Just like your favorite version of apple pie (Dutch, French, Old Fashioned, double crusts, crumble top, caramel, or something else?), financial success has its own unique flavor depending on who you ask.
To kick off this holiday season, we have put together a Financial Success Cookbook: Recipes for Financial Success. You can download it for free by clicking here, or you can read through all of the recipes below.
12 amazing authors contributed their own recipes (and we included one as well), so be sure to check out all of the recipes and links to the author’s sites below.
Recipes for Financial Success
If you are looking for a recipe to improve your finances, you’ll find at least one (if not more) here worth trying. Find the one that matches your goals best, then start cooking!
1. Accidentally Retired’s Recipe for Financial Success
Submitted by Accidentally Retired, this recipe includes collaboration to ensure your success.
Ingredients:
- Passion
- Side Hustle
- Time
- Business Partners
- Growth
- Savings
Instructions:
Find your passion and start a side hustle. Then, spend your free time learning, growing, and nurturing it. Mix in a little bit of online networking and find business partners who are equally as passionate as you.
Wrap your side hustles together and allow them to expand into a full-time business. Bootstrap. Take your time. Spend less than you earn. Let everything come to a slow simmer.
Slowly but surely, your business will grow, along with your own personal savings/investments.
Sell your side hustle turned full-time business to a public corporation, but stay on and continue to let the business simmer for another five years while you save and invest. After five years, you could be ready to retire early.
2. Bella Wanana’s Recipe for Financial Success
This recipe from Bella Wanana of Bella Wanana’s Blog is simple and to the point.
Ingredients:
- A financial goal
- A small reward
Instructions:
Who doesn’t love a small reward for yourself, especially after you have accomplished something amazing, such as saving 1000 dollars? Having a reward also helps you motivate yourself to reach your financial goals.
Think about what goals you want to accomplish. Is it making your lunch every day, paying off your debt, or making your first investment? Write it down on a piece of paper and find an appropriate reward for yourself!
3. NZ Muse’s Recipe for Financial Success
This recipe from Esther of NZ Muse has only a few ingredients but can set you up for epic success.
Ingredients:
- Vision
- Commitment
- Resilience
Instructions:
Set a financial goal. Decide that it’s a done deal. You need to be 100 percent behind it! Believe that this is going to happen. Let go of the doubts and embrace your new commitment, trusting that success is inevitable.
Write that goal down. Feel what it would feel like to have it right now. Imagine how amazing that would be. Do this every day! Write it out in your journal and channel those good feelings.
Don’t put a timeline on it. When things feel slow or hopeless, keep the faith. Keep focused on your big vision, your end goal. Trust that it’s already in the works.
As opportunities come your way that bring you one step closer, jump on them! Follow the signs.
That might look like starting a side hustle, asking for a raise, selling some stuff, investing in a course or class, or saying yes to projects or prospects.
When in doubt, ask for more. Price high! You should feel a little scared and sick by the number you quote but in a good, excited, tingly way.
Watch the money start to come rolling in. When you set your intention, the pieces eventually start to fall into place, and it’s like the stars align.
Celebrate every step along the way, and most of all, once you hit that goal.
4. Family Money Values’ Recipe for Financial Freedom
Submitted by Marie of Family Money Values, this recipe makes sure you have all the ingredients for financial freedom.
Ingredients:
- Desire
- Research
- Knowledge
- Perseverance
- Income
- Savings
- Investments
- Insurance
- Good credit rating
- Net worth reports
Instructions:
Desire financial freedom and set a goal to get there. Research careers and build knowledge to maximize income and balance work/life. Earn more than you spend.
Pay yourself first by building an emergency fund before investing to generate passive income. Protect yourself and your money with good health insurance, good credit, preparation for the unexpected, and an understanding of the risks you take.
Use debt wisely by paying it off each month, avoiding fees, and using it only to acquire real assets that increase in value. Use net worth reports to know what you own and owe.
Mix with hearty doses of perseverance through thick and thin. Then, enjoy the process and results.
5. Canoosa Finance’s Rewards Ambrosia Recipe
From Andres of canoosa.com, this recipe focuses on rewards to help you achieve financial success.
Ingredients:
- Rewards / Cashback Credit Card
- Cashback App
- Grocery / Retail Store Rewards Program
- Restaurant App / Loyalty Program
- Fuel Rewards Program
Instructions:
Use your rewards credit card for all your purchases. Don’t buy what you wouldn’t already buy!
Look for rewards programs at businesses you frequent. Make sure the rewards you earn are something you will use.
Start using a rewards or cashback app to further increase the deals you get.
Periodically look for companies that offer even better deals and rewards. Figure out how you can legitimately double or triple dip the rewards.
Enjoy paying less and earning rewards!
Bonus:
To make this recipe even richer, align your purchases and loyalty programs with companies that have partnerships with each other. That will give you even better deals.
6. Our Life on Fire’s Recipe for Guilt-Free Travel
This recipe from Patti of Our Life on FIRE can help you live a life of guilt-free travel.
Ingredients:
- Income
- Anticipated Expenses
- Responsible Spending Habits
Instructions:
Research credit cards that offer bonus points, monetary rewards, or travel perks that would be of benefit to you.
Once you are approved for the card, use your credit card for anticipated expenses. This includes bills, property tax, groceries, gas, medical bills, home maintenance, etc.
Pay your statement balance off IN FULL, EVERY MONTH.
Once the bonus requirements have been met and are posted, Start planning a guilt-free vacation!
Chef’s Notes:
Expenses in step two can be substituted with any expenses that you have, but it is best to have a spending plan and avoid frivolous spending.
DO NOT skip step #3.
7. Off Hour Hustle’s Recipe for Selling Used Items
Chloe Choe of Off Hour Hustle shared her recipe for selling unused items with us.
Ingredients:
- Accounts on selling platforms like OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Poshmark, etc.
- Used items
- Well-lit pictures
- Detailed descriptions
- Persistence
- Quick responses
Instructions:
Create accounts on various selling platforms. Accumulate used items from around your home.
Carefully take details and well-lit pictures from various angles. Upload items to sell with detailed, long descriptions.
Repeat! When you get a message from a potential buyer, respond as quickly as possible.
Chef’s Notes:
This can be done for items such as gently used clothing, kitchen appliances, furniture, decor, etc. Get creative and have room for negotiation from the buyer.
I almost never toss items that are in usable condition, and I sell everything from candles, plates, radios, stuffed animals, and more. You would be surprised at what you can sell!
This will prevent you from wasting, make you some extra income, and allow you to use that extra income to invest, save, or buy other items that you may need.
8. Rich Frugal Life’s Recipe for Savings-Boost Soufflé
Mrs. Rich Frugal Life put together her recipe for boosting savings to help you on your journey to financial freedom.
Ingredients:
- Spreadsheet or budgeting app
- Cash receipts, bank and credit card statements
- Your favorite indulgent beverage
Instructions:
Keep track of your cash receipts and bank/credit card statements for at least three months, but up to 12 months (for the fluffiest souffle).
Once a month, sit down with your favorite beverage and input what you spent into your selected tracking device. Assign each expense to a category (i.e., housing or food). Be as detailed or creative as you’d like.
Tally up the expenses to arrive at your total spending. Repeat this process monthly for the desired length of time, noting any changes in the dough.
Just knowing where every dollar is going should cause your expenses to decrease and savings to rise with little effort or sacrifice. Invest those tasty savings to enjoy for years to come!
9. Prudent Plastic Surgeon’s Recipe for Financial Success
Jordan of Prudent Plastic Surgeon wrote down his recipe for financial success and shared it with us.
Ingredients:
- One blog post a day
- One podcast a week
- One personal finance book a year
Instructions:
Pick one blog. Read one blog post each day when you wake up in the morning.
Pick one podcast. Listen to one episode each week on your way to work or during exercise.
Pick one personal finance book. Read 10 pages each day and plan to read one book in the span of a year.
Mix all ingredients together. Before you know it, you will have a financial education strong enough to successfully manage your finances on your own.
10. Filled with Money’s Recipe for Financial Success
David of Filled with Money passed along his recipe for financial success to help our readers on their journey to financial independence.
Ingredients:
- Resiliency
- Emotional control
- Consistency
Instructions:
Have money invested in the stock market, such as in the S&P 500 ETF, VOO. Then, be resilient throughout the decades as you face significant turbulence.
Be resilient even through recessions like the coronavirus that had a 14.8% peak unemployment rate. Practice emotional control by holding through these trying times and not selling.
Consistently put your money to work in the stock market even throughout these times.
Relax and pat yourself for a job well done by not selling through the biggest trying tests of your life. Teach and encourage others to do the same.
11. The Cents of Money’s Recipe for Financial Success
Linda from The Cents of Money shared her complete recipe for financial success with us.
Ingredients:
- Income
- Spending
- Savings
- Debt
- Investing
Instructions:
Split your after-tax income, which is net of taxes and automated payments to your retirement accounts. This can be split into different spending categories for your recipe.
Contribute about half of your after-tax income to pay your needs, which include primarily monthly living costs. Contribute about 20% of income for savings and paying off debt.
Pay off the debt by cutting out the fatty debt by dicing credit card balances into manageable pieces until they are gone.
The savings ingredients are most tasty and versatile, stirring some of the savings to replenish your emergency funds. Direct the remaining savings to your investments. Remember not to put all your eggs into one basket and use risk according to your tastes.
Finally, the remaining after-tax income, 30%, is for wants and non-essentials such as shopping for clothes, dining out, and gym membership.
12. The Frugal Expat’s Recipe for Simple Investing
Steve of The Frugal Expat’s long-term recipe for investing makes it simple and easy.
Ingredients:
- Patience
- Cash
- Index Funds
- Persistence
Instructions:
If you want to invest, simply first open up a brokerage account like Vanguard or M1 Finance. Start adding cash into a total stock market index fund like VTSAX or VTI.
Automate the investments for every month. Then be persistent in adding more cash to grow it bigger.
Lastly, add some patience. This will take some time to grow.
Give it about 10-30 years, and it will be ready to go.
13. Women’s Money’s Recipe for Financial Success Salted Caramel Sauce
Of course, we couldn’t help but share our own Women’s Money recipe here as well!
Ingredients:
- Hard work
- Persistence
- Work income
- Spending
- Low-fee index funds
- Creamy comforts of life (travel, art, music, sports, hobbies)
- Sugary sweet sensations (joy, happiness, love, gratitude)
- Salt-of-the-earth friends and family
Instructions:
Mix one part hard work and one part persistence to obtain a higher-income job.
Take income from work, remove 1/3 of income and simmer separately in a low-fee index fund (this is a combination of work-sponsored 401(k) or similar, Roth IRA, and non-retirement accounts).
Measure out spending to always be less than earnings. Continue adding hard work over medium heat to increase income. DO NOT increase spending.
Whisk in low-cost creamy comforts of life (travel, hobbies, music, etc.) and sugary sweet sensations (joy, happiness, love, and gratitude).
Stir frequently and don’t cook too long, otherwise the sauce will burn(out).
Sprinkle in some salt-of-the-earth friends and family. Once it reaches the desired volume to your taste, remove from the heat of hard work.
Drizzle generously over life and share with others.
Final Thoughts
There’s nothing like a good recipe to keep you on the right track financially. Don’t miss our other Women’s Money Recipes, including a recipe for what to do with your paycheck, a recipe for starting a business, and a recipe for earning more money.
Thank you to everyone who submitted recipes! The full cookbook is available to download by clicking here.
Please share this post on social media and with others in your network, as like with most dishes, these recipes are best served when you make a lot and share with others!
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Have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season!
In such good company! Thanks for pulling this together.