When you are first starting out in forex, you might be a little nervous as well as excited to get started. After all, the forex market promises a lot. And if you have been looking for ways to grow your money, and carefully evaluating your options, you may think that forex is the right way to go for your financial goals. But always bear in mind that the forex market comes with risk. That's right: buying and selling currency pairs might not always yield profits, and you might incur losses. Thankfully, there are many steps you can take to minimize risk and avoid losing money, and we've listed a few things to consider below to help you get started.Don't Pick Just Any Online Forex BrokerThe online broker that you select to trade in the forex market can make a difference in how well you do. In addition to considering the fees they charge, which could affect how much you end up making even with profitable trades, you should also look into the trading platforms and trading tools that they provide to their customers. For example, a trading platform like MetaTrader 4 stands out against the rest because of its attractive features that can help you do things like use trading signals and automated trading, so a lot of traders opt to go with brokers that provide this platform.Make It a Point to Set a Strict Trading BudgetAnother way to reduce losses is by simply setting a strict trading budget that you will stick with. Determine how much of your savings you are willing to put into the forex market, bearing in mind that you don't need to put a lot of money into this trading strategy, especially if you don't feel comfortable doing so. After all, the more money you use to trade currency pairs, the more money you may risk losing, particularly at the beginning when you are still getting used to how everything works.Use Stop Loss OrdersPut simply, a stop loss order can help you reduce the amount of money lost on a trade. It basically gets you out of a trade if the market ends up performing in a way that you didn't anticipate. Let's say you placed a trade because you thought that a certain currency would increase in value against another, but the opposite happens. If you used a stop loss order, you could get out before you lose all of your money on that trade, thereby reducing the loss.Follow What the Experts Are DoingYou can learn a lot about forex on your own before you get started as a trader. But you can also determine which trades to make by following what the experts in this market are doing. As mentioned above, there are trading platforms like MetaTrader that make it super easy to subscribe to trading signals. These help you see what professional level traders are doing, and you can then copy the trades that they make so you can reap similar results. This can be a good way for traders of all experience levels, including beginners, to see what works and what doesn't.Always Keep LearningFinally, remember to always keep learning. The forex market changes all the time, and there are always new platforms and tools being made to make trading easier. Don't assume that because you gained enough knowledge to become a trader you don't need to learn anything else. There is always room for growth. And, when it comes to trading, you want to continually improve so you can keep making good returns on the money you put in.