<prompt> Human: TL:DR I thought I would share my results of the step plan that I am on for financial stability that I put together through research. Feedback or comments are welcome. I recently wanted to get a good fresh start on my finances this year. I have recently done a lot of research about finances recently. I have looked at many sources. Looked at blog posts from HelloWallet, Mint, YNAB etc.. I have also looked at trends of what people have commented on this reddit. I have also read similar step by step suggestions to being on the road to a good stable financial future. I thought I would share my results of what I have found in a information post I call. The Stepping Road to Financial Stability.I am willing to take any feedback or this to be put on the sidebarwikiwhatever. I just wanted to share. Steps to financial stability. Disclaimer: Not all of the following steps may be applicable to everyone. If you have already covered one move on to the next one. If it does not apply Do not have employer 401k match for example skip it. Not everything also is relevant worldwide find your country substitute. It is important to remember money and things do not buy happiness. Being broke does however and that is what the hyper consumerist mentality does. As with all things in life there is balance be sure to balance this part of your life too. Step 1: Live withinbellow your means.To do this you will need to make a budget and stick to it. There are multiple systems to help you do this. Some popular ones are Excel,YNAB MINT The important thing is that you can set limits on how much you can spend in a specific category. Personally for me I use YNAB philosophy on budgeting and MINT or HelloWallet to track it. I only recently started using HelloWallet because I got a free account with them. It is important that you use whatever works for you though. Because it is no use to you if you dont use it. Things to remember when creating a budget. Pay yourself First. This means that when you get income in your month cycle. Be sure that you put some money away for your savings goals first before you pay anyone else. This makes it so that you dont rationalize that you have more money for less non mandatory expenses clothing, Dining out, etc.. then you really do in relation to your goals. The more you put towards savings the better.Be sure you set aside enough money for step 2 and bellow for whatever step you are currently on. It is also a good idea to leave some buffer room in the categories and adjust them as needed throughout the month.It is also a good idea to have the budget be 0 unallocated. The idea behind this that everything is budgeted everything is tracked. So you know where exactly everything can go and everything has gone.Also make sure you include you yearly expenses somehow. This includes routine car maintenance that you expect to do. Step 2: Make goalsWithout goals you have no reason to continue with step one. Your goals may vary the priorities may vary. Savings goals also help you keep things in budget under budget as you will learn about opportunity cost. Choosing to dine out may mean less money or delaying that vacation you were looking forward too, that new house you wanted, Or that early retirement. Set some short, medium, and Long Term goals. Write them down. Then prioritize them and set money aside for them.Be sure to prioritize those goals save for them and keep them in line with step 3 and below. Step 3: StartBut dont finish your Emergency FundWHAT?! you want me to save money before attacking that credit card debt. Simple math tell you it makes more scene to pay my debt first.Well like everything in life this decision is one of balance and not based on absolutes. The problem with going head on into debt first is that you may have a emergency that will deter your goal of getting out of debt by putting you back into debt. In addition to that things can happen to your credit limits removing using that credit card for a emergency from you. So it is best to have a small amount of your total emergency fund saved up first.OK fine so how much is a little? Well the answer what you feel will cover the most common emergencies for your situation. Or however little you feel comfortable with. Commonly suggested amounts is 1000 or one months expenses. Step 4: Pay down high interest debt: You will now want to focus on that Credit card and Debt over 7 APR. So how do you tackle this monster. Well there are two ways, the Avalanche or Snowball methods. Or a mixture of both the debt with the highest minimum payment. MoneyCrashers has a good comparison of the two and when to use them. To set the goals and see when you will be debt free you can use unburry.meunbury.me. Step 5: Take advantage of employer match programs. Now that you are at more of a solid footing take advantage of that free money. Your employee may have match programs in a HSA andor a 401k. Take advantage of it. It is like giving yourself a raise. You will get better return in relation to risk then any other use of your extra money you now have for beinggetting out of debt. Be sure you contribute to these full programs at full matchNOTE Depending on employer match and contribution limits it may make sense to even do this before you pay off high interest debt. But doing so will lengthen the time it takes you to pay off the debt. There is that opportunity cost again. Step 6: Build a 4-6 month emergency fund.Emergencies happen that is a plain fact of life. Emergency funds is mainly set aside for job loss. So your monthly limit may need to adjust with your comfort level and how long you think it will take you to get a job in the event of a job loss. Other factors to include are your other obligations if you have Kids, a House, a Car etc... The general consensus if you dont know is save 4-6 months and try to keep it there.See Why you need a emergency fund for more details. Step 7: Make extra Loan Payments on low interest loansexcluding mortgage.Now things get a little fluid. I put this step here because it is easier to do the below steps with no debt. You are now in a financially sound position that contributions to other goals have more meaning. You are less likely to get into debt and less likely to loose your savings for your goals. I excluded a mortgage because they are usually extremely long term 15 years and high cost. Putting off your savings goals until after your mortgage is paid off would not work you would you keep to it anyway. So you would never get to the steps that help you become rich. Just be sure to balance curb your wants from your needsSufficient Retirement.So we are going to work on paying off your debt. You guessed it using the Avalanche or Snowball methods. Or a mixture of both the debt with the highest minimum payment. MoneyCrashers has a good comparison of the two and when to use them. Once you have debt out of the way congratulations. NOTE If you are way behind on retirement you may want to do Step 8 before this step. Step 8. Contribute to a IRA to max.IRA accounts are typically more versatile and allow a wider variety of funds then a 401k plan. That is why you match your employees match first then contribute to a IRA. They have a lower contribution limits You now want to contribute to your IRA to the max allowable. Be sure to invest that money and not just let it sit there however. See the Investing Start-up Kit for more details. Step 9: Ensure short to mid term savings and other non-retirement financial goals are adequately funded. Live WellNow is a great time to get ahead of the goals that you set for your self in step 3. In most cases you should be set for retirement at the retirement age. If your only goal left is to retire go on to step 10.If one of your goals is being 100 debt free. Pay off your mortgage in this step. Step 10: Contribute to your 401k to max.If you have reached this step congratulations. Few people are at this step in life. This is a goal to strive for to Live Well. Contribute to your companies 401k plan to the maximum allowable Step 11: Contribute to regular brokerage accounts.Well you have just exhausted all of your brokerage accounts. You have every physical item that you wantThat you are willing to spend money on. I say this as you have passed step 9. You must really want to retire early or build lots of wealth. Now it is time to tax advantage of regular brokerage accounts with your extra cash. Even less people reach this step in life. Contradictions. EDIT: Added note about other financial goals in title and Debt free in step 9  <response>: 1. Have Income. 2. Live below you income.3. Save and invest unspent income. 