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5 Best UPI Apps in India in 2021 (For Android Users)!

List of 5 Best UPI Apps in India in 2021: With the return of PM Modi 2.0 in 2019, digital India has continued to make new progress. UPI payments have played a big role in this movement. Moreover, the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 in 2020, led to a massive increase in the number of people opting for online financial payments. In this time period, the value of UPI transactions soared by 105 percent in 2020. In this article, we will discuss the best UPI Apps in India for easy and fast transactions. But, before we start, let’s first understand what exactly is a UPI?

UPI means Unified Payments Interface. UPI payments have taken a substantial march ahead and nowadays, the mobile app store is flooded with new and innovative UPI apps in India. Briefing about UPI, it is an instant real-time payment system developed by NPCI which stands for National Payments Corporation of India which helps in inter-bank transactions by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile or web platform. Because of this advancement in UPI payments, money can now be sent to anyone across the nation within no time.

Anyways, not all apps listed on the play store are equally good for making UPI payments. Many times, the interface of some of these UPI apps in India may be hard to understand initially. Therefore, in this post, we have handpicked the best UPI apps in India that are easiest to use and definitely worth checking out.

Best 5 UPI apps in India:

1. PhonePe – UPI Payments, Recharges & Money Transfer

PhonePe stands first in our list of best UPI apps in India. It is a revolutionary app that made the Indian population start trusting and moreover making online mobile payments. PhonePe not only helps in making UPI payments but users can also recharge, make online bill payments, order food, shop, etc. all in just one app. As of November 2020, Phonepe has 868.40 million transactions in volume with Rs 1,75,453.85 Cr in transaction value.

PhonePe also provides various offers, rewards, and cashback to its customers. Having one of the simplest interfaces with the safest and fastest online payment experience in India, PhonePe is definitely better than most of the other UPI payment apps or internet banking services.

Google Play Store Rating: 4.4/5 with a total of 59,37,360 reviews

Here’s a direct invite link to download PhonePe.

2. Google Pay (Tez) – A simple and secure payment app

Google Pay, formerly known as Tez App, stands the biggest and best app in our list of best UPI apps in India. This app has accumulated a huge customer base in India within a small time frame. And obviously, having a big brand name of ‘Google’ has helped this app to build trust among the new and existing customers.

As of November 2020, Google pay has 960.02 million transactions in volume with Rs 1,61,418.19 Cr in transaction value. Using Google Pay, users can send money to friends, pay their bills, shop online, recharge, or pay at the nearby café, etc. through secure payment by Google.

Another most enjoyable part of using Google Pay is the “Scratch cards”. Whenever the users make a new transaction, they are awarded a gift card in the form of a scratch card. After scratching the card, users can earn a gift in the form of money which directly gets credited into the registered bank account. Anyways, you won’t earn a Scratch card on every transaction as there are a minimum value and number of transactions predefined by the app. However, if you’re lucky, you may get a reward of up to Rs 1 lakh.

Google Play Store Rating: 4.0/5 with a total of 10,27,883 reviews

Here’s a direct invite link to download GooglePay.

3. Paytm – BHIM UPI, Money Transfer & Mobile Recharge

Paytm is a quite well-known mobile payment app in India. Along with Paytm Mall, it also offers Paytm Wallet and Paytm UPI (which was introduced in the year 2017). In simple words, we can call it a mega store due to the variety of products and services provided by this app.

Paytm users can perform almost each and every activity related to online payments on its app. And that’s why it is certainly the most used payment app and is third in our list of best UPI apps in India. As of November 2020, Paytm has 260.09 million transactions in volume with Rs 28,986.93 Cr in transaction value.

From making online Payments to buying household items, groceries, IRCTC train ticket booking, bus & flight booking, movie tickets, LIC premium payment, metro card recharge, buying gold, making loan payments, paying e-challans & more, everything can be done on this app.

Google Play Store Rating: 4.4/5 with a total of 81,92,973 reviews

Also Read : 7 Best Mutual Fund Apps for Direct Investment

4. Amazon Pay

As of November 2020, Amazon pay is the fourth biggest app used for making UPI transactions. Amazon pay got 37.15 million transactions in volume with Rs 3,624.51 Cr in transaction value in this month.

Having the big brand of Amazon definitely helped Amazon Pay to scale at such a fast pace in India within a small time frame. Moreover, having integrated with most shopping and payment gateways, along with awesome cashback rewards, Amazon pay has become the darling of the UPI payers lately.

5. BHIM App

BHIM app is the fifth most popular UPI apps in India. It is launched and managed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is a UPI enabled the initiative to facilitate safe, easy & instant digital payments through your mobile phone.

As of November 2020, BHIM App has 0.31 million transactions in volume with Rs 13.87 Cr in transaction value.

Google Play Store Rating: 4.2/5 with a total of 8,26,155 reviews

Bonus: A few additional UPI apps in India

6. Freecharge – Recharges & Bills, UPI, Mutual Funds

Freecharge is another online payment mobile app in India that provides features like Mobile Recharges, bill payments, sending or receiving money through UPI– after creating BHIM UPI ID & linking the bank account. Moreover, because of its simple interface, everything seems quite easy for making UPI payments.

Besides, the Freecharge app also provides the facility to invest in Mutual Funds, making investments with SIPs, booking movie tickets, buying food, shopping, purchasing travel tickets, etc, and that too with an additional cashback and discounts.

Google Play Store Rating: 4.0/5 with a total of 1,159,488 reviews

Also Read: 7 Best Stock Market Apps that Makes Stock Research 10x Easier

5. PayZapp – Recharge, Pay Bills & Shop

HDFC Bank PayZapp is the fifth app in our list of best UPI payment apps in India. It is a complete payment solution giving you the power to pay in just One Click.

PayZapp is used to make online Recharge, Bill Payments, BharatQR Payments, booking travel tickets, Shopping, obtaining movie tickets, buy groceries, and more. It supports payment by mVisa QR, MasterPass QR, and Rupay QR and is available to customers of all banks. Overall, PayZapp is a convenient, fast, and secure UPI payments apps in India and definitely worth checking out.

Google Play Store Rating: 3.9/5 – with a total of 383,392 reviews

Other Notable UPI Apps in India

Here are a few other notable UPI apps in India that you can checkout:

MobiKwik – Recharge, Bill Payment, Instant Loan, UPI, Insurance

Google Play Store Rating: 4.2
With a total of 1,439,427 reviews
BHIM SBI Pay: UPI, Recharges, Bill Payments, Food

Google Play Store Rating: 4.2
With a total of 3,69,819 reviews
Kotak – 811 & Mobile Banking

Google Play Store Rating: 4.4
With a total of 4,58,209 reviews
Pockets ICICI -UPI, Wallet, Bharat QR

Google Play Store Rating: 4.1
With a total of 1,47,135 reviews
JioMoney Wallet
Whatsapp Pay

That’s all for this post. Let us know which one is your favorite UPI payment app in India in the comment section below. Have a great day. Cheers!

February 14, 2021 Dharmendra Singh Earn More, Personal Finance 8 comments

11 Best Passive Ways to Make Money While You Sleep

Passive ways to make money in India: “Passive income” certainly sounds like an interesting and appealing idea, but making money while you sleep is certainly not that easy. The majority of passive income ideas won’t really work (either limited or minimal financial returns or will need a great degree of effort from your side), certainly not like making money while you sleep.

So, the question is what really works? What are the ideas that can actually get the money ball rolling for you? Here are some top picks that can help you leverage some real basic factors for that continuous stream of passive income.

#11 Best Passive Ways to Make Money While You Sleep

1. Sell your art

You might be a skilled designer, a graphics expert or someone who just picks up the paint-brush as a hobby. But what if those raw pieces of your art can ensure you a continuous flow of money. There are several websites like Etsy, Zazzle, etc. that will pay you a nice amount of money for sharing your artworks with them.

These websites use your artworks to create patterns for their branded t-shirts, mobile covers, posters, mugs etc. Whenever these products are sold, you will be given a fair share of commission from the product price.

2. Express your skills via video channels [Youtube]

Got some special dance moves, singing skills, the art of mimicry, stand-in comedy or detailed workout sessions? Showcase your talent to the world using YouTube videos from your own channel. YouTube is an immensely popular and exciting medium for earning a decent flow of passive income for yourself.

You will be paid higher as per the number of views, likes, subscriptions, and popularity that your channel will get across different user groups.

Bdw, you can subscribe to Trade Brains youtube channel here.

3. Online educational courses

Since the introduction of the digital age, online learning platforms and resources have gained a lot of popularity. There are certain web portals like Udemy, Coursera, Edx that offer digital certifications and classes to students across the globe. If you have specialization in any academic, technical or non-technical subject then you can structure your own educational courses on these websites. You will be paid for every subscription or registration that a user makes for your course.

Also read: #11 Simple Ways to make money online in India [No spam/surveys]

4. Sell-Stock Photos

Are you someone who is amazing with a camera in his hands? If yes, then there is a good scope for earning a decent flow of money with your stock photos. There are several websites like Shutterstock, Alamy or iStockPhoto that need photography enthusiasts or experts who can deliver some really amazing and high-quality images from different niches.

5. Rent your vacant property

Renting your own vacant property can also be a good way to earn some easy passive bucks. Some working professions even prefer moving in shared apartments and houses in order to save their hard earned money.

6. Start your own blog

Got some really exciting cooking recipes, life hacks, astrology tips or interesting hacks to share with others? Just go on and set up your web-blog. Once your blog gains popularity, you can use services like Google Adsense or AdWords to earn a considerable amount of money by displaying corporate or business advertisements on your blogs. Additionally, you can also set subscription fees for the users who want premium access to your content.

There are a number of bloggers who are making tons of money enjoying their life on a beach or travelling by setting passive ways to make money on their blog.

Note: If you are new to blogging and planning to launch your blog soon, we’ll recommend getting a hosting from “HOSTPAPA”. They offer most affordable hosting plans starting at just Rs 99/month. Here’s a quick link to get started. Cheers!

7. Sell your Ebooks

Fond of writing? Great! This can be one big opportunity for you to earn. Convert your passion for writing into some easy money. You can fetch 5-10$ easily with short write-ups of 70-80 pages, but make sure you choose the trending titles and themes. To sell your ebooks, you can choose various platforms, Amazon and iBook are two of the best once.

Market Investment Ways to Make Passive Income

8. Mutual Funds

What if you can earn regular income on your basic savings?

Mutual funds are the best passive ways to make money in India. You do not need to spend much time, knowledge or even money to start investing in mutual funds. These funds are managed by professional fund managers and there are several low-risk investment schemes that offer high returns compared to the interest amount that banks pay for your deposits with them. Nevertheless, you will need to select the mutual fund smartly to reduce the risk of financial loses.

Learn more about mutual funds here: What is Mutual Fund? Definition, Type, Benefits & More.

9. Stock Market Investing

If you are willing to invest some time, then investing directly in the stocks offers the highest returns and can easily be considered the best passive ways to make money with even limited investments. You can make money in stocks through capital appreciation and dividends. If you have a good working knowledge of stock market and shares, then it can ensure high returns for your basic investments, but such investments are always subjected to risks of market fluctuations.

New to stocks? Want to learn how to invest in Indian stock market from scratch? Here is an amazing online course: INVESTING IN STOCKS- THE COMPLETE COURSE FOR BEGINNERS. Enroll now and start your share market journey today.

10. Real estate Investments

Investing in the Real-estate market is another way of ensuring a continuous income stream on a part-time basis. You can either buy a rental property to ensure a monthly fixed amount or look for those perfect deals at the perfect time (when you purchase properties at a low price and then sell the same when the market hits a high.) In both the cases, you will be getting a decent amount of income on regular basis with minimal efforts.

11. E-commerce service outsourcing

An e-commerce portal that bridges the gap between the local retailers and customers can be a handy way of earning a continuous stream of passive income. Your e-commerce portal, website or app can be structured to serve the requirements of a locality, zone, town or a whole city.

Who knows it might develop into a fully-fledged business venture in future?

March 22, 2020 Team Trade Brains Earn More, Personal Finance 9 comments

7 Incredible Side Hustle Ideas to Make an Extra Income

Thanks to the world wide web, earning a few extra bucks with a side-hustle is now easier than ever. But although there many different ways one can make money, you need to pick the side hustle ideas that matches your skills and needs.

Fortunately, there are many unique ways you can earn an income without an investment or a highly-specialized skill-set. While not all side-hustles may be the best fit for you, you need to pick the one that derives the most value- because at the end of the day, your job satisfaction is what mattes the most.

What are side hustles important?

Side hustles provide an outlet for you to pursue your passions outside your 9-5 job while giving you the opportunity to make an extra income. It is all about personal growth, discipline and can help you develop an entrepreneurial streak.

When choosing your side hustle, you may want to consider what you would want to supplement your current job with. This could be anything from blogging to selling your artwork online. Whatever your side hustle may be, it’s all about following your passions and seeing them through. Additionally, you can make some extra bucks and treat yourself.

Side hustle ideas

The idea of a side hustle can seem alluring but you are not sure what kind of job you want to do. Thanks to the developments in technology we have the world at our fingertips and a myriad of side hustles to choose from. A few of them include:

1. Sell your crafts online

If you have an artistic streak, you can use your talent to start a side hustle and earn some extra cash. They are many websites out there such as Etsy where you can list your crafts and other home-made items for others to buy.

Apps such as Instagram and Facebook are also great places to showcase your work. Many artists post pictures of their work on their Instagram or Facebook pages along with a link to their websites where customers can purchase the products. The rise in businesses born this way has led to a decrease in the number of brick and mortar stores worldwide.

2. Sell your stuff on e-bay or Amazon

A sure-fire way to make money online and have a lucrative side-business is to sell your items on websites such as e-bay, Amazon, or Olx. These items could include anything from household goods to furniture, books and even stamps. This is a great way to make use of things that you don’t really use or need. If you find that you have a knack for selling stuff online, you can do this professionally and earn a commission on every sale.

3. Drive for Uber or Ola

One of the best and most versatile ways to make money is to drive for Uber or Ola. Companies such as these have transformed the way we view transport in today’s sharing economy.

What makes these ride-share companies so great is that you get to decide when you want to work with just the click of a button. In metropolis cities such as Bangalore or Chennai, this is an easy and convenient way to make a side-income.

4. Start a blog

Starting a blog is not a quick money maker but it is a great way to create a platform for something you are passionate about while developing your skills.

What’s more? you can do it anywhere and from any part of the world. A blog is something you can create in your spare time and consistently working on it and posting great content can result in a high income eventually. You can even monetize your platform through sponsored posts, affiliate links or a shopping link to buy your products. Many people have created very lucrative businesses through their blogs.

5. Get a part-time job

If you want to trade in your time for money, you can get a part-time job. They are many options you can choose from to match your interests and skill-sets. A few ideas include babysitting, an administrative assistant or a barista.

If you are big on Instagram or Facebook, you can even take on a social media gig. The only downside to part-time jobs is that they often don’t pay as well as online businesses but they are still a great way to earn money while doing something you love.

6. Teaching

If you have the ability to teach other people skills, this opens up numerous side hustle possibilities. For example, if you are skilled in a particular academic field such as math or science, you could tutor students or even teach an online class. If your interests lie in other areas such as fitness or calligraphy, you can use your skills to teach a class in your free time. The great thing about teaching as a side hustle is that you get to do what you love while sharing your passion with others.

7. Freelance writing and editing

For those who possess the skill of putting words on paper, they are many side hustles that allow you to share your stories with others. Freelance writing and editing allows for flexibility and is quite enjoyable. You could write articles for magazines or journals on various genres (travel, fashion) and even edit student essays or websites online. You can develop your skills while expressing your creativity.

Also read: 11 Best Passive Ways to Make Money While You Sleep

Closing Thoughts

Tony Robbins famously said that’ if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten’ and this holds true for a lot of things in life.

Even if you love what you do for a full-time job, it is important to have an outlet where you can develop your passions and express free -thinking- this is where side-hustles play an important role in our lives.

While side-hustles can help you earn a supplemental income, they are important for many other reasons as it taches you to step out of your comfort zone and develop life-skills. While getting another job may be hard there are many ways you can earn an additional income as listed above.

So get a side-hustle and develop those skills!

May 4, 2019 Divya Premkumar Earn More, Personal Finance No comments yet

Credit Score – Everything You Need to Know!

Hello readers. Many a time, you might have heard that you should keep a high credit score. You should not default that EMI or else it will hurt your credit score.

An obvious question that may come to your mind is what actually is a credit score? How are they measured? Moreover, why should you care whether your credit score is high?

Today, we shall be covering this hot topic in personal finance which we believe is central to addressing the financial health of any individual.

The topics we shall be covering are as follows:

What is a credit score?
Why is credit score important to you?
How is credit score measured?
Where can you get your credit report?
How can you improve your score and how long does it take?

This is going to be a very interesting post, especially for the youngsters. Therefore, let’s get started.

1. What is a credit score?

Credit score is a metric used by banks and lenders to provide a comprehensive risk profile of a borrower. It is provided by four companies in India namely TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and Highmark. The most popular agency of this being TransUnion CIBIL which provides the fabled CIBIL score.

The score is basically a reflection of your monetary habits derived from your transaction history upto three years which banks give these agencies periodically.

2. Why is credit score important to you?

Every time you approach a bank for a loan or credit card, the bank tries to gauge the risk that comes along with your loan application. Gone are the days when your branch manager used to engage you in a long and mundane conversation asking about everything from your family background to your parents’ monthly pension before sanctioning the loan you asked for. Nowadays, they just send a mail to the credit agencies asking them for your credit score.

Upon receiving this request, the credit agencies aggregate your transaction data from multiple banks to ratify your profile into a scale of 300-900 to give a simple quantified data point for banks to make a judgment. After analyzing your score, the banks decide whether to accept or reject the application for the new credit card or loan, period.

The score bands used by banks for making an inference about your risk profile are as below

Credit score band	Rating	Comments
800-900	Excellent	You have done great work on your score, make sure it doesn’t dip.
700-800	Good	You most likely a couple of hiccups in your payments but that shouldn’t stop banks from rejecting your applications. You could improve your score through minor improvements
500-700	Average	Although you may not be able to get loans immediately. You could improve your score within a matter of 2-3 months through planned action.
300-500	Poor	You have several missed payments and defaults. Most banks would reject you right away.

Since a lot of things in life is unpredictable like the occurrence of disease or death of a family member, it would be beneficial to keep a healthy credit score so that one can always avail a line of credit when needed.

3. How is credit score measured?

The credit score may vary slightly due to the difference of calculation between each of the credit agencies but they more or less look at the same things to arrive at your score.

The following are the different parameters the credit agencies use to judge your score along with the weightage attributed to each of them.

Parameter	Weightage
Credit History	30%
Credit Utilisation	25%
Credit Mix and Duration	25%
Other Factors	20%

Credit History: This is the most important factor in determining one’s credit score. The agencies look at one’s loan repayment data provided by the banks complete with the loan schedules, EMIs, late payments, and outstanding loans.

Credit Utilisation: This basically the percentage of loan one has outstanding to the total loan amount that can be availed. Ideally lower the loan one has outstanding the higher one’s score.

Credit mix and duration: The type of loan you avail also has a bearing on this aspect of one’s credit score, a higher amount of unsecured loan could lower credit score faster than an equivalent amount of secured loans. The reason for this being that secured loans are backed by property or any other asset that the bank can claim in case of default making it less risky than an unsecured loan.

Other factors: These include miscellaneous activities such as the number of hard inquiries made at the bank for loans and credit card applications. The banks often construe this as a sign of a person being under financial stress. This may have a negative impact on the credit score.

Also read: 10 Best Credit Cards in India [With Exploding Benefits]

4. How can you get your Credit Report?

As per the RBI directive in 2016, every customer is entitled to one free report from each of the credit agencies in a twelve month period. This means that you can get a total of four credit reports from all agencies together. We at Trade Brains advise that our readers avail this every quarter or at least semi-annually from different credit agencies.

You can avail your reports from the websites of the four credit agencies. (TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, Highmark)

It is advisable that you don’t use a third-party website to obtain your credit reports since your confidential information could be stored by them.

5. How can you improve your score and how long does it take?

A seven-point roadmap to improving your score can be as shown below:

Make all your EMI payments on time and close your outstanding debt as soon as possible
Avoid making unnecessary credit limit extension or loan applications
Reduce unsecured loans such as credit card loans and personal loans and pay them out as soon as possible
Try to keep surplus cash in your accounts so that you can avoid the use of a credit card
Keep checking your credit report for mistakes, if you spot them to take it up with your agency
Avoid accepting settlements for your loans from banks even though your dues may be reduced significantly. The banks report this to credit agency which adversely affects your score
Avoid being co-signee or a guarantor to friends or family who tend to habitually make late payments on their loans.

We believe that if you follow these steps, you should witness your score improve within the duration of three months to a year depending on your past scores.

Note: If you are yet to get a credit card, here is a quick link to check your eligibility and apply for credit cards online.

Bottom line

Credit Score is the most important metrics banks and financial institutions use to gauge your risk profile. It would be beneficial for an individual to maintain a high credit score so that they can avail a line of credit in times of need.

Although not easy, a credit score can always be improved through planned and disciplined action on the side of an individual. We at Trade Brains hope our readers make the best efforts to maintain a high credit score.

Levin Jenson

Levin is a former investment banker and a hedge fund analyst. He is an NIT Warangal graduate with around 5 years experience in the share market.

September 11, 2018 Levin Jenson Credit Cards, Earn More, Personal Finance No comments yet

Bunty and Babli: A financial story of how Bunty lost Rs 1,29,94,044!

Once upon a time, there lived two best friends- Bunty and Babli. Both were born in the same year, the same city, attended the same school and went to the same college. However, things changed when they started working.

Bunty was an impatient type guy who wanted to live his life king size and did care about his savings or future. He enjoyed spending every penny that he earned in different fancy things. On the other hand, Babli was patient and goal-oriented who cared for a secured long-term future.

And that’s why Babli begin investing at an age of 25 when she started getting her first paycheck. As she also enjoyed living a comfortable life, therefore, she only invested a small amount of Rs 3,000 per month in equities (stocks and mutual funds) with an expected return rate of 14% per annum. She advised Bunty to follow the same approach, but he ignored her saying that “what difference an investment of Rs 3,000 per month can make in our lives? I’ll start investing heavily when I have got a big amount to invest.”

When they both turned 40, Babli had built a corpus of Rs 18,28,561 on her portfolio. Realizing his mistake, Bunty decided to start investing from that year with double the amount invested by Babli i.e. Rs 6,000 per month to catch up with Babli. However, because of different responsibilities like Kid’s education, house loan etc, Babli couldn’t increase her investment amount. She continued the monthly investment of same Rs 3,000 per month.

Both Bunty and Babli continued earning an equal return of 14% on their investment in equities.

15 years later, on the 55th birthday, Babli had made a corpus of Rs 1,66,71,166 i.e. over Rs 1.66 Crores. On the other hand, Bunty had made just Rs 36,77,122 in his portfolio.

Please note here that both Bunty and Babli invested the same amount. Babli invested Rs 3,000 per month for 30 years i.e Rs 10,80,000. Bunty also invested the same amount i.e. Rs 6,000 for 15 years (=Rs 10,80,000).

In short, by waiting until an age of 40 to get started investing, Bunty’s portfolio was in loss of Rs 1,29,94,044 i.e. around 1.3 crores.

At 55, Babli retired and moved to live in a beach house. On the other hand. Bunty continued to work for the next few more years to save more money and later moved in with his children.

This is the power of compounding, my friend.

	Bunty	Bubli
Starting Age	40	25
Investing Each Year	Rs 6,000	Rs 3,000
Annual Rate of Return	14%	14%
Total Invested amount	Rs 10,80,000	Rs 10,80,000
Total Portfolio Value	Rs 36,77,122	Rs 1,66,71,166

Source: ClearTax SIP Calculator

Babli started investing 15 years sooner than Bunty, and over those 15 years, her money started to compound. As a matter of fact, Bunty has to continue to work 10 more years to make the same corpus as that of Babli (assuming that Babli stopped investing at 55 and took out all her money).

Quick Note: If you’re a beginner and want to learn how to invest in mutual funds the right way, check out this online course.

Conclusion-

The sooner you start investing the better off you will be. Time is on your side so take advantage of it. Even by investing Rs 3,000 per month (just like Babli) you can reap big rewards in future.

Finally, here’s a famous quote by Albert Einstein regarding Power of compounding–

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”

Kritesh Abhishek

Hi, I am Kritesh (Tweet me here), an NSE Certified Equity Fundamental Analyst and an electrical engineer (NIT Warangal) by qualification. I have a passion for stocks and have spent my last 4+ years learning, investing and educating people about stock market investing. And so, I am delighted to share my learnings with you. #HappyInvesting

www.linkedin.com/in/kriteshrules/

August 5, 2018 Kritesh Abhishek Earn More, Investment Basics 3 comments

3 Simple Habits To Overcome Poverty and Become Rich.

“You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” ― Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

We all have heard numerous stories about people who started from scratch and with empty pockets but turned out to be millionaires and billionaires.

What makes these people different from us? Have we really accepted our so-called “pre-written” mediocre fate? Sadly yes. Like it or not, but these behavior and habits do play a life-altering role. To be in a much better place, financially, we have to stick to a previously written set of rules; don’t worry, there are very easy to follow. We can always look for inspirations from those who have gone through similar phases.

In this post, we are going to let you know about some life-altering habits that will make you have a tighter grip on your financial aspects. However, some pieces of advice work for some people while they don’t for the other set of people. In that case, take your pick wisely!

**Who’s actually poor?**

The notion of being poor is actually quite subjective. But moving forward, we have to establish who we are considering poor?

A person having insufficient wealth to meet the necessities or comforts of life or to live in a manner considered acceptable in a society. (Quick note: Being poor is different than being broke. Poor is a long-term situation. While broke means that you have no money, but it’s a temporary situation.)

Needless to say, nobody prefers to be poor or would want to live a life of misery. But this world is full of terrific examples of people who were born poor but ended up becoming super rich. Fancy!

Nonetheless, if you are not satisfied with your financial mobility/stability right now, you can always move past this phase and search for better opportunities. Always remember; good things come to those who fight for them.

Quick Note: There was a famous survey posted by the Wall Street Journal regarding how to get rich. Here’s the result of the poll. Carefully observe the manner by which people think they can get wealthy.

3 Simple Habits To Overcome Poverty and Become Rich

Let us now see what all habit you need to incorporate into your daily life in order to make financial stability follow you.

1. Change Your Mindset:

“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” ― Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich:

After a while, you’ll definitely understand that life is nothing but a game of mindset. If you are considering your situation to be the end game then sorry to burst your bubble there, it is definitely not. Even if you have a chance to tilt-shift your mindset, why not focus on positive aspects then? Your financial position is not fixed, it never will be. There’s a simple rule in life that follows everywhere and hence in the financial world as well: change your mindset and see things rolling back to you quickly.

Changing your mindset also does relate linearly to changing your environment. If you are stuck in a toxic environment filled with alcoholics and gamblers all around, you already know where you are lacking. Looking for a solution? Change your location by choosing a better surrounding and environment around you. Simple, right?

Also read: 3 Amazing Books to Read for a Successful Investing Mindset.

2. Be a little Analytical about Your Financial History:

We understand how long a chain of debts can become roadblocks when it comes to having a grip on your financial status. That’s pretty normal even. What’s not normal is not analyzing where your money is going or how long has it been going. The solution is both simple yet tricky; use analytics as an end game.

Every repetitive history has a loophole if it doesn’t seem to work out. Find yours. Keep looking for better investment options while considering the safety factor, of course. Moreover, make sure that you don’t get trapped in the web of “easy money” through illegal sources. It is never, I repeat, never an option. If you look up to someone who manages his/her financial structure quite tremendously, don’t feel shy about striking a conversation with them.

Unload your pressure of debts and other faulty saving scheme and drop out the traditional ways that don’t work well in the current scenarios.

3. Live Within Your Means

Interestingly, if you notice the survey mentioned earlier, luck ties savings in the poll. “Getting lucky through an inheritance or winning the lottery.” tied with “live frugally and save money.”

Earning millions of bucks wouldn’t matter if you wouldn’t know how you can actually put them to use. Let’s statistically give you a harsh reality check; more than 65% of your salary goes into your housing and food expenses. While these two things are certainly the most important things in life, you can save a lot more here. Swear to yourself to not spend more than 25% on your housing and 15% on your food. I know it is more of a rosy picture but you certainly can do it.

Adding to the list never be in one of those never-ending credit card debt loans. No matter how tempting it feels at first, it is going to get your financial account crooked for the longer term. Out of all your expenses, primarily shift your focus to your emergency fund. You can always buy that extra piece of cloth or that extra piece of footwears later.

Also read: The Best Ever Solution to Save Money for Salaried Employees

BONUS: 50-30-20 Rule

Till now we just covered the theory. However, this rule gives you a practical formula for spending to avoid poverty. Here is the straightforward 50-30-20 rule.

Spend 50% of your income on your needs: For example- Housing, food, utility, necessities etc.
Limit your wants to 30%: For example- dining out, vacations, entertainment etc.
Save remaining 20%: Final twenty percent should go towards financial goals like an emergency fund, retirement fund, debt repayment, investing etc

This rule of 50-30-20 can be very beneficial if you are just starting out to budgeting. Breaking down the basics categories (percentage-wise) can help you create a balance between your obligations, goals, and extravagance.

Bottomline:

Being rich is a goal of the majority of the population. However, most people never get there. Many of us are just one paycheck away from becoming poor.

The hacks discussed in this post are solid and proven methods for overcoming poverty and becoming rich. Nevertheless, there’s a reason why these strategies are called personal finance. Well, personal finance is ‘personal’ and totally depends on how you deal with it. Good luck.