{"id":17362,"date":"2020-11-07T00:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T04:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=17362"},"modified":"2020-11-11T12:38:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T16:38:05","slug":"7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are the 7 baby <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/spend-less-and-save-more\/\">steps to financial freedom<\/a> from <em>Total Money Makeover<\/em>? How do the 7 baby steps to financial freedom come together to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-life-in-5-simple-steps\/\">change your life<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 7 baby steps to financial freedom are the parts of the <em>Total Money Makeover <\/em>program. They start with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/baby-step-1-total-money-makeover\/\">$1000 emergency fund<\/a> and end with enjoying your financial freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on for the 7 baby steps to financial freedom and what they mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How you handle your finances determines whether you succeed in life. In the <em>Total Money Makeover<\/em>, radio talk show host and author Dave Ramsey lays out simple steps for freeing yourself from debt and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/setting-yourself-up-for-success-gtd\/\">setting yourself up for success<\/a>: following a monthly budget, buying only what you can afford, eliminating consumer debt, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/saving-for-emergencies\/\">saving for emergencies<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-invest-for-retirement\/\">investing for retirement<\/a> and your kids\u2019 college education, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mortgage-plan\/\">paying off your mortgage<\/a>. Intended for everyone\u2014from high earners to people thousands of dollars in debt\u2014Ramsey\u2019s common-sense principles put you in control of your money and your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #1: Save $1,000 Cash<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first of the 7 baby steps to financial freedom gives you an emergency fund. <strong>Everyone needs a rainy day fund because it\u2019s guaranteed to rain<\/strong>\u2014there\u2019s always a financial emergency\u2014at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a typical 10-year period, according to <em>Money<\/em> magazine, 78% of people will have a major financial challenge, such as a layoff or firing, an unexpected pregnancy, or illness. Things happen and you need to be ready with an emergency fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saving $1,000\u2014fast\u2014is the first step in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-total-money-makeover\/\">the Total Money Makeover<\/a> because, without a financial cushion for emergencies, an unexpected expense is likely to derail the program. If you respond to a financial emergency by turning to debt after starting a money makeover, it will be like breaking a diet and you\u2019ll feel like a failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides keeping your reform efforts on track, having an emergency fund is a hedge against Murphy\u2019s law\u2014trouble seems to dog anyone without a safety net. Granted, $1,000 won\u2019t get you through a life-altering crisis, but it\u2019s enough to keep smaller crises from triggering debt. You\u2019ll build on this amount in step #3, when your finances are in better shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #2: The Debt Snowball<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The big problem with debt is that it ties up your income with making payments, which keeps you from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/building-wealth\/\">building wealth<\/a><\/strong>. You need to get rid of debt so you have control of your income and can put it to work for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s fairly easy to accumulate wealth when you don\u2019t have car payments, a mortgage, and credit card or medical debt. To see how this works, consider the average person with a $50,000 annual income and the following payments:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>$850 house payment<\/li><li>$180 car payment<\/li><li>$165 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/student-loan-payment-restart\/\">student loan payment<\/a><\/li><li>$185 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/national-credit-card-debt\/\">credit card debt<\/a> payment<\/li><li>$120 other payments<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Total: $1,995<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you invested $1,995 a month in a growth-stock mutual fund, you\u2019d be a millionaire in 15 years; it would grow to $2 million in five more years, to $3 million in three more years, $4 million in two and a half more, and to $5.5 million in two more years\u2014a total of 28 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/get-out-of-debt\/\">get out of debt<\/a> so you can start investing. This is probably the toughest of the money makeover steps\u2014it requires the most effort and sacrifice, plus your relentless, single-minded focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #3: Boost Your Emergency Fund<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, you\u2019ve eliminated debt other than your mortgage and have $1,000 cash for emergencies. You\u2019re now in control of your income and have momentum. The next step is boosting your emergency fund to give you a cushion against big, life-disrupting problems like a job loss or medical bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, major financial emergencies are inevitable in life, and if you use debt to cover them, you\u2019ll be back to square one. <strong>Everyone needs an emergency fund large enough to cover three to six months of expenses<\/strong>, enabling you to manage for up to half a year without an income. In one survey, 49% said they couldn\u2019t cover even a month\u2019s expenses if they lost their income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The amount in your emergency fund should be between $5,000 and $25,000<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #4: Save for Retirement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The next of the 7 baby steps to financial freedom is building your wealth by investing for retirement\u2014it\u2019s the key to being financially fit for life. It requires gazelle intensity to get started, but once your nest egg is established, you can maintain your financial fitness with less effort, like a marathon runner who\u2019s built up her strength through long practice and can run with less effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people invest in retirement so they can eventually escape a job they hate. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investing-for-the-future\/\">investing for the future<\/a> in the Total Money Makeover program is more positive; the goal isn\u2019t escape, but achieving financial security so you have choices: to work, write a book, travel, create art, and so on. If you invest wisely earlier in your life, you\u2019ll reach a point where your money starts working more and you can work less, if at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people are likely to find themselves in a less enviable position. Various surveys on retirement saving have found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>70% acknowledge they haven\u2019t saved enough for retirement.<\/li><li>More than 40% haven\u2019t tried to figure out how much they need for retirement.<\/li><li>40% of people making under $35,000 a year say winning the lottery would be the best way to ensure $500,000 at retirement.<\/li><li>80% think their standard of living will increase in retirement\u2014although 56% in a CNN survey had less than $25,000 in savings.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet many people over age 65 are in dire financial straits. <em>USA Today<\/em> reported that out of 100 65-year-olds, 97 can\u2019t write a $600 check, 54 are working, and only three are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/financially-secure\/\">financially secure<\/a>. Among people 65 and older, bankruptcies jumped 244% in a recent 10-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This step is about acting now so you can be financially secure in your older years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #5: Save for College&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People have many erroneous beliefs about a college education, which lead them to make foolish spending decisions to ensure their children get a degree from an expensive college<\/strong>. For instance, many parents believe that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>College is a guaranteed ticket to success, therefore it\u2019s essential their child get a degree.<\/li><li>An elite college provides a better education than a non-elite college. A degree from an elite college will open more doors than one from an average school.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But a college degree doesn\u2019t guarantee a job, wealth, or success. Everyone knows a few disillusioned college graduates who can\u2019t get a job. A degree only validates knowledge or indicates you\u2019ve passed certain tests. Knowledge must be combined with other qualities\u2014for instance, character, effort, persistence, creativity, and talent\u2014to create success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the book <em>Emotional Intelligence, <\/em>author Daniel Goleman writes that 15% of success is attributable to education, while 85% stems from attitude, perseverance, diligence, and vision. (Shortform note: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/emotional-intelligence\/1-page-summary\">Read our summary of <em>Emotional Intelligence<\/em> here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/impossible-expectations\/\">unrealistic expectations<\/a> for a college degree, many parents go into extreme debts or skimp on saving for their retirement or an emergency fund. In the process, they pass on harmful views of debt to their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #6: Pay Off Your Mortgage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point in your Total Money Makeover, you\u2019re nearly debt-free, you\u2019ve saved $10,000+ for emergencies, you\u2019re investing 15% of your income, and you\u2019re saving for your kids\u2019 college education.&nbsp;This one of the 7 baby steps to financial freedom really makes you a financial elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being totally debt-free puts you among the top 10% or 15% of Americans. This accomplishment is like achieving marathoner status as a result of great effort and persistence\u2014but don\u2019t be tempted to rest on your laurels. You can become an ultra-marathoner by completing step #6\u2014paying off your home mortgage and becoming 100% debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By now you know how to do it. There\u2019s no special formula. Devote every extra dollar you can find, beyond your emergency fund and investments, to paying extra on your mortgage each month until it\u2019s paid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people believe that paying off a mortgage, especially early, is next to impossible. But numerous Total Money Makeover adherents do just that. For three to five years, they live differently from everyone else\u2014sacrificing to pay off their mortgage. Then they continue to live differently from everyone else by being debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people who start a Total Money Makeover pay off their mortgage about seven years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step #7: Enjoy Your Money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Completing six of the 7 baby steps to financial freedom puts you in rare company\u2014among the 2% of Americans who are debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because you\u2019re debt-free, live on a budget, and have money for emergencies, you\u2019re in control of your income and are building wealth. The only remaining question is what to do with your discretionary income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are three purposes for money:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/have-more-fun\/\">Having fun<\/a><\/li><li>Growing your nest egg<\/li><li>Giving<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You should do all three of these things. Achieving financial fitness is like achieving physical fitness. You didn\u2019t put in the work just to look good. Now you get to use your financial muscle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom from Total Money Makeover? How do the 7 baby steps to financial freedom come together to change your life? The 7 baby steps to financial freedom are the parts of the Total Money Makeover program. They start with a $1000 emergency fund and end with enjoying your financial freedom. Read on for the 7 baby steps to financial freedom and what they mean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,31,43],"tags":[147],"class_list":["post-17362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-money","category-self-improvement","tag-the-total-money-makeover","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They&#039;re part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here&#039;s what they are and how they work.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They&#039;re part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here&#039;s what they are and how they work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\"},\"wordCount\":1514,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Total Money Makeover\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Money\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\",\"name\":\"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They're part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here's what they are and how they work.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\",\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/560b3bc3d51625f9becff4fded992607b156f274aa36bc07f8a4285a1d72cdc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/560b3bc3d51625f9becff4fded992607b156f274aa36bc07f8a4285a1d72cdc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rina Shah\"},\"description\":\"An avid reader for as long as she can remember, Rina\u2019s love for books began with The Boxcar Children. Her penchant for always having a book nearby has never faded, though her reading tastes have since evolved. Rina reads around 100 books every year, with a fairly even split between fiction and non-fiction. Her favorite genres are memoirs, public health, and locked room mysteries. As an attorney, Rina can\u2019t help analyzing and deconstructing arguments in any book she reads.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/rina\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They? - Shortform Books","description":"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They're part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here's what they are and how they work.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?","og_description":"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They're part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here's what they are and how they work.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rina Shah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rina Shah","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/"},"author":{"name":"Rina Shah","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287"},"headline":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?","datePublished":"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/"},"wordCount":1514,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","keywords":["The Total Money Makeover"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Money","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/","name":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-07T04:11:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-11T16:38:05+00:00","description":"What are the 7 baby steps to financial freedom? They're part of the Total Money Makeover program. Here's what they are and how they work.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","width":1800,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/7-baby-steps-to-financial-freedom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom: What Are They?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287","name":"Rina Shah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/560b3bc3d51625f9becff4fded992607b156f274aa36bc07f8a4285a1d72cdc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/560b3bc3d51625f9becff4fded992607b156f274aa36bc07f8a4285a1d72cdc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rina Shah"},"description":"An avid reader for as long as she can remember, Rina\u2019s love for books began with The Boxcar Children. Her penchant for always having a book nearby has never faded, though her reading tastes have since evolved. Rina reads around 100 books every year, with a fairly even split between fiction and non-fiction. Her favorite genres are memoirs, public health, and locked room mysteries. As an attorney, Rina can\u2019t help analyzing and deconstructing arguments in any book she reads.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/rina\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gtd-steps.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17362"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17723,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17362\/revisions\/17723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}