This is a guest post from personal finance nerd, licensed architect and Hyperfine Alum Chrissie Copper. You can check out her new site at archifinance.com
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us are licensed financial planners, we're just passionate about personal finance, saving for the future and reducing debt. More importantly, there are NO affiliate links or paid product placements in this post.
There is power in using the pockets of time throughout your day to improve yourself.
Each small action you take to improve yourself can build into something significant, from passing your licensing exams to improving your finances.
In the spirit of Hyperfine and making the most of small chunks of time, here are 9 actionable ideas to improve your finances. Think of this list as a potential aggregation of marginal gains for your financial life!
Each one takes about ten minutes to do, give or take. You can even do most of these from your smartphone. You can do any that apply to you, in any order.
Open a high-yield savings account
While many brick and mortar banks offer savings interest rates of about 0.26%, online savings accounts offer an average of 2.00% interest. That’s nearly ten times better! If you’re concerned about online banks, know that your money is just as safe in an FDIC-insured online bank as it is in a brick and mortar bank.
You can use high-yield savings accounts for your emergency fund, ARE exam fees, travel funds, or other short term savings goals. You can even set up an automatic transfer from your primary account to your high-yield savings account, or set up a portion of your pay to be direct deposited into the savings account by your employer.
A simple move like this has significant results. Say you save $5,000 in an account with 0.26% interest. You would earn $13 in interest in one year. If you moved that money into an account with 2.0% interest, you would earn $101 in interest in one year.
Set up a price alert for books or resources you need
An easy way to save money on study material or other resources you need is to use a price alert app. My app of choice is Honey – just add the items you’re looking for to your “drop list,” and you’ll be notified by email if the price gets cheaper.
Using Honey helped me score a pricey book I needed to study for ARE 5.0 for well below the list price.
Increase your retirement savings by 1%
This is an easy way to trick yourself into saving more. A 1% increase in retirement savings is small enough that you likely won’t miss it. You may also reduce your taxable income.
Say you make $40,000 per year. A 1% increase for your retirement savings would be $400 per year or around $33 per month. Invested for 40 years at an average of 7%, that same $400 would be worth $6,524 by the time you retire.
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As a side note, always take advantage of an employer match if you’re offered one. Your firm may match whatever contribution you put towards your 401(k) up to a certain amount. For example, for every $1 you contribute to your 401(k), your firm may contribute 50 cents. |
Note from Ben:
This is a 100% no-brainer. Employer match is free money (for you). If they match up to 3%, then you have to contribute 3%, minimum. Just consider it a monthly bill. The “good” news is that you'll never see that money and it will reduce your tax liability.
Negotiate a bill
Negotiating a bill, like your internet or phone service, is a great way to put your negotiating skills to the test.
If you’re not comfortable calling and asking for a discount, you can utilize a service like Trim. Trim is an online service that can negotiate cable and internet bills for you. You only pay a percentage of the money saved on your bill.
I previously used Trim and they successfully negotiated my cell phone bill. I even got a one-time credit of $10.
Cancel or reduce a subscription
Have you ever forgotten to cancel a subscription after the free trial ended? You may have a subscription service that you’ve forgotten about, or aren’t getting much use out of it anymore.
Take a couple of minutes to look through your subscriptions and see which ones add value to your life. If not, you can drop the service and look for other options that give you the same benefit for less.
Set up auto-pay for a bill
There are two ways you can set up auto-pay bills – your bank may have an automatic bill-paying service, or you can set up automatic payments through the biller.
I prefer to do this through my bank for greater control (for example, making any needed changes or stop payments if necessary). However, you can sometimes get an incentive (like a lower interest rate) if you set up auto-pay through the biller.
A few ideas for your automatic payments: license fees, professional organization dues, and keeping your NCARB record active. By making those transactions automatic, you don’t have to worry about lapses.
Request that an overdraft or late payment fee be removed
Between email, online chat, and phone-based customer support, it’s easier than ever to request that an overdraft or late payment fee be removed. It’s absolutely worth a try – they can say is no!
Here’s an easy format to follow:
| You: Hello, I have a problem that I need help with. I noticed that I had an overdraft fee on my account. I’d like to have the charge waived.
Bank: I’m sorry, we are unable to waive fees due to our policy. You: I understand. Is it possible to have the fee removed as a one-time customer courtesy? This is a rare occurrence in the X years I have been a customer. Bank: *This is generally when they say yes or no. In either case, thank them for their time. |
I believe this format works because:
- When asked politely, people generally want to help other people
- You emphasize that you are a long-time customer
- Asking for something as a one-time courtesy shows that you won’t make a habit of making fee removal requests
Travel hack your way to your next conference or sight-seeing trip
Many architects I know love to travel. Flights are generally the most expensive part of attending a conference or visiting a new city, but you can potentially save on the cost with travel hacking. Travel hacking is when you make everyday purchases on a travel rewards credit card to collect frequent flyer miles and points to travel for free. The caveat to travel hacking is that you should always pay off your card in full every month in order to avoid debt and interest fees. Take a moment and see if a travel rewards card is right for you.
Note from Ben:
I do this in two ways, with two credit cards. For my architecture practice I have one AMEX that earns Delta miles. I put ALL my business expenses on this card and pay it off every month. In a few years I'll have enough miles to fly my entire family somewhere. For life stuff we have an Amazon card which gives us 5% back on Amazon purchases, which seems like it's the only place we ever shop anyway. We pay that off every month as well, so basically like getting a 5% discount on everything we need to buy anyway.
Improve your skills inexpensively
I’m a firm believer that a great way to make yourself well rounded as a designer and architect is to expand your knowledge, especially in trades and construction. The Young Architects Forum is a great way to connect with other young architects and licensure candidates, as well as tour new construction and active sites.
My local chapter has had events in welding and carpentry (where you could build a small stair). Many events are free or inexpensive. It only takes a few minutes to sign up for a tour or event.
Another way to become well rounded is to take advantage of online courses:
- Harvard offers a free online course called The Architectural Imagination which covers architectural history, basic principles to introduce into your architectural drawings, and analyzing forms of architectural representation. You can take the course at your own pace.
- edX offers an entire section of architecture courses, some in English and Spanish. Topics include history, sustainable cities, and structural engineering, to name a few. These courses are also self-paced.
- Visualizing Architecture is one of my favorites. Alex Hogrefe shares his process on Photoshop and rendering techniques.
- LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) has online courses dedicated to project management, Revit, graphic design, and more. Membership is free for the first 30 days. Be sure to check in with your library – you may be able to access LinkedIn Learning for free as a library patron.
- Hyperfine Architecture has free resources to improve your Revit skills and productivity, and study for ARE 5.0.
Final Thoughts
Improving your finances doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It’s easy to underestimate the big difference that small actions can make.
If you try one or more of these ideas, leave a comment and share how it helped you.
If you find these tips helpful, visit ArchiFinance.com for more on personal finance.
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