New Year's Resolutions

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time for reflection, planning for the next year, and goal setting. It is also the ideal time to review your finances, create a budget, or update your 2020 budget. Planning for your future goals starts with a focus on saving to achieve your dreams. You can use the resources available to you such as estatements and credit card statements to review spending from the previous year. This will allow you to see where you spend your money and where you might be able to trim costs for next year. Here are a few ideas to consider this year:

Start Automatic Savings Deposits

A simple way to save more is to have a recurring direct deposit into your savings account. If you aren’t already doing this, the new year is a great time to start building your savings for a rainy day. The process is simple: if you have direct deposit from your employer, set aside a certain percentage from each paycheck, and put it directly into your savings account. If you are already setting money aside, increase the percentage a little more each year and watch your savings grow even faster.

Set Up Automatic Bill Payments

Setting up automatic bill payments can put you on the fast track for paying off debt faster. Instead of paying your mortgage or credit card once a month, set up autopayments for ½ the amount every two weeks. This will help you achieve one full extra payment each year and could cut years off of your mortgage, or help you to pay off a credit card sooner.

Implement a no spend day

This might seem like a challenge, but think of the money you can save by intentionally choosing to not spend money one day each week. You may have to be creative on your no spend days, but it can be a fun challenge for you and your family. The potential savings each month by can be significant and will allow you to put more money away for a rainy day or pay off debt faster.

Financial Self-Improvement

Self-improvement is popular resolution, but you should consider self-improvement financially as well. A good starting point is to subscribe to a podcast, or visit the library to find a book on financial planning. Learning new ideas for saving, budgeting, retirement planning, etc. can empower you to make necessary changes or tweaks to your financial plan.

Cut back on bad spending habits

By reviewing your estatements or credit card statements, you can see where you spend your money and it allows you to see where you can trim costs. Are you visiting the coffee shop and buying a latte several times a week or a paying for a subscription to a service that you don’t use? Look at what you spend your money on and what you can do without. The changes do not have to be big. Small changes add up to big savings quick. Maybe instead of buying a latte three times a week you only treat yourself once a week. That could save you $10/week and add up to about $500 over a year. This could be a fun challenge to implement for you and your family.