Are you loving your finances or loathing them? If you’re struggling with your money situation, are crushed by debt, or have been putting up with less-than-perfect financial products and services, it’s easy to feel disheartened.
But don’t get discouraged! If you make the right financial choices, things will come together for you and your money. It’ll be a match made in heaven.
We believe you can find your perfect match and with the help of Borrowell’s credit monitoring tools and personalized financial product recommendations, there’s always room to improve.
Self-love is the key to financial freedom
Why is it that so many of us struggle with our money?
Believe it or not, there’s a deep connection between your self-worth and your current money situation. If you’re struggling financially and find yourself saying, “I can’t, I’m broke!” a few too many times, it could have something to do with how you feel about yourself and your belief about whether you can be financially successful or not.
In his bestselling book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, T. Harv Eker coined this magical bit of wisdom:
“Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to actions. Actions lead to results.”
Self-love and self-worth are key to achieving financial freedom. If you believe you’re not worthy of success or the money you earn, you’ll end up quickly running through your money. You’ll never try to save, invest or seek a financial professional’s advice.
A lack of self-love shows up in your finances in many ways:
Not working on becoming debt-free
Overspending
Living a lifestyle beyond your means
Not charging what you’re worth or asking for the raise you deserve
Being unaware of the current state of your finances
Avoiding your bills or not even opening them
It's time to start working on your inner game so you can create the lifestyle you love and the financial freedom you desire. When you devote yourself to your lack of self-love and self-worth, you’ll also take care of your financial problems. You can start working on your inner game by:
Becoming aware of your money story, limiting beliefs, and money frustrations
Focusing on how you feel about money and your actions toward it
Making self-love a priority each and every day
Always remember your relationship with money is directly related to the money stories you tell yourself and how you feel about yourself.
Is it time to trade up your financial products?
Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a magic formula that matched you with right-for-you financial products, so you never had to worry about choosing the right product again?
Enter Borrowell - it's like the matchmaker for your finances!
For most of us, we fall into a comfort zone. We passively manage them instead of actively paying attention. We forget that when it comes to financial products - there are plenty of fish in the sea.
So we stick with the same old chequing account we’ve had since we got our first job, we forget to take advantage of credit cards with better perks, and we neglect to shop around for mortgage rates.
If your current financial products aren’t meeting your needs, maybe it’s time for a change. If you’re sick of extra fees, poor customer service, and sub-par product options, Borrowell can help you trade up your financial products and find your perfect match.
Trade up your financial products in 3 easy steps
1. Establish what products you’re currently not loving
Before you choose new products or a new bank, you need to establish exactly what you don’t like about the current products, services or financial institutions you’ve partnered with. Is it poor customer service? Are the fees too high? Does their mobile app have you ripping your hair out? Make a clear list of your loves and loathes, so you know what you’re looking for in your next product.
2. Choose new products and financial institutions
It’s time to select the product or financial institution that best meets your needs and criteria.
Borrowell uses machine learning to recommend products that are best suited for your financial situation, making it easy to choose the right product. Once you’ve created a profile, check out the financial marketplace to what product you’re looking for (i.e. mortgages or bank accounts) to see your personalized recommendations.
3. Open your new account
Once you’ve chosen a product from Borrowell’s personalized recommendations, go ahead and apply!
Love your credit score
What’s your number? If you don’t know your credit score, there’s no better time than now to check your score.
Having a credit score you love not only affects your overall financial well-being, but it also makes life a lot easier by giving you access to better financial products, lower rates, and it saves you money on important stuff like mortgage and insurance rates.
A few tips to help you love your credit score!
1. Know your number
Your credit score is the key to your creditworthiness. It’s like a neon billboard shining a three-digit number that tells financial institutions if you’re worth the risk or not. By taking just a few minutes to know your number, you’ll be well on your way to improving your financial well-being.
2. Monitor your credit
A new study from Borrowell shows a connection between checking your credit score and improving it. By keeping tabs on your score with free credit monitoring, you’ll be on the right track!
3. Manage your utilization ratio
Keep your credit utilization below 30%. So if you have a card with a $6,000 limit, try to keep the balance below $1,800. It not only looks good on your credit report for potential lenders, but it also shows you're responsible with credit.
4. Pay credit cards in full and on-time
Paying your bills on-time shows lenders you’re financially responsible and is one of the best things you can do to improve your credit score.
Bonus: take control of your payments with Borrowell Boost!
Borrowell has launched a free bill tracking tool - Canada's first bill-tracker and predictive advance tool to help Canadians stay on top of their finances. Boost is set to launch in early Spring 2020 on a subscription basis.
The bottom line
We all get love wrong sometimes and it hurts. But when it comes to our finances, it’s easier than ever to get it right, find your perfect match, and achieve financial success.
So what's the key to financial success? Loving yourself and taking time to learn what financial products work best for you.
Michelle Summerfield is a writer and speaker who shares insights on finances, travel, and minimalism. Her work has been featured in Toronto Life, Globe and Mail, Credit Canada and on the CBC.