Here’s a short read for today.

In this day and age, people in their 20s need to start changing their perspective when it comes to managing their finances. You might think that you have the rest of your life to get serious about money but time can and will pass by in a blink of an eye. Next thing you know, you’re half-way to retirement and you haven’t even started on building your personal savings. Feel free to live your life while you’re young but never forget that you need to create a sizable nest egg for you to live on in your golden years.

Here are some tips that can help you start your journey to financial literacy.

• Create A Budget & Track Your Spending

Make a habit out of creating a monthly budget and sticking to it. You need to list down your financial responsibilities (i.e. despoting to personal savings and paying bills) so you can prioritize them.

Creating a budget will nurture a healthy spending routine. You don’t need to completely cut-off the little joys in your life—like online shopping or having coffee at Starbucks—as long as it does not negatively impact your financial goals.

To foster this habit, start tracking and writing down your expenses on a weekly or monthly basis. This will enable you to see if you are overspending and if it is affecting your budget. It will help you control, if not completely stop, impulse-buying things that you can do without.

• Live Within Your Means

Simply put—the cost of your lifestyle should be well below your income.

As your professional life progresses, you will apply for better positions at your job or find better paying companies that will increase your income. You will eventually find yourself with an excess income, which one would typically use to live a more luxurious lifestyle. Instead of using your surplus earnings to buy newer or more expensive things, set it aside for your personal savings or put it towards your financial goals.

Use a credit card as leverage to invest on yourself by, for example, furthering your education or using it for your business. Using your credit card to fund a lifestyle you cannot afford with your income will be detrimental.

• Calculate Risks

As mentioned earlier, investing in yourself is good practice. If you need to go back to school or take online classes to further your knowledge in a field or area of expertise, do so. Increase your value as a person and as an asset to companies or businesses you’re interested in.

Don’t stagnate. Take the opportunities that open up for you especially when you are ready to move up the corporate ladder or to apply to another company for a better paying position.

The aforementioned will help you find a routine that will suit you and your financial goals. Although starting young is ideal, it is never too late to change your spending habits and how you manage your money. Developing a habit of saving and being goal-driven will set you on the right path to financial literacy.