“Your minute is your hour is your day is your week is your month is your year. If you want to make this year better, make each minute better.” – Saji Ijiyemi
We won’t ever find ourselves accidentally achieving our financial goals. We have to plan for them. Now is the perfect time to set your financial strategies for the new year.
Here are 5 financial strategies you can implement today to start the new year right:
- Review your budget. Maybe this means establishing a budget or making a decision to follow your budget. Either way, try to think of this more in terms of a “cash spending plan.” There are two reasons for this. First, it doesn’t have the emotional baggage that the word “budget” has. Second, and more importantly, it underscores the idea that you should tell every dollar that you earn where to go. By establishing a cash spending plan, you can determine ahead of time how much you want to save for an emergency fund (more on that later) and for retirement, where you want to give to charities, and how much you are okay with spending on those lattes every month.
- Create a financial plan. This goes one step beyond a cash spending plan and incorporates specific, time-bound, financial goals. It might include a retirement savings target and timeline, a budget for vacations and other irregular expenses, and college savings goals for your children. Each goal will take multiple months or even years to accomplish as well as require progress on a monthly or at least a semi-regular basis. You won’t arrive at a comfortable retirement or any other long-term financial goal without planning ahead.
- Replenish your emergency fund. Statistics say that most Americans don’t have enough in savings to manage a $1,000 emergency, and emergencies can be much more expensive than that. Experts tell us we should ideally have 3-6 months of expenses saved just in case a job unexpectedly goes away. Odds are good that you don’t have that amount, and you can’t get there overnight. But you can make decisions today that will move you in the right direction so that you can get through those emergencies without having to resort to credit cards.
- Check your credit score and credit report. Numerous resources let you to check your credit score and credit report at no cost. Doing both on a regular basis will allow you to understand how risky lenders might see you and will prepare you for any future major purchases, like a car or house. You will also be able to stay ahead of any potential fraudsters who are using your credit for their own purposes.
- Prioritize your wellness. This might not sound like a financial decision, but choosing to take care of yourself often has a financial cost. There are employer wellness resources for physical or mental health that are often available at little to no cost, so also look into those for yourself. Other ways to prioritize your wellness could include anything from a gym membership to scheduling time with a counselor. Don’t be so fixated on short- and long-term financial goals that you forget to take care of yourself in the meantime.
Taken together, these strategies can help you hit the ground running with your finances in the new year.
©2023 Amplified Life Network
