Before I became a full-time web marketing specialist and personal trainer, I worked for a financial planner for two years. I absolutely loved my job at Quintessential, and learned so many valuable life lessons. The partners at the firm were almost like second parents to me. I was in college, and they helped to steer me in the right direction financially. I often tell people, my two passions are fitness and finances. Living a healthy lifestyle both physically and financially is so important to me, and I wanted to take one post to share my top five tips to financial health.

• Save for retirement now! There is never a better time to save money than the present. My husband and I paid off our college bills as quickly as possible and started Roth IRAs when we were in college. We max our our IRAs every year, and will enjoy compoud interest for years to come. You can save now or save later, but if you save later, you have to save more.
• Get life insurance when you are young and healthy. Brandon and I got life insurance as soon as we got married, and I took out a life insurance policy for Emma when she was a week old.
• Live under your means. This is so elementary, but it shocks me the number of people who live extravagantly even if they are in debt. Live below your means so that you can save for retirement as mentioned above.
• Be a one salary family, even if you make two salaries. My husband and I started off with very little income when we first got married. Luckily, our apartment only cost $330 per month (yeah, you read that right). We gradually started increasing our income as we switched jobs or got raises, but we have continued to live on one salary. We even save money from Brandon’s salary in retirement, and invest 100% of mine.
• Give yourself an “allowance” every month so you don’t forget to have intentional fun. This was a hard concept for me to master. I was so stingy with my money for years, that I never wanted to go out to eat, get a pedi, or shop for clothes. Now I give myself a certain amount of  “fun money” every month. I still feel a twinge of guilt when I spend money on myself, but it’s getting easier 🙂

So, there you have it. My top 5 tips for financial health. What are some of your tips and best practices?