5 Radical Things You Can Do Today To Get Closer To Financial Freedom

In a vision of financial freedom, imagine waking up with no fear about how you’ll pay your bills or no anxiety about returning to a job you hate because you can actually afford to quit. In this version of your life, instead of wondering how to stretch paychecks, there’s confidence in every financial decision. Financial freedom, the kind that allows for choice rather than stress, doesn’t come overnight, and while women face many challenges related to equal pay and unemployment, there are real, practical actions that can be taken to build the life you want.

“I really enjoy the freedom of being able to build my own lifestyle, my own schedule, and being able to be creative in my workplace,” private chef Cintia Diaz told CNBC about the financial freedom aspect of her pivot into the profession. “There are weeks or months when I decide to have an easier schedule. There are other times that I decided to work a little bit more.”

“Ultimately, while more money is helpful and it certainly can bring security, it’s these small habits that truly gave me confidence, then and now. My financial anxiety is a thing of the past, and that, to me, is true financial freedom,” entrepreneur Kimberly Hamilton told the publication.

Financial freedom isn’t a destination that only retirees reach. It’s about gaining control over money so it supports life goals rather than dictating them. Here are 5 actionable steps that you can implement today to move toward financial independence:

The first step in any effective money strategy is knowing exactly where things stand and determining what financial freedom means uniquely to you. For one woman, it could look like going out to eat twice a week without living check to check. An entrepreneur might envision being able to turn down projects or clients without worrying about making payroll or going bankrupt. A working mom might want to take a sabbatical and transition into a stay-at-home parent.

Today’s Action:Calculate your net worth, which requires knowledge of all assets (savings, investment accounts, property) and liabilities (credit card debt, student loans, car loans). Pinpoint a number and work toward the goal of reaching that number (whether it’s a yearly salary, profits, or savings) that will cover the lifestyle you want as your future financially free self. Get assistance via a bank manager, credit counselor, financial planner, or money coach with the proper credentials and experience relative to your current lifestyle and future goals (i.e., debt reduction, family planning, investing, or wealth building). 

Research at least three and get in contact to set up appointments or sessions to talk about your options and plan accordingly.

Real-Life Impact: Knowing your net worth turns guesswork into data. You can discover hidden spending patterns and debt burdens they hadn’t realized, allowing them to set precise goals. Working with a professional helps to take the guesswork out and fills knowledge gaps.

Use those money and budgeting apps, ChatGPT, or programs that you’ve either been neglecting or not updating. Connect those accounts to reputable budgeting and banking apps, and allow a good old spreadsheet to keep you honest. Simply your life by using tech to your advantage to calculate, track, and run scenarios that could put you that much closer to financial fitness. 

Today’s Action: Use free tools like Mint, Empower, or Excel to draft a budget based on your monthly income and expenses. Assign each dollar a purpose, from rent and utilities to self-care and savings goals. Short on time and patience, or you’re just not tech savvy? Hire someone from TaskRabbit or Fiverr to set things up for you via templates or extensions.

Real-Life Impact: Budgeting highlights where money flows each month and helps establish guardrails against overspending. It also makes it easier to automate savings and bill payments. 

High-interest debts, especially credit card balances, are among the biggest barriers to financial freedom. Paying them down quickly reduces the amount lost to interest over time.

Today’s Action: List all debts with their interest rates and choose a payoff strategy like avalanche (highest rate first) or snowball (smallest balance first for psychological wins). Then schedule an extra payment toward your top target this month. Automate this for 30 days and keep track of the progress, how this impacts your quality of life, and whether adjustments need to be made.

Real-Life Impact: Reducing high-interest debt frees up cash flow and speeds up progress toward savings and investments. Experts say that eliminating credit card interest early can greatly accelerate wealth building. 

Saying no is a financial strategy. Money leeches include family and friends, habits, subscriptions, obligations, and social expectations that quietly drain cash. Declining plans that don’t align with priorities, setting boundaries around lending money, and canceling unused expenses create immediate financial breathing room and redirect money toward goals that actually build freedom.

Today’s Action: People are often encouraged to pause or cancel a subscription, but let’s take things a bit further.Instead of trimming expenses one by one, start a spending permission reset. Freeze discretionary spending for 14 days. This means no shopping, no dining out, no impulse buys. Track every urge to spend in a notes app, journal, or with an accountability partner. At the end, re-enable only what clearly supports long-term goals. To challenge yourself further, keep it going and reroute that money to investments or savings.

Real-Life Impact: This approach rewires spending behavior, not just expenses. Many women cut discretionary expenses on a long-term basis because habits, not subscriptions, were the real money drain.

Starting small is nothing to be ashamed of, and every penny can add up to a big impact down the line. You can literally start with as little as $10, and automation removes the emotional decision each month to ensure consistent progress. Whether it’s contributing to retirement accounts or investing small amounts regularly, automation builds wealth quietly in the background. 

Today’s Action: Set automatic transfers to a retirement account (IRA or 401(k) if available) via Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, or other platforms, and consider round-up or micro-saving apps that invest spare change from everyday purchases. 

Write down five ways you could make more money to solely use for saving or investing (i.e., doable side hustles, salary negotiations, real estate, or a passive income-generating business investments, job hunting, or skills building)

Real-Life Impact: Automation helps money work for you, and finding additional ways to earn money for investing is a great way to increase your net worth while building empowerment. While there is risk and extra elbow grease involved, even modest monthly contributions to diversified investments can grow significantly over time due to compound returns. 

Sometimes it’s not really about earning more money. A career pivot or change might be the key to really pushing your financial freedom journey forward. Some roles or jobs are simply dead ends, or you’ve outgrown them both professionally and financially. Taking a strategic leap, like nurse turned laundromat entrepreneur Cami, can make the difference.

Financial freedom isn’t about radical overnight changes. It’s about consistent, daily actions that build habits aligned with long-term prosperity. By tracking finances, budgeting with intention, reducing costly debt, protecting against unexpected expenses, and automating progress, it becomes possible to shift from living with dread to a confident life flow.