10 Trending 2019 Website Color Schemes

There’s a lot to take into consideration when you’re designing a website: there’s the layout, the architecture, the CTAs, picking your domain name, setting up a host, configuring the backend, picking a theme, perfecting the wording of your value proposition, and deciding which visuals to use. The list goes on and on.

All too often website color scheme is an afterthought.

So many site owners put little to no thought into picking their website color palette, let alone a trending color scheme. They think, How important could website colors really be?

Well, the color choices on your website, and how dated they feel, has a bigger impact on visitors than you might realize.

In fact, research shows that people judge products within 90 seconds of exposure — and 90% of that judgment is based on color alone. Choosing the right colors can enhance readability by 40%, increase comprehension by 73%, and improve learning by 78%.

Colors are one of the most important elements that add credibility to your website. According to HubSpot, 46% of people rank the design of a website the number one factor in determining the credibility of a company.

The University of Toronto conducted an interesting study on colors and how they are perceived by individuals. The results were very intriguing. They determined that most people prefer combinations of simple colors. In most cases, just two or three colors were perceived as appealing. That’s why sticking to a color palette is so important to the success of your site, and ultimately your business.

But there are more than 10 million colors in the world. That’s overwhelming, to say the least. How can you determine which colors are the best for your website?

Whether you have a new site that you’re designing from scratch or an old website that needs a facelift and some improvements, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will show you which site color palettes are trending in 2019, so you can find the best ones for your website. We’ll look at examples of real websites and list some of the exact color codes used for on those sites.

1. Soft tones

Soft tones are definitely trending in 2019. Creations Namale is a jewelry brand based in Canada. Here’s a screenshot from the 2019 look book on the homepage of their website:

The colors are soft, classy, and very appealing. It’s a perfect choice for a brand in the fashion industry selling jewelry. The simple tones work well with each other and the jewelry stand outs.

In addition to the simple color scheme used on this site, the layout takes the same approach. The white space lets the page breathe. This will be a common theme as we continue throughout this guide.

As you can see, there is minimal text. Rather than trying to cram as many products as possible onto one page, this site takes the approach of just one at a time.

If you’re interested in using these colors on your website, here are the exact color codes you’ll need:

As you can see, you need just two or three colors to be appealing to an audience. If this site had used six or seven color tones in the design, the simplicity and trendy effect would be lost.

2. Simple grey, off white, and a pop of red

Let’s continue with the simplicity trend. You don’t need to have lots of busy colors to have an appealing website color scheme. Simple website color palettes are less distracting and allow your audience to focus on what’s important to them. Check out this page from Tareq Portfolio. Tareq Ismail is an experienced designer, so it’s only natural that he chose a powerfully simple design and color scheme for his own website.

This page is a bit different from the previous example. There is more text on the page, but it’s still simple and easy to read. Rather than using a pure white tone, Tareq chose a slightly off-white color to blend with his grey and red color palette. This off-white works well since he’s wearing a white shirt in the image on this page. The subtle hints of red the text really complete the look and take a page that would be otherwise boring and make it pop.

These are the color codes used on Tareq’s site.

This is a great option to consider if you’re looking for a color palette that’s professional, simple, and works well with pages that have bit more text.

3. Gradient blues and greens with white text

Stripe is a payment processing software for Internet businesses. It’s a very popular tool used by ecommerce companies. As a technology brand, Stripe needs to stay up to date with all of the latest tech trends. But they also have a website color scheme that’s trendy as well.

Before we look at what their website looks like today, take a look at what their site looked like six years ago, back in 2013:

Is there anything wrong with this design? On the surface, it just looks a little bit boring and dull. There’s nothing about it that’s really visually appealing.

But Stripe made adjustments. It’s current color palette uses a technique that’s been growing in popularity: gradients. Take a look for yourself:

Shades of blue. Shades of green. White. Very simple.

By using a gradient scale, Stripe takes a very simple blue color and blends it with different tones. The difference between the 2013 site and the 2019 site is like night and day. Even if you’d seen the two homepages without knowing the years, you’d have been able to identify the newest one.

If your website is currently outdated, and looks more like the Stripe site from 2013, try adding color gradients to give your palette a more modern look.

4. Throwback oranges and red tones

Retro color schemes are making a big comeback in 2019. Lots of top brands are using popular colors from the 80s and 90s on their website. But they are putting a modern twist on them.

It’s a bit of an oxymoron. How can something by retro and modern at the same time?

Let’s look at the Spotify homepage.

These orange and red tones have a throwback vibe to them. These are warm colors that give people some nostalgia for their childhood and adolescent years.

Spotify’s polka dot colors are inspired by the 80s and 90s, but the design itself is very trendy and uses gradient scales, which are very current, to blend the colors.

It’s important to make sure you understand who you’re trying to target with your website color schemes. This goes far beyond just picking pink designs for women and blue designs for men. To find a retro color scheme that fits your audience, you can use generational marketing to segment your target audience.

5. Soft pink, bright pink, and jet black

Cowboy differentiates its brand by selling electric bikes on a modern, and very pink, website. Typically, the words “Cowboy” and “pink” don’t normally go hand in hand. But the sleek and trendy design of this website is perfect.

The soft pink tones in the background makes the jet black bike stand out and become the center of attention. By adding the brighter pink accents in subtle locations around the page, Cowboy Bike nails the trendy and modern color palette.

Most people would assume that pink would be used to target females. But there is nothing feminine about this website. The product appeals to both genders. It just goes to show you that you can throw certain stereotypes right out of the window when it comes to choosing a color palette for your website.

If you like this design and think that the modern feel would work well for your website, you can use these color codes as a reference when you’re choosing your color scheme:

6. Grey, soft yellow, and deep green

The QED Group is a website based in the Czech Republic. They offer services to both companies and individuals to help improve organizational development by applying concepts in psychology and behavioral economics.

It’s safe to say that the business model of the QED Group is very unique. Along those same lines, they implemented some of the latest color palettes on their website as well.

At first glance, the color palette of their home page is a bit busier than some of the other examples that we’ve looked at so far. But they still pull it off well with this trendy design.

Normally you would think that yellow, green, and purple tones would be difficult to read and hard on the eyes. By using lighter and dull grey tones in the background, they are able to add brighter contrasting colors to the middle silhouette.

If you like the modern look of these soft yellow tones paired with grey and deep green, check out these color codes:

7. A very light touch of earth tone

Konstantopoulos S.A. “Olymp” sells greek olives. Earth tones, especially olive tones, make sense for its website.

The layout and design of this homepage are very simple. It uses a color scheme that’s visually appealing and fits well with the product that’s being sold. The main color choice here is green — olive green, of course. But as you can see, it’s used very sparingly. This is key for getting that modern look with a more classic color palette.

Rather than going overboard with wall to wall saturation of dark greens, the soft grey background adds a more modern and trendy feel to the website. Behind that grey, there are green leaves that are muted, since they are layered behind the design. This technique allows the green text and logo to have a stronger presence on the page.

For a business that sells olives, the earth tones color palette was a great choice. Refer to these green, grey, and light brown color codes to get a similar look on your website.

You can do something similar if your product has an identifiable color: start with the light grey background and darker grey copy color, and add your accent color in sparingly.

8. Lots of red, balanced with muted tones

If you look back at all of the trending website color schemes we’ve covered so far, you’ll notice a popular color that’s rarely used. Red.

That’s because red is one of the most powerful, but challenging colors to use on a website. One way to effectively use read is to use it lightly to give a pop of color to something as small as a few key words in the text.

Another way is to pair more muted colors with red.

The creative branding agency five/four swung for the fences by using a bright red color on a huge portion of their website.

The reason why this bright red was so successful is because five/four used muted tones on the rest of their page. If they had decided to go with bright yellow, light blue, and bright orange in addition to this red color, it would have been way too much.

But these soft colors pair perfectly with red. This red works really well for the brand, too. It’s bright, bold, and draws lots of attention to the theme of creativity.

So for those of you who want to go modern and bold with your color scheme, consider using these color codes with red on your website.

Just make sure you don’t go too big with the red. You want to be certain that you have enough of the softer tones to let your page breathe, while still capturing a trendy appearance.

9. Futuristic pastels and primaries

When it comes to choosing a color scheme for your website, it’s a good call to follow in the footsteps of those who have experience in this field. No need to reinvent the wheel.

That’s why this list wouldn’t be complete without an example from Anton & Irene. These are professional designers based in New York. They specialize in all aspects of design, including digital products. Of course they have a modern and trendy color palette on their website.

One of the best parts about this website color scheme is the futuristic feel about it. The outfit choices of Anton and Irene are pretty far out.

While this site uses more colors than some of the other examples we’ve seen so far, they are used sparingly, so the page isn’t messy or unappealing.

If you’re looking for an artistic spin for your website color scheme, try using different combinations of these exact colors.

10. Black on black on black

We’ve seen some black on nearly every website that we’ve looked at so far. But the black was always used pretty sparingly. It’s usually used for text, as opposed to the main colors or background.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use heavy blacks in more abundance for your website color scheme, especially if you use different black tones like these:

Let’s see what happens when you combine these tones. Check out the JY BH homepage. By combining different shades of black, you’ll get the gradient effect, which you saw earlier with some of our other examples. The heavy black gradient gives the site a mysterious look.

This company is a French clothing manufacturer. They sell luxury garments and accessories for both men and women. Just like in fashion, black is a timeless color. It’s been popular for years, and will continue to be popular in 2019.

But if you’re going to go black on your website, use different shades, like the example above. Just one black will look flat and basic.

Conclusion

It’s 2019. That means it’s time for you to ditch the color scheme you were using years ago. It’s important to switch it up because color schemes can impact sales on your website.

Choosing the right website color palette doesn’t have to be hard. To update your website with a look that’s modern, trendy, and unique, you can use any of the palettes in this guide. You can even use some of the exact color codes that we showcased.

What colors schemes are you using on your website now? What will you update them to for 2019?

Source Quick Sprout http://bit.ly/2H5G6CC

How Long Could YOU Survive a Job Shutdown? This Simple, Reassuring Tactic Can Help You Prepare

The partial government shutdown has had a serious impact on 800,000 federal employees, including those with “essential” jobs who are required to work without pay. A quick look at news and social media (especially at Twitter’s #ShutdownStories) reveals tales of anxiety and sometimes outright terror.

If we aren’t affected ourselves, an all-too-human reaction is to avert our eyes from the misery, silently thanking Deity Of Choice that we aren’t government employees. We’d do much better to take the shutdown as an object lesson.

Even if we don’t work for Uncle Sam, we can’t truly know that our own employment is rock-solid. We can’t predict layoffs, illness, or our companies closing down or being sold to a new owner who slashes personnel by one-third.

However, there’s a way to prepare for such crises. It’s called a Financial Fire Drill, and it’s both simple and crucial.

The FFD is a focused look at essential expenses and how you might cover them during a no-work period, plus a list of resources that answer all the what-ifs.

Sound scary? On the contrary! It’s liberating as heck to determine how little you could get by on if push comes to shove: If I lose my job or there’s another shutdown, we could actually get by on as little as $1,000 dollars a month until times were better.

A healthy emergency fund is useful for such an occasion. Some money wonks suggest you have three to six months’ worth of expenses saved; others insist you need a year’s worth. While that’s a fine theory, it isn’t always possible.

Besides, the whole point of having the EF isn’t just to spend it! It’s there in case of emergencies that can’t be covered any other way. And if it took more than three months to find a new job or recover from your illness, you’d still have bills to pay – and no more financial cushion.

That’s why a financial fire drill is multifaceted. Rather than relying solely on the money you already have, it gives you a range of strategies.

How Much Do You Need?

Start your FFD by determining your household’s absolute baseline expenses in four categories: food, rent/mortgage, utilities, and essential debt service (things like child support and your auto loan).

“Baseline” is the key word here. For example, if you currently pay extra on your mortgage, you’d stop doing that temporarily. Luckily, “food” is the simplest (although not always the easiest!) thing to cut back on; during a crisis you’d nix meals out temporarily and switch to basic (but still healthy and delicious) home cooking.

As for utilities, consider what’s essential. Cable television isn’t really a baseline expense, for example — you could do without for a few months. If you keep your house overly heated or cooled because you like it that way (versus because someone in your home is medically fragile), then it would be time to look for ways to cool off naturally or to stay warm while turning down the thermostat. (This isn’t punishment. It’s prudence. It’s smart use of available resources and, maybe, a little bit of short-term sacrifice for the sake of your future financial goals.)

Add up the baseline expenses and you’ll have the number you need to beat. If you can come up with that amount every month, you’ll manage.

• Related: How to Create a Bare Bones Budget

Finding the Funds

Now that you know how much you need, where will you get the dollars? Best-case scenario: Your household has another income source that will mostly or completely cover those essentials. Obviously this would be super-double-awesome, but it probably isn’t going to happen in every case.

• Read more: 13 Ways to Beat the Single-Person Penalty

Not everyone can apply for unemployment. (I can’t, because I’m a private contractor.) If you don’t know whether you’re eligible, find out. Then bookmark the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop page, so you’ll be ready to file if necessary. The page also has links to employment and training programs and other useful information.

One of the most important things to note is how much you could expect to get if you qualify. Ideally, it would be enough to cover your monthly baseline. But even if it is, that’s not the end of your financial fire drill.

• Read more: Building a Smart Job Loss Plan

Pulling in Extra Dollars

Going from month to month on just-enough can mean serious anxiety. We’re doing OK now, but what if the car breaks down and I can’t job-hunt? For this reason, your FFD needs to include ways to bring in extra dollars.

A part-time or occasional job (“side hustle”) is one way to do it. Websites like SideHusl.com and 1099Mom.com are a good place to start. They have job possibilities you might never have imagined.

While the gig economy has its issues, it can be a godsend to those in temporary straits. Driving for Lyft or Uber can take a toll on your vehicle beyond, but some say the pay and tips can be lucrative.

Non-gig-economy jobs could be available near you, too. Now – before you need one – start investigating possibilities like delivering pizza, taking on a newspaper route (they’re screaming for drivers where I live), or working in retail or food service.

If you’ve got a college degree, you could look into becoming a substitute teacher. Applying takes time due to the need for a background check, so look into the requirements now. Start by contacting the school district to see if the demand is high.

Or create your own income stream. Let it be known through friends and on social media that you’re available to walk dogs, babysit, clean houses, or whatever you’re good at doing. Tutor kids or teens in math, Spanish, or whatever subject you know well. (Pro tip: Find out what tutoring goes for in your area, to keep from undercharging.)

Fix up the spare room nicely and look into options like hosting guests through Airbnb and Homestay.com. Fun fact: If you rent part or all of your primary residence for 14 days or fewer in a year, you don’t have to pay taxes on the money you earn. Really! See Chapter 5, page 18 of this Internal Revenue Service publication for the details.

Finally, take a hard look at what you own. Make a list of what could be sold on LetGo.com or OfferUp.com if worst came to worst.

Listing Possible Resources

The unemployment website mentioned above is just a start. The Benefits.gov site features more than 1,200 state and federal benefit and assistance programs.

One you really need to learn about is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the new name for “food stamps.” Each state has a different process, so take some time to learn about yours. For example, you might be required to provide your child’s birth certificate – got any idea where it is?

Feeding America has a food bank locator. Take a minute to look for local resources, and either bookmark the locator or make a list of what’s available nearby.

• Read more: Surviving and Thriving on an Extremely Small Food Budget

Another excellent resource is 211.org, a clearinghouse for social services. Put it on your list of places to call when things get hairy. However, no single resource is all-encompassing; fledgling or hyper-local organizations might fly under even 211.org’s radar. For that reason, be prepared to ask this question of any agency you wind up contacting: “Are there any other resources that could help someone in my circumstances?”

Anyone with student loans should learn about forbearance and deferment. The U.S. Department of Education tells more in this article, which also offers information on student loan consolidation and income-based repayment plans. If you’ve just been laid off you’re likely to be frozen with shock, fear or rage; learning more about your options now, when you’re calm, is a good idea.

Cut Some Costs, on Paper

As noted earlier, you’d cut back on extra mortgage payments and meals out. Brainstorm some other ways to pare down expenses. If push comes to shove, you could suspend that gym membership, cancel your cable service, put a temporary halt on 529 plan contributions, throttle back on your kid’s extracurricular activities, cancel any subscription services, re-think the way you entertain yourselves, and look for better deals on cellphone service.

An optional (yet recommended) tactic is to do some real worst-case scenario planning. Would it be possible to find a cheaper place to live? If so, could your buddy with a truck help you move vs. your having to rent a moving van?

Speaking of friends: If the tough times lingered, would a friend rent you a room vs. your getting an entire apartment? Would really good friends take turns letting you couch-surf?

Maybe your sister would take temporary custody of your cat or your cockatiel until you could afford to feed both the pet and yourself. Perhaps you could hire yourself out as a live-in nanny, to avoid having to pay for housing at all. (I know a young woman who put herself through college that way.)

Finally: If you’re carrying even a little bit of consumer debt right now, make it your mission to vanquish it as soon as possible. Paying interest is a horrible idea even when times are good; paying extra money out when there’s no money coming in is infinitely worse.

Yay! You’re Done!

Now: What to do with all this information? Why, you put it into a folder (real or virtual) and file it away under Hope This Never Happens.

Nobody wants to think about losing some or all of their household income. But better to think about it now than the day when your boss greets you by saying, “Clean out your desk” or your doctor calls and says, “We need to talk.”

Relatively few schools burn down each year, yet we have fire drills anyway. It’s part of keeping our kids protected. Give your finances the same kind of care and forethought by starting your own financial fire drill today.

Award-winning journalist and veteran personal finance writer Donna Freedman is the author of “Your Playbook for Tough Times: Living Large on Small Change, for the Short Term or the Long Haul” and “Your Playbook for Tough Times, Vol. 2: Needs AND Wants Edition.”

More by Donna Freedman:

• Money and Life Lessons from a Major Earthquake
• Eight Life Essentials You Can Get For Free
• Armageddon on a Shoestring: Prepare for Disasters Without Destroying Your Budget

The post How Long Could YOU Survive a Job Shutdown? This Simple, Reassuring Tactic Can Help You Prepare appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar http://bit.ly/2QCXRsy

4 Ways to Deal if You Want to Be Debt-Free but Your Partner Keeps Spending

The Value of Your Time: The Stories of Adam, Becky, and Chris

Let’s do a little thought experiment before we get to some practical advice.

In an ideal week, a person has 168 hours to spend. Let’s assume that they spend 50 of it sleeping, another 20 on life management tasks (eating, preparing food, basic housework, basic hygiene), and another 18 on leisure.

This leaves 80 hours to fill.

Most American adults fill a lot of that time with their job. They go to work to earn money. This eats up a lot of, but not all of, that time – remember, there’s time spent commuting and so on. Let’s say that 60 of those hours are taken up by actually performing your job.

What about the other 20? That time can be used in a lot of ways.

Many Americans add it to their leisure time or to other aspects of their life like strengthening their marriage or being a great parent. Their leisure/family/marital/spiritual time goes up to 38 hours per week. That time is often spent watching television or using the internet. However, people in this group are doing little to cut back on their spending or to increase their income. We’ll put Adam in this group.

Some Americans devote that time to things that save money. They prepare meals at home. They take on home improvement projects. They fill those hours with things that enable them to spend less so that their paycheck goes further. People in this group are putting forth effort to spend less in both the short run and the long run. We’ll put Becky in this group.

Other Americans spend that time improving their careers or at least working harder to earn money. They take classes for certifications. They read books. They put in extra time to really nail work projects. They spend time evaluating their own performance and thinking about how to get better. Some people in this group are working a second job or a third job for more income. People in this group are putting forth effort to earn more in both the short run and the long run. We’ll put Chris in this group.

Each scenario has some advantages and disadvantages.

In terms of personal stress, it’s likely that Adam (the person with more leisure time) feels the least life stress, provided he’s using his leisure time well.

In terms of making ends meet in the short term, it’s likely that Becky (the person who is frugal) is having the easiest time keeping the bills paid this month, provided she’s using the rewards of frugality well.

In terms of maximizing lifetime earnings, it’s likely that Chris (the person who is career focused) is on the most direct path to a high income, both now and later, provided that Chris is using that professional time wisely.

As I’ve said many times, the fundamental rule of personal finance is “spend less than you earn and do something smart with the difference.” Adam isn’t doing either part (though his day to day life is probably the least stressful), Becky is handling the “spend less” part, and Chris is amping up the “earn more” part. Becky is likely to have the most financial success over the next few years (assuming wise use of that saved money), while Chris probably will over the course of a lifetime.

Most Americans are like Adam most of the time and the numbers bear that out. For short periods, they might choose to live more like Becky or Chris, but Adam is the default. This is why most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and why the average American devotes more than 10 hours a day to screen time.

Many Simple Dollar readers might find themselves having a lot in common with Becky, who strives to maximize every dollar spent. I certainly do.

Many other Simple Dollar readers might identify most with Chris, who strives to maximize income. For many years in my life, I was probably closest to Chris.

If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that you can’t be Adam and Becky and Chris all at once. You can’t “have it all.” There are only so many hours in the week and if you try to strongly fill all three roles, you’re going to end up short-changing at least one of them and probably all three of them, often without realizing it.

(There’s also the issue that following only Chris’s advice when you’re a Becky – or any other mismatch – will lead to a miserable life.)

So, what can a person do?

My solution is simple. Be Adam or Becky or Chris – whichever one feels most natural to you – but borrow the most powerful low hanging fruit strategies from the other two. It’s okay to be in any of those camps. I find myself naturally in the Becky camp, though I found that I was more naturally in the Chris camp at an earlier stage in my life. I have a lot of friends like Adam and a lot of friends like Becky and even a few friends like Chris and they’re all cool with me.

From Adam, learn what things are most effective in terms of keeping your stress low and getting the most bang for the buck from the other spheres in your life – marriage, parenting, leisure time, spirituality, and so on. What things does Adam do that are hugely beneficial in those areas in terms of the time and energy and money invested? That’s what Adam can teach you if you’re Becky or Chris.

From Becky, learn what frugal tactics provide the most bang for the buck. Which ones provide a huge return with minimal time and energy input? That’s what Becky can teach you if you’re Adam or Chris.

From Chris, learn what career strategies work the best in terms of maximizing one’s lifetime earnings. What can you do in your career to get the most long term benefit out of those 60 hours of work a week? That’s what Chris can teach you if you’re Adam or Becky.

This is what I do in my own life. While I like to spend a lot of time doing “frugal” things, I do spend some time trying to learn from the Adams in my life (and in books) what the most effective things are in terms of keeping stress low and maximizing other spheres of my life, and I also like to learn good career strategies from the Chrises in my life (and in books).

Here are the big home runs that I’ve learned from each one.

Life Balance: Five Lessons from Adam

These are the most important lessons I’ve learned from “Adam” – in other words, the most effective “bang for the buck” strategies in terms of feeling good about life and keeping stress in check.

Get enough sleep each night that you can consistently wake up on your own without an alarm. Good sleep is the foundation of everything. If you’re not getting good sleep, you’re not performing well in any aspect of your life. Make sure that you’re getting enough good sleep that you rise naturally most of the time without an alarm clock. That probably means going to bed a little earlier and not using your phone or other screens for an hour or so before bed.

Eat a healthy diet that’s mostly plant based. There are lots of different dietary approaches out there, but the core principles behind almost all nutritional science is that eating a diet that’s mostly plant based without overeating is the best approach. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. Don’t overeat. If you do that, you’re ahead of most people. You’ll feel good and your weight will take care of itself and you’ll avoid a ton of long term medical issues and medical costs.

Move around more and get at least some exercise; even walks are good. Do at least some of it outside. There are a ton of ways to do this. Get a standing desk. Use a Pomodoro timer and go on a five minute walk every time it beeps. Get in the habit of walking to and from work while listening to an audiobook. Vigorous exercise is good, but most Americans would do themselves a great service by simply walking more. It helps you feel better and decreases a lot of long term health risks.

Maintain regular contact with the people you care about and that doesn’t mean just “liking” their Facebook posts. Most Americans feel lonely, and young adults are the hardest hit. Loneliness is a negative feeling that can have profound negative consequences in life. One very easy solution is to simply have meaningful contact with people in your life frequently, and that doesn’t mean just “liking” their latest Facebook post. Send someone a meaningful text asking how they are. Write someone a note and actually mail it to them. Invite someone you know to do something simple with you, like meet for lunch or for coffee. Make meaningful contact with someone a few times a day, and make sure one of them is with a person with whom you might be experiencing a slip in relationship.

If you’re worried about some aspect of your life, devote time to that aspect and address the problem with whatever means you have rather than just worrying about it. Don’t just fret over a life problem. Figure out what it is that’s worrying you, then address it with the means you can control and accept that there are just some things you can’t control. If you can’t control it and you’ve planned adequately for a bad outcome’s impact on your life, there is no reason to worry about it.

Frugality: Five Lessons from Becky

These are the most important lessons I’ve learned from “Becky” – in other words, the most effective “bang for the buck” strategies in terms of spending less money.

Choose inexpensive housing that allows you to avoid owning a car. If at all possible, try to find relatively inexpensive housing in an area where you can get away with owning fewer cars. If you can commute without a car, that’s a great personal finance move as it means that you probably don’t need a car at all as mass transit and a bicycle can take care of your transportation needs. This will save you literally hundreds a month.

If you must own a car, buy a lower end reliable one and drive it until problems start to mount, then replace it with a late model used reliable one. Reliable lower end brands include Toyota (both of our cars right now are Toyotas), Honda, Nissan, and Subaru. Aim to buy those as “late model used,” meaning a used car that was manufactured between three and six years ago. Follow the maintenance schedule and drive that car until real problems begin to appear, then repeat the cycle. That’s pretty much the least expensive method there is for keeping a reliable car in the driveway.

Prepare your food and beverages at home as much as possible. Eating outside the home is almost universally more expensive than eating at home, and it adds up dramatically with every meal eaten and beverage consumed. Aim to make as much of your food at home as you possibly can. Here’s a great meal planning guide for busy families, for starters. A slow cooker can make a world of difference.

Shop around carefully for any major expense or anything that will become a monthly bill, and shop around again at the end of any contract period. Whenever you’re considering adding a recurring bill to your life or you’re about to renew an agreement for a recurring bill, consider whether you actually need that service. If you do, spend some time shopping around and getting quotes. This is maybe an hour’s worth of effort per bill per year, but each round can save you hundreds of dollars.

Establish an emergency fund and some sort of retirement savings and automate both of them. An emergency fund is simply a pool of cash you can tap if things go haywire; it’s typically stored in a savings account somewhere. A retirement savings account includes your retirement plan at work (if you have one) as well as an independent account anyone can open, like a Roth IRA. Aim to have both, and set them up to be funded automatically so you don’t have to think about it. The emergency fund is there for you when things go wrong in your life; your retirement money is there for you when you grow old.

Career Success: Five Lessons from Chris

These are the most important lessons I’ve learned from “Chris” – in other words, the most effective “bang for the buck” strategies in terms of improving your long term income.

Don’t waste downtime at work. If you’re sitting at work twiddling your thumbs, you’re making a career mistake. You should be filling that time with something that will lead to earning more money. That might mean working on other projects. That might mean taking steps to benefit your own side gig. That might mean networking with your professional peers. Don’t waste that downtime, though. Use it.

Build a good relationship with your supervisor that includes meaningful review and planning. Make sure you know your supervisor well and he or she knows you well. Take performance reviews seriously and try to come up with a plan with your supervisor that will lead to promotion or at least a pay raise. If you don’t have regular performance reviews at work, schedule one and work with your supervisor to come up with such a plan.

Identify what’s needed for the next career step you want to take and do those things as much as you can at work. Where do you want to go next in your career? Figure that out, then ask: what do you need to do to go from where you’re at to that next step? Make a plan, then use your spare time at work to execute that plan. Furthermore, try to find every way you can within your work to move forward on that plan. Aim for work tasks that set you up well for that next step – tasks that are real resume-builders.

Don’t engage in negative workplace gossip or backstabbing. Negative workplace talk and actions does nothing more than burn bridges and cuts off potential paths to the career you want. It might feel good to vent, but it can seriously cost you, often in ways that you never see. Whenever you talk behind someone’s back, it’s likely someone else is talking behind your back about you and you’re also likely eroding the implicit trust and confidence of at least some of the people you’re talking to. It’s not worth it. Avoid doing it and try to avoid even being a part of it.

Take advantage of any situation at work that will help get your name out there or connect you with more people in your field. If there’s an opportunity at work to connect with people in your field, particularly those outside your office, take it. Take on opportunities to go to professional meetings and use those as springboards to build relationships. Whenever you have a chance to speak publicly or present your work, jump on it. It can be scary, but there’s no better way to get yourself out there, and getting yourself and your work out there opens doors of all kinds.

Final Thoughts

It’s okay to be Adam. Having a low stress life and a great life balance with plenty of time to strengthen your relationships and enjoy the things you enjoy most in life is a great life goal. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn the most valuable strategies from Becky and Chris and apply them in your life.

It’s okay to be Becky. Finding ways to minimize your spending so that you don’t have to chase career ambitions and professional stress while still achieving financial success is a great life goal. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn the most valuable strategies from Adam and Chris and apply them in your life.

It’s okay to be Chris. Aiming to have a successful and personally meaningful career that earns a high income that can provide a level of unparalleled financial protection is a great goal. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn the most valuable strategies from Adam and Beck and apply them in your life.

We’re all wired differently, with different aims and goals and ambitions in life and different things that we value. What makes the different between having a good life and having a great life is that we learn from others and borrow the strategies they find most effective and actually apply them in our own life.

That’s true whether you identify with Adam or with Becky or with Chris.

Good luck.

The post The Value of Your Time: The Stories of Adam, Becky, and Chris appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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