to money.

Abundance vs. Scarcity- Your Mindset Makes All the Difference

Money Comes Easy and Often- How to Create a Wealth Mindset Using the Law of Attraction

9 Lessons on Finances and Success from King Solomon

Learn to Manage Your Money

Another important part of becoming financially free is knowing how to manage your money well. According to a survey I did here on CFF a few months ago, 75% of people are doing an inadequate budget or no budget at all.

That’s terrible!

When you don’t know where your money is going, you end up wasting money, spending more than you make, and living in debt (see the average broke person above).

Financial peace of mind is easier when you can manage all your finances in one place. Personal Capital is the best tool to make it happen! Learn more about Personal Capital here.

A Detailed Budget is the Solution

Angie and I have been doing a detailed written budget every single month for a dozen years now. It’s by far the most important thing we do to stay on track financially. It’s the number one tool we used to achieve financial peace of mind.

We discovered long ago that when we have a plan for every dollar, we don’t have to resort to credit cards and other types of debt to run our financial life.

Here’s my Budgeting Page with blog posts and free budgeting printables to get you started.

Get Out of Debt

Once you change your mindset and start budgeting, it’s time to start getting out of debt.

Debt is a huge drag on your finances! Servicing the debt on credit cards, car payments, home equity loans, and other debt is costing you thousands of dollars every year!

It’s also costing you peace of mind.

What if, instead of sending loan payments to the banks every month, you could put that money in the bank?

Yep, it can be done!

It’ll take a good plan and some discipline to get the job done. But when you decide that debt no longer has a place in your home, you set yourself up for financial freedom in a huge way!

Follow your get out of debt plan to completion and life will never look the same!

• You’ll pay cash for your cars (and repairs!).
• You won’t have to put Christmas on credit cards and pay it off later.
• Your vacations are completely paid for before you get back home.
• There will be money in the bank for emergencies.
• You will achieve a level of financial peace that most people only dream about!

Read my complete “get out of debt” series of blog posts here to make your customized plan for getting out of debt.

Invest in Your Future

After you have relentlessly tackled your debt, investing in your future is the next key to getting financial peace of mind. Following the previous three steps allows you to fix your finances, get complete control over your money, and have an abundance you never would have achieved by being normal and broke.

Now you can start putting tons of money into investments that will grow exponentially over time!

At this point in your journey, financial peace of mind has arrived!

Here are some of my top articles on investing to help you grow your nest egg:

How to Invest Your Money Wisely- The Basics

Late Start Retirement Investing- 7 Tips to Help You Catch Up

4 Alternate Investments That Don’t Involve the Stock Market

Financial Freedom Gives You Options

Because of your financial position you have so many more options available to live life the way you want to live it.

You become unburdened from the financial obligations that limit your choices and freedom.

You are freed up to have more choices in life such as:

• Leaving a job you don’t like just because it pays the bills.
• Working less and having more free time.
• An increased ability to be generous with your time and money.
• Starting that business you’ve always wanted to try.
• Decreased stress levels and better health.

Financial Peace of Mind is Worth the Journey

Financial peace of mind is not as elusive as most people believe it is. I truly believe most anybody can achieve it.

However, it takes time and effort to bring financial freedom into your life, and most people are just not willing to make the sacrifice.

I will tell you from experience though, that it’s totally worth the journey!

Angie and I haven’t had a money fight in a dozen years, and our financial stress levels are pretty close to zero!

We followed the steps above to gain our financial freedom. I guarantee if you follow them too, your results will be beyond your wildest expectations!

Question: Where are you in your quest for financial peace of mind? What are you struggling with in your journey? Leave a comment on our Facebook page or in the comment section below and tell me about it.