Personal Finance basics: Take these 4 steps before you do anything else

1. Pay down your high interest credit cards. Most credit cards charge more than 18% interest. It is very rare to get that type of return anywhere else. Paying down your credit cards is the same earning 18%+ on any investment. Paying down credit card debt (at a minimum ensure you’re below 30% of your credit balance at all times) will improve your credit score and make future loans that much cheaper for you. If you need to open a second, or third, or fourth, and take advantage of a 0% balance transfer (after a 3% upfront transfer fee usually), do that and knock down that balance as soon as possible
2. Save for retirement. I recommend the Roth IRA as a starting point, unless you have a company match to your 401k type plan. If you have a match from your company, put money into the Roth 401k option. Do this before you think about buying a house, a car, or anything else. Set up at least 10% of your savings into your retirement account. If you’re starting from scratch, start with the amount that the company will match, and then increase your savings rate every month until you’re at 10% or more.
3. Build your emergency fund. Target 3 months of take home pay in cash. Start with a higher yielding cash account, stay away from brick and mortar banks. My Bank of America savings is at .01%. I signed up for Sofi Money, and am now earning 2.25% on my emergency fund, and it comes with a debit card, online bill pay, and some other perks. You can refer friends and earn bonuses.
4. Automate your way to wealth. Set up automatic savings to your emergency fund and retirement. Set up automatic savings for big ticket items or upcoming expenses, I have a Discover Savings for my travel fund. Set up an investment account where you can add small amounts and they are automatically invested, such as WealthSimple. Set up your credit cards to pay as many of your bills as possible and accumulate points. While I don’t think you can pay rent with a credit card, most utility companies will take credit cards, why not earn points. I have prepaid months of cable and power bills, just to earn the new card bonus on an airline card for free flights, so my next family vacation is free as far as air travel is concerned. If you want to build wealth, you need to target at least 20% of your income be automatically funneled towards growth areas, and you can learn to cut back on savings. When your income increases, your growth investments will, too.