Recommendations

The recommendations page is a one-stop place to share some of the services/products and money accounts I use and some hacks.

Some of the links contain referral codes.

1. Investment Apps

1. Charles Schwab is a great brokerage account that offers a checking account, IRAs, and Robo-advisor investing. I use them primarily for my taxable brokerage account. Sign up using my code “4U498PXV” and we both get $100 when you have $1,000 worth of investment portfolio

2. For those looking to start investing in the stock market, Robinhood is a user-friendly investment app made for beginners. Sign up on Robinhood using my link to get one FREE stock.

Disclaimer: You invest at your own risk. Make sure you do extensive research before doing anything.

2. Savings Apps

1. I use Marcus by Goldman Sachs high-yield savings account for my emergency fund. The interest rate varies and you get an extra % rate when you make a referral. Use my code MOD-FAV-5HFX or apply online here and we both get an extra % rate for 3 months!

3. Credit Cards

1. Discover it^® cash back credit card is an absolute favorite for people with no credit and anyone. You get 5% cashback based on the designated categories – ain’t that sweet?! It is completely free to own and there’s no annual fee.
2. Students can also apply for the Discover it® Student cash back credit card. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, you get a $20 statement credit each school year if your GPA is 3.0 or higher.
3. Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is an excellent travel credit card for beginners! If used properly, you can travel for FREE, yes, for free. You can apply here using my referral link to get 60k points equivalent to $750 worth of travel when redeemed. It has an annual fee of $95, but it’s worth it!
4. Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) is a great card for everyday use or shopping. Just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you can earn points on your purchases. It has ZERO annual fees. Apply using my referral link to earn $200 cash back.

4. Rewards

• Ibotta: Ibotta is an app that allows you to earn cash back on purchases at grocery stores, make-up stores, and clothing stores. All you have to do is scan your receipts.

• Fetch Rewards is another cash-back app for different purchases you make. When you earn enough points, you’ll be able to turn them into gift cards. Sign up here to start earning cash back!

• Rakuten is another great cash-back app! All you need to do is add it as an extension to your browser. When you visit any site, it’ll tell you how much cashback you can make in return. To get started, sign up using my link and we both get a $40 bonus when you spend $40!

• Fuel Rewards allows you to save money on gas. Sign up using my link to get $0.10 off at any Shell gas station.

5. Budgeting Apps

2. YNAB (You Need A Budget) is a zero-based budgeting software – you assign your dollar to every single thing you spend money on. This is for people who are very intentional about their budget and spending or are confused about how to budget. Though it’s a paid service you get a free trial for 34 days.

3. MS Excel is the traditional way we’ve all done it. I still do it today and will continue to do it. For those new to budgeting, this can be a good starting point and a great tool to learn marketable skills.

4. Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is more for tracking investment portfolios. I use it to track my net worth (total assets minus total liabilities).

6. Personal Finance Books

The best investment you can make is to invest in yourself. Invest in books, podcasts, and Youtube videos; you get the gist. I have a few books I can recommend that will change and challenge the way you think to help you get started on that business idea or investing.

1. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – good for real estate. There’s a free audio recording of the whole book on youtube.
2. The Richest Man in Babylon – good for wealth building; talks about the six laws of wealth
3. One Minute Millionaire – good for self-motivation on a wealth-building journey
4. The Simple Path to Wealth – good for how to reach financial independence
5. The Millionaire Next Door – unveils secrets about the wealthy
6. I Will Teach You To Be Rich – a very practical book to learn about money from scratch to investing with confidence in 6 weeks!

More Books to Read

1. Your Money or Your Life
2. The Psychology of Money
3. The Millionaire Fast Lane
4. Quit Like A Millionaire
5. The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing

7. Cheap Flights

1. Student Universe is an online travel agency for current/enrolled students or faculty members only. I’ve used student universe before to find discounted flights. They do a lot of promos and giveaways for free flights, hotel, and tour packages. They also offer a $20 refer-a-friend program.

2. Skiplagged is also another online travel agency for finding cheap flights and is open to anyone. It works because I tried to book a flight with them. They also have a rewards program.

3. Use incognito mode (private browsing) when searching for flights on Google Flights. It’s weird, but it works sometimes, remember sometimes. When you search continuously on Google flights, your search results are cached (reserved storage location) so the prices could be the same or even increase. Give it a try and compare non-incognito to incognito and see if anything works.

8. Health & Fitness

Do you know the saying – health is wealth? Yeah, good health is more important than wealth because wealth is useless without health.

I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle with the help of the Nike Training Club app. It has a variety of home workout programs from HIIT, and bodyweight to yoga. It also has extensive meal prep recipes, which I love about the app.

---