New Year, New Financial Goals!

Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year when we all make promises to ourselves and the world and stick to them for one month. Some say setting goals or resolutions is cliche, but in my opinon, people are giving themselves hope. It’s very rewarding to see that people won’t give up on the changes that they want to make for themselves. But, what about your financial goals?

Love Money? How Much Do you REALLY love it?

The more I learn about personal finances and just finance in general, it gets more and more interesting to me. With that being said, how many of you made financial goals this year? Some may want to save as much as they can this year or pay off debt, or start to invest. The sky’s the limit. Whatever you do make sure that your goals are realistic and obtainable.

For example, say you want to save $10,000 this year. What is the first thing you have to do?

1. Write out a written budget. See what your number is for your important fixed bills that are due EVERY month. This does not include netflix, cable, magazine or game subscriptions, etc. I mean let’s be honest, are those really important? Once you figure out what they number is it’s time to do some math.
2. Calcluate your MONTHLY income and substract from that number(important fixed bills).
3. Now you know what your important bills are every month.
4. The goal is to save $1000 a month for 10 months. Depending on your income you may can do that in 10 weeks if you’re paid every week or $2000 a month for 5 months. Or pay $834 a month for 12 months and you are at goal.
5. The way that saving works is to be CONSISTENT and have lots of discpline if you don’t already.

If you are paying off debt, let me just say, kudos to you! There are so many that ignore the debt that they have until the IRS comes knocking demanding their money. Don’t let this happen. Call the creditors, collectors, Navient, Sallie Mae, whoever you owe and make a payment plan, no matter how much your debt is. I know it can be frustrating and stressful, BUT the little payments do add up. Give yourself some credit, you are taking control of your finances.

Again, whatever you do make sure this goal is obtainable.

1. Get a copy of your credit report. Review it, STUDY it hard to make sure it’s correct.

2. Call the creditors and see if you can get on a payment plan.

3. If there is more than one debt, do the snowball method, which is to pay as much as you can on that particular debt alone. Just that one debt, once that one is paid off, put the same amount and a little more on the second debt.

4. You can pay off debt in two ways: the highest interest rate or the highest amount. My suggestion is to pay off the highest interest rate first. I.E, (If these are student loans, pay off the highest interest rate first because interest accures DAILY!!)

5. Keep track of how much you’ve paid off and I guarntee you will see the results in your credit score.

No matter what your financial goals are for 2019, have fun while achieving them. Don’t be so consumed by the number, but the progress you are making.