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Admin- November 13, 2025
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Are you noticing how financial changes are happening so fast across the globe —described as rapid and break-neck speed. Learn before you earn and spend is the 2nd essential skill in the financial literacy series. Remember, the first was Understanding the Laws of Money. Fast financial changes are driven by the rate at which people are acquiring self-education. Jim Rohn says that “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
Hey, the above quote was shared over 10 decades ago, but the story today, is very different. As self-education has transformed to: a dynamic, accessible, and versatile continuous learning method outside traditional classroom settings. With flexible, technology-driven, and highly accessible methods of learning via: online courses, tutorials, podcasts, radio, television, audio books, articles, books, blogs, webinars, live workshops, masterclasses, mentorship, coaching, You Tube and other social media platforms, apps and quizzes. The rate of learning is exponential.
What does this open learning mean?
- Faster identification and spotting of opportunities—emerging means of making money, niches, e-commerce, blockchain technology, e-money that can be turned into income streams.
- Expanded innovation and problem-solving techniques—sharpening ways and means to create solutions, start businesses, or invest wisely.
- Rapidly responding and adapting to change: — empowering you to stay relevant and competitive.
- Expanded income earning options—allowing diversification, multitasking and using technology to generate multiple streams of income.
The good news is that more young and old people alike are investing in learning themselves more than ever before. How? They are broadly, smartly and financially getting better at learning how finances work and how to make good use of resources in the universe. Why?
- “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn; and change.”– Carl Rogers
- “Financial literacy is not an option; it’s a necessity.” – Suze Orman
- “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”– Isaac Asimov
- “The goal of financial education is to help people make smarter money choices.” – Robert Kiyosaki.
Which of these quotes resonates with you and why?
So, “Learn Before You Earn and Spend” is a mantra that stresses the worth of acquiring financial knowledge beforehand, to support maximizing your earning power and taking care of your money responsibly.
Key takeaways
- No doubt, earning money is a great step many people aspire to, but earning it without financial knowledge can lead to waste and regret.
- Getting to appreciate the foundational money concepts is the first step toward financial literacy.
- Clarity is what gives your money purpose and lays a foundation for financial growth and stability.
- A learning plan helps you to break down your goal into small manageable tasks to make it easily achievable.
- The power of learning lies in putting into practice the skills, knowledge, and the exercises into real-life application.
- You have to be proactive to ask and seek feedback in order to learn more, grow, and correct mistakes.
- Assess and modify your progress, check out what is working, what is not and make modifications.
Why learn before you earn?
Without good understanding of money, you can easily land into debts, scams, missed opportunities and financial troubles. No doubt, earning money is a great step many people aspire to, but earning it without financial knowledge can lead to waste and regret.
For instance, Betty a single mother, started off with a low paying job after the death her husband in an effort to look after her children. With that low pay, she would struggle and meet the basics for her family. As luck was in Betty’s favour, few years later, she got a managerial job with three times the previous pay and more monetized benefits.
In a short while, Betty’s lifestyle changed—better apartment, better schools for the children and periodic dinning out. The money seemed enough at first to cover her new lifestyle, but before long, paying bills started becoming a challenge, debts piled up and her savings were encroached.
Panic set in with multiple debts, missed loan payments, and no savings to fall back to. Her car broke down—forcing her to borrow more money to repair it.
Betty’s story reminds us that good earning is not enough but how well that earning is managed and used. Financial learning helps you to gain good understanding of money. So, no matter what you want to learn, here is—The 7-Step Learning Guide.
The 7-Step Learning Guide
A strong financial foundation begins with knowledge. Equip yourself with the right financial skills. Financial learning is not for adults only but for everyone because we all directly and indirectly deal with money. Getting to appreciate the foundational money concepts is the first step toward financial literacy. Without this knowledge, it’s difficult to make sound financial decisions. So, learn and set yourself apart from the crowd.
Step 1 – Define What Financial Skills you Want to Acquire.
Clarity is the mother of focus. For instance, if you want to learn and understand how to create and stick to a budget, or how to generate income from a side hustle or how to save and invest wisely.
Let’s for a moment focus on “learn and understand how to create and stick to a budget.” You can for instance say, I will learn the different budgeting methods, choose and implement one of them for three months while reviewing my progress every two weeks.
To keep the focus, you must have a strong and compelling desire to why you should “learn to create and stick to a budget.” In this case, you want to gain budgeting mastery to help you to take control of your money, give your money purpose, prevent impulsive spending and lay a foundation for financial growth and stability. Here are some questions to ask:
- How do I develop and manage a personal or business budget effectively?
- What good money spending practices do I need to learn and adopt?
- What are the saving ways and how can I select a suitable one?
- How to identify investment options and how to choose what to start with?
- How to plan for my short, medium and long-term financial goals—emergency fund, school fees, retirement and so forth.
Clear and compelling questions, lead you to dig deeper through learning and finally taking action with strong conviction.
Step 2 – Identify Reliable Learning Resources
Reliable learning resources are essential. You can find best books, courses, websites, or experts that provide accurate and trustworthy information. When evaluating books, websites, or courses, ensure that the information is current, well-organized, and sourced from credible references. Reputable online platforms like Coursera, Udemy, FinanceLIP, Investopia provide high-quality and updated learning materials. Checkout for feedback and reviews as well. Look out for helpful tools such as calculators, templates, or exercises that help you apply what you learn.
Be cautious and alert of exaggerated promises and quick fix schemes. You can checkout some of the credible sources:
- National Libraries and book stores for books
- Use Online Resources: Websites like free content on Financelip, Investopedia, among others on personal finance.
- Attend Webinars & Podcasts: Visual and audio materials can simplify complex topics like investing, and taxes: like https://financelip.org/events
- Attend Local Workshops: Look out for free or affordable financial literacy programs.
Step 3 – Create a Learning Plan
A learning plan helps you to break down your goal into small manageable tasks to make it easily achievable. Using our example of “learning to create and stick to a budget,” you can prioritize to learn the budgeting techniques in the 1st week, then 2nd week chose a budgeting type of your choice to learn about, and in the 3rd week, start to relate the budgeting type you selected to your operations and in the 4th week, implement the budgeting type as you learn more.
This structured approach helps you to stay organized, focused, motivated and systematic on the journey to mastery of “learning to create and stick to your budget.” This way, you are able to be accountable for small, phased and manageable learning portions. This is why courses are structured in course units and topics, the same applies to other soft skills as well.
Step 4- Dedicate Regular Time to Learning
Consistency is powerful. Planning specific time for learning helps you to gradually make learning part of your routine. You minimize procrastination, are more likely to retain the knowledge, keep the skill and stay inspired to learn and grow as opposed to sporadic or reactional learning.
For instance, you can prioritize and spend some time each day or week “learning to create and stick to a budget.” Or, you can study related aspects to reinforce your knowledge acquisition and build confidence to apply what you are learning as you go along.
You have the power to dedicate say 30 minutes three times a week at a specific time to read, listen or watch educational content on how to create and stick to a budget. You can complement this with once a week reviewing your expenses, an activity that aligns with what you are learning. Regular financial learning is an on-going vital process towards taking control of your finances.
Step 5- Apply What You Learn
The power of learning lies in putting into practice the skills, knowledge, and the exercises into real-life application. Practice skills, exercises, or real-life applications reinforce knowledge learnt.
The only way you can confirm that you have learnt something is to put it into practice. For instance, if you have chosen to adopt the 50/30/20 budget framework, then, create a budget using that framework and go ahead and implement it. Go ahead and track how you are spending in line with the budget for month the first three months.
The application of knowledge and skills is what turns theory into practice. More often, than not, that’s when you find challenges to implement that requires you to learn more. Practicing through exercises, real-world practice and hands-on is what solidifies your understanding of the subject matter.
Learning that involves application or practice is what engages and effectively helps you to gradually master “learn how to create and stick to a budget” as an example. This is the point most people give up —when they try to put into practice what they have learnt and are challenged and things are not working out as expected. This is where you need more courage to learn more, practice more and to consult.
Step 6- Get Feedback and Clarify your Doubts
A critical step indeed. This is when you face off with doubt, uncertainty, and confusion. Please, do not hesitate to ask questions, get guidance from community, financial advisor or mentor.
Let’s stick with our example of “learn how to create and stick to a budget.” You are categorizing expenses in the 50/30/20 framework and you find certain expenses confusing on where they belong. It is the time to research more, ask for advice or pick experiences of others that have applied the same budgeting method.
That’s why a reading group or community belonging is fundamental. It allows you to get a forum you can easily seek support from, helping you to get practical tips into your doubts or concerns. You have to be proactive to ask, seek feedback in order to learn more, grow, correct mistakes early and build confidence in “learn how to create and stick to a budget.”
Engagement, dialogue and asking questions not only expands your skills but keeps you motivated as you learn, get experiences and insights of others.
Step 7- Review and Modify
This is the time to assess your progress, check out what is working, what is not and make modifications where required to enable you to keep improving. Set out specific times say weekly to check how you are performing with your learning goals and targets.
Your goal was “learn how to create and stick to a budget,” your sub-goals included: learning different budgeting methods, choosing and implementing one of them for three months while reviewing your progress every two weeks. So;
- a) have you learnt the budgeting methods?
- b) have you chosen the suitable budgeting option?
- c) have you learnt how to apply it?
- d) Are you implementing it,
- e) are you dealing with any challenges?
- f) are you getting any support?
- g) Are you on track to achieve “learn how to create and stick to a budget”?
Such review provides valuable insights on what’s working well and what isn’t, so, you can make informed modifications. Be flexible to make changes but keep your learning goal to ensure steady improvement in the management of your finances.
Conclusion
Learn before you earn and spend is not just a catch phrase but educating yourself about money equips you with the tools to make informed decisions, minimize pitfalls, and build a secure future. Begin by clarifying what you want to learn, identify suitable learning options and resources, develop a learning plan, dedicate regular time to learning, apply what you learn, get feedback and clarify your doubts and then review and modify where required. Remember, earning is only the first step—being smart with how you earn and spend determines how well you will manage your finances. Now that you can learn any financial skill, you have the tools, you are ready for 3rd essential financial skill –Financial Planning.
