With the new year here comes new resolutions that promise improvements in different areas of life. Often, people strive to better their health, habits, and relationships by implementing positive changes. At the root of those three areas of needed improvement is an individual’s financials. Without a stable financial support system in place, your resolution’s success rate will be much lower than it should be.
Strong financials give support to the life changes you wish to practice. Buying healthy foods and a gym membership, getting the support to make habitual changes, and even showing your loved ones a fun time are all examples of needing a healthy financial support system.
Continue reading to learn how you can make 2023 the year of financial betterment.
Use Cash More Than Credit
It’s easy to decide to just put a purchase on your credit card to worry about later. However, according to Lending Tree, by the end of 2022, 2.08% of credit card holders have not paid their fees for 30 or more days. That purchase you were going to worry about later but forgot is now going to negatively impact your credit score.
If you do decide to use your credit card, diligently keep track of it and work to pay it down. Credit scores highly impact most major purchases such as a home or car.
Be Familiar with Personal Finance Tools
With this era of technology, there are countless financial tools that will greatly help with being knowledgeable on the subject. Various software, applications, and websites can help you keep track of:
- Check Stubs
- Taxes
- Savings
- Deposits
- Budgets
- Loans
Create a Reasonable Budget
Budgeting is an important part of the future health of your financials. An effective budget will act as a guide so that by the end of the month bills are paid, credit is lowered, and more money goes into your savings. A helpful tip when calculating your budget is to have paystubs generated beforehand so you can see how consistent your monthly income is and your year-to-date net pay so you can plan accordingly.
Create an Emergency Fund
It is always responsible to have a “just-in-case” fund so that you are always financially prepared for the unexpected. If you are not ready to pay for a large expense but need to anyway, chances are you’ll resort to credit or dipping into your savings. Having an emergency fund can protect you from expensive, unexpected occurrences like:
- Car troubles
- Home repair
- Injury and hospital visits
- Pet emergencies
- Job loss
- Accidents
- Natural disasters
Set Financial Goals
The last great tip is to envision where you want to be. When you look at your generated paystub, are you satisfied with what you see, or do you see room for improvement? Do you want to see a higher year-to-date net at the bottom of your check stub? Then really think about how you can achieve that dream and what steps you can take in the right direction.
Setting financial goals to stick to will not only help your finances but will improve your confidence as well. Beating those goals will bestow a sense of pride that will keep you going throughout the year. A pro tip is to write out your goals when you are creating your budget as you’ll feel more inspired to better your finances when it’s all laid out in front of you.
Make 2023 your best financial year yet!