Setting Financial New Year’s Goals
If you’re going to stick to one New Year’s resolution this year, why not stick to one that can take away your financial stress or make you more money?
As it is every year, sticking to a New Year’s resolution usually lasts for a month, maybe two. But with the right financial New Year’s resolution, you can actually keep it and make your life better. Here are some of the best financial New Year’s resolutions that you can actually keep:
Why Should You Set Financial Goals
Before we dive in, why should you set financial goals in the first place? Unless you have more money than you know what to do with, having financial goals is extremely important. It can help you set yourself up for a comfortable financial future and it can greatly lessen your current financial stress. When you have financial goals that are attainable, you can actually spend your money on things you want and you can enjoy your life more.
Now, let’s talk about those resolutions:
Create a Personal Budget
One of the best things you can do for your finances is to create a personal budget. Make sure it’s a budget that’s realistic and one that you can actually stick with long-term. The easiest way to determine your budget is by adding up your necessary monthly expenses and then subtracting them from your monthly income. Then you can divide the remaining funds into categories like savings, retirement, emergency fund, discretionary income, etc.
How Much Money Should You Save Each Month?
Starting a savings account is a great resolution. Even if you can’t save very much each month, your contributions will gradually add up over time. Combining this resolution with the budget resolution would be a great combo. You can divide up some of your leftover income into a savings account and build your wealth over time. This is a great way to set yourself up for a future of financial success.
Reset Your Retirement Savings
There’s never a bad time to take a look at your retirement savings and figure out the best way to build them. You could look at your workplace contribution match and make a plan to contribute the max amount. You could look at 401ks vs Roth IRAs and find out which option is best for you. If you don’t have a retirement fund yet, this is a great year to start one! Making some sort of plan for your retirement savings is always a good idea.
Improve Your Credit Score
If your credit score is lower than you’d like it to be, bringing it up could be the perfect New Year’s resolution. You could pay down debts, ask for increases to your credit limits, review your credit report for errors, use a credit building app, open a secured credit card, and much more. There are plenty of great ways to get your credit score back on track.
Negotiate Bill and Insurance Costs
If you’re spending too much on bills and insurance, it’s time to change that in 2022. Make sure to shop around and get quotes. You could also talk to your current provider to find a better rate. Look at bills for things like your cell phone and Internet as well. If you’re able to switch service or insurance providers and get a better deal for the same level of quality, it’s well worth the effort. You could also look at your plans and see if you need to be paying them for the level you have. For instance, if you’re paying for 200mbs of Internet bandwidth, but your usage only requires 50mbps, why not switch and pay less?
Pay Off Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt can be a huge burden and paying it off can be a huge relief. Make a resolution to pay off your credit card debt or at least pay it down to more manageable levels. Paying off your credit cards saves you money on interest payments, takes away an extra bill every month, improves your credit score, and generally just makes your financial life less stressful.
Save for Something Special
All of your financial resolutions don’t necessarily have to be about budgeting, debt, or other important, yet admittedly boring, things. You could also make a resolution to save for something fun or special like a vacation, a new car, a video game system, a new pet, or anything else that will make you happy. In fact, this would be a great resolution to have alongside some of your other resolutions, so you have something to reward yourself with and look forward to.
Review Your Credit Report
This resolution goes hand in hand with improving your credit score. Make sure you know what your credit report looks like, scan it for possible errors, and find out if there’s anything to know that you didn’t know already.
Learn More About Finance
It’s also a good idea to improve your general knowledge about finance. Follow financial advice blogs, read up on investing and financial trends, read finance books. Whatever you can do to increase your financial knowledge will pay off in the future. It always helps to be informed.
Ways to Maintain Your Money Goals
Now you have your resolutions, but how should you stick to them? How should you hold yourself accountable? There are a few ways you can keep yourself honest, such as:
- Tell a friend or family member about your resolution and keep them updated on your progress
- Make a resolution with a friend, family, or significant other that you both agree to stick to and hold each other accountable
- Reward yourself for hitting certain targets. This will help you stay motivated
- Use a finance app to help you stay on track
If you’re looking for the right finance app to help you keep your resolution this year, Gerald is your answer.
Download Gerald Today!
Gerald is the perfect app to help you stick to your financial New Year’s resolutions. Gerald offers bill tracking, an FDIC-insured account with overdraft protection, credit building features, cash advances to pay bills on time, and much more. Download the Gerald app today and get your account set up!
