The ABCs of Finance

Always be saving

Budgeting = confidence = sexy!

Cut out the crap and focus on what’s important

Destroy your debt, be happy

Early retirement is possible

Forget what everyone else is doing – focus on YOU

Get yourself a hustle!

Honor your money – spend with purpose

Invest as early as possible

Join others for accountability

Karate chop your bills and bank the difference!

Life > money > stuff

Mo Money, No Problems

Never assume a job is safe

Oh $hit funds kill stress!

Paychecks should have a plan before arriving

Quit procrastinating, start DOING

Relish in your wins!

Simplicity is key

Track your net worth – you need to know the score

Utilize technology and automate that $$$

Victory is when passive income = expenses

What excites you the most?  <– The answer to all financial decisions

Xylograph your goals (look it up :))

Yelp for help!

Zero – what we all start with

****
As taught at J. Money University

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57 Comments

  1. The Green Swan May 13, 2016 at 5:19 AM

    Nice! I’m a big fan of k, m, o, and p and of course TGS…

    The Green Swan

  2. maria@moneyprinciple May 13, 2016 at 5:46 AM

    Jay, I love this one (and incidentally, I do know what a ‘xylograph’ is :). I’m very keen to roll R and V out there.

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:02 PM

      I’ll bring the wine! :)

  3. Chris @ Flipping a Dollar May 13, 2016 at 5:50 AM

    “Oh $hit funds kill stress!”

    This is true on so many levels. Not only does it take out the stress of “how am I going to pay for that” but it also opens up opportunity. We bought our car a few months ago with money that we had saved up for all different types of things knowing that I was going to get a bonus that would cover all of that a week later. Basically floating the money from Saturday to Friday. If we hadn’t been able to float the cash, who knows if that car would still be on the lot or not!

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:11 PM

      Yup – great use for it as well.

      It’s like having your own (free) personal banker :)

  4. Brian @DebtDiscipline May 13, 2016 at 6:09 AM

    I had to look up Xylograph. No idea. :) C is good (Cut out the crap and focus on what’s important) I would add Compound Interest!

  5. Josh @MoneyBuffalo May 13, 2016 at 7:19 AM

    I never knew LIE could actually be so legit!

    Thanks for the list…a little Friday morning motivation!

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:14 PM

      LIE as in L.I.E.?

      Life > money > stuff
      Invest as early as possible
      Early retirement is possible

  6. Matt @ Distilled Dollar May 13, 2016 at 8:00 AM

    I would have used “X-Ray vision isn’t required to optimize your budget” Then again, I’m not as creative as Xylograph!

    But then I would have needed to change K. The chain reaction of changes could be deadly.

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:15 PM

      You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to put this final version together :) So many options and you change one thing and you have to go back and change another!

  7. Freedom 40 Plan May 13, 2016 at 8:42 AM

    Nice reminders this Friday!

    I’m a big fan of E, I, O, and of course T!

    Good pull on Xylograph. I took the bait and googled it, and came right back here! :-)

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:19 PM

      If it makes you feel better, I cheated and had to google good X verbs myself… And then took a solid 15 mins trying to work it in! Haha…

  8. Lisa O May 13, 2016 at 8:46 AM

    Favorites A, B, C, & S! I wish I would have learned this stuff in my 20’s. No matter how small your check is…saving a little is what matters. Living on a budget within YOUR means makes saving something that can actually happen. Not buying every purchase you want will help because knowing what is important is key. Simplicity is beautiful ~ Material possessions don’t make life better or you better it clutters living in many ways :) T.G.I.F.

  9. Rose May 13, 2016 at 9:09 AM

    V = Victory – when your passive income is enough to cover your expenses. Oh lord yes – financial nirvana:)

  10. Apathy Ends May 13, 2016 at 9:20 AM

    Anyone else seeing what kind of financial plan you can create by spelling out swear words?

    I am off work today, so I can have a little fun…

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:20 PM

      Hah!

      I think you should share some with us today :)

  11. Keith Schindler May 13, 2016 at 9:22 AM

    Awesome stuff, Boss! I sure like your ABC’s!!!

  12. Eric Bowlin May 13, 2016 at 9:37 AM

    Not everyone starts with zero ;-)

  13. Steve @ Think Save Retire May 13, 2016 at 9:50 AM

    Is it sad that my focus when reading your article was to go through the letters to ensure that you didn’t accidentally miss one? Why the hell did I just do that? That can’t be a good thing. ;)

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:22 PM

      I think you need to move back to your big house so you stay busy ;)

  14. Amanda @centsiblyrich May 13, 2016 at 9:59 AM

    Definitely O! Oh $hit funds definitely kill stress!

  15. Latoya @ Femme Frugality May 13, 2016 at 10:02 AM

    Love, P! Upcoming paychecks shouldn’t determine your budget either. I advocate budgeting off last month’s income. At least I know I’ve already got the money to spend and I’m not depending on it hitting the bank account.

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:21 PM

      YES!!! Budgeting on *last month’s* is killer. Good reminder.

  16. The Millennial Budget May 13, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    F,G,I,Q are what i am trying to do right now! They make the world of a difference. Guess you can make the ABCs fun to learn.

  17. Andrew@LivingRichCheaply May 13, 2016 at 10:25 AM

    This was fun! I should teach this to my 2 1/2 year old as we go through the ABCs! =) Oh and I was anxiously scrolling down to X to see what you had in store for that letter.

  18. Joe May 13, 2016 at 11:13 AM

    Wow, I was wondering what you would come up with for XYZ. :) Nice job.

  19. Mr. PIE May 13, 2016 at 11:17 AM

    Let’s do some alphabet math.
    a+b+c+d = E
    Love it!

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:23 PM

      Hah! It really does! Though would be quicker if you mix in i :)

  20. Kim May 13, 2016 at 12:00 PM

    J$. I LOVE how the letter “F” ends with “You.” Get it?? ha ha ha.Okay, a little weak maybe, but basically that’s what you say (or at least) think when too many people are in your head.

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:24 PM

      LOVE THAT!!!

      Just went in and bolded it… let’s see if any one else catches it ;)

  21. Cathy May 13, 2016 at 12:07 PM

    hey J. Money! I think C should be for cinnamon buns :) Actually after you mentioned them in your blog post the other day I couldn’t get them out of my mind and today I went to a shop that makes them and bought three! I’ll say “here’s to J. Money” when I eat them, if you like :) Thanks for the inspiration! :)

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:25 PM

      I think you should save one and mail it to me instead :)

  22. Tawcan May 13, 2016 at 1:32 PM

    Love it! Should totally teach this to Baby T1.0 and T2.0. :D

  23. amber tree May 13, 2016 at 3:29 PM

    Wished I had I sooner. Happy to have discovered E and to be part of J

    Happy to have P in place. Looks ti be the key to succes

  24. Hannah May 13, 2016 at 4:10 PM

    Time to bring on Q!

    A great list indeed!

    1. J. Money May 13, 2016 at 4:29 PM

      Haha, yup.

      All the reading of my awesome blog posts is fine, but doesn’t mean squat if you don’t put anything into action! :)

  25. Heather @ Simply Save May 13, 2016 at 5:15 PM

    Love Z. That’s a great way to end the list of remind us we all start in the same place!

    1. J. Money May 14, 2016 at 2:50 PM

      Thanks! Always a good reminder I felt like :)

  26. Rob @ Money Nomad May 13, 2016 at 6:50 PM

    One of the best alphabets I’ve seen!

    And I hope you now go through and write a post about each one of these letters.

    If you need a hand, I’ll take care of the Xylograph article for you! I’ll pull out that old exacto knife kit and get to work. ;)

    1. J. Money May 14, 2016 at 2:49 PM

      Haha, deal :)

  27. Kevin @ The Debt Journey May 14, 2016 at 4:12 PM

    Really focusing on G right now so hopefully I can D as soon as possible and hurry up and make E happen!!!!!!!

    -KB

    1. J. Money May 14, 2016 at 5:08 PM

      I love that you guys keep calling out the letters and building stories/strategies around them, haha… though I keep forgetting what I wrote and have to keep scrolling up and down to decipher! :)

  28. Done by Forty May 14, 2016 at 4:16 PM

    As someone on a salary, never assuming a job is save is huge for us. It provides the motivation to do all the other things we ought to, to cut costs, to save and invest, to spend time coming up with our financial goals and working towards them, since the ultra-important income could go away at any moment.

  29. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank May 14, 2016 at 5:24 PM

    You turned me into a fan of ABC, J Money! Now ABC has a new meaning to me!

  30. ZJ Thorne May 14, 2016 at 11:50 PM

    Hustle and accountability are my current crutches. They get me where I want to go!

  31. Mac May 17, 2016 at 4:11 AM

    Yes, I did look for X in google. Hahaha

    1. J. Money May 23, 2016 at 3:15 PM

      Glad you learned something today :)

    1. J. Money May 23, 2016 at 3:17 PM

      DOOO IT!!!!! :)

  32. Michelle @ These Two Things June 1, 2016 at 9:56 AM

    A, C and E are lessons to live by! Love this list. And the J Money University sounds like an excellent investment :)

  33. Kurt June 1, 2016 at 10:47 AM

    Nice job on X. Now besides learning about personal finance, I’m learning new words on Budgets are Sexy! :)

    1. J. Money June 2, 2016 at 8:18 AM

      Nothing but the finest education here!

  34. Pamela June 23, 2016 at 10:58 AM

    This is pretty sweet. N is so true and G allows for diversity of income

  35. Millennial Moola June 27, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    If Alec Baldwin is the ultimate “get out of my face and close the sale” kinda guy, who is the celebrity that is going to represent “Always be saving.” Maybe Kawhi Leonard w/ the Spurs but I’m looking for someone ever more famous