University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Broke Millennial
Book

Broke Millennial

Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Erin Lowry
Perigee, 2017
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Editorial Rating

8

Recommendation

Erin Lowry, a millennial and founder of BrokeMillennial.com, teaches her peers how to take control of their finances. She covers understanding your feelings about money, making a budget, knowing your credit score, dealing with student loans, comparison shopping for financial products, and more. Lowry’s manual is comprehensive and occasionally funny. Millennials will appreciate her social media references and her accounts of their contemporaries’ real-life struggles with familiar financial issues. Non-millennials will find excellent, if basic, financial counsel. getAbstract recommends Lowry’s advice to people seeking mastery over his or her money, especially millennials.

Summary

A Few Important Touchstones

You can take a few crucial steps to take control of your finances: Make a budget. Create an emergency fund. Work with the right bank. Know and nurture your credit score. Use credit cards wisely. Deal with your debt effectively, including student loans. Decide whether to buy or rent a home. And, even as a millennial, prepare for your retirement.

Make a Budget

Systems for creating effective budgets include:

  • “The cash diet” – Pay for merchandise and services only in cash so you can see when and where you spend. Withdraw a set amount each week or each month and don’t spend more than that sum. Add $100 per month for unexpected expenses.
  • “The tracking every penny system” – Write down every cent you spend. You’ll detect purchasing patterns, and you’ll know what you spend on food, clothes and entertainment.
  • “The envelope system” – Separate your money into different envelopes for each category – rent or mortgage, utilities, transportation, food, and more. Use either physical or digital envelopes. Don’t spend more on anything than...

About the Author

Erin Lowry is a personal finance expert and is also the author of Broke Millennial Takes On Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling-Up Your Money. She’s been featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and on Fox & Friends.

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