If you ask most people about the mystic of New Year’s resolutions, many of them will admit it amounts to nothing more than trying to honor tradition. The reality is the start of a new year is a good place to start making changes in one’s life. Picking a target date to implement changes isn’t such a bad idea.
You know for yourself where personal finances stand currently. If you are like most people, there’s probably changes you wouldn’t mind making in the way you handle your money and debt issues. We would like to take this opportunity to discuss with you changes you might want to consider making related to your personal finances. We choose now with a new year approaching, which you could use as a target date for implementing these changes.
Paying Off Debt
If anyone where to take their cues from the US government, they would likely believe it’s okay to keep accumulating more debt. Of course, that’s not really a good idea.
Going into 2020, wouldn’t it be a great endeavor to make plans to start paying off your debt? You could enter the new year with the goal of driving yourself to make sure your debt on December 31, 2020, is lower than it is On January 1, 2020. If you are wondering how you can make that happen, here are some ideas.
● Avoid taking on any new debt unless absolutely necessary
● Make larger payments than required by creditors
● Change your lifestyle to allow for more liquidity that could be applied towards debt
● Take on a second job to raise funds to pay off debt
● Focus resources on lowering unsecured debt (credit cards) because of high-interest costs
● Sell off unnecessary assets and apply proceeds to debt
● Make a personal budget to control spending and then abide by it
It sounds like a lot of work. However, there’s a means to an end if you learn to manage your debt in 2020. The skills you use to do so will be the same skills you can use throughout the rest of your life.
Save More, Invest More
People who don’t save are usually focused too much on the here and now. The truth is there are things that are going to happen in your life that require you to plan for the future. This includes future emergencies, business opportunities, and investments.
The time to start saving for a rainy day isn’t the day it starts raining. The year 2020 should be the year you start focusing on saving and investing a little more each month. It’s the best option you have to ensure you can have the same kind of lifestyle you have tomorrow as the one you have today.
The secret to saving and investing money is making it a habit. By simply putting away a little extra month every month, you’ll realize its money you don’t need now. After a few months of doing so, you’ll also start to realize how easy it is to accumulate money. One point: if you have access to an employer-sponsored 401K account, put as much in there as you can, especially if your employer matches investments.
Improve Your Knowledge of Personal Finances
You don’t have to always be reliant on “investment counselors” and accountants to control your personal finances. You could spend 2020 learning more about investing, money management, taxes and handling debt. The information you learn along the way will serve you well.
As a point of reference, do you know what resources are available to people who are having short-term financial difficulties? If you’re faced with expenses and bills from unexpected emergency situations, you can apply for payday loans and may be able to obtain the funds needed in as little as one business day. It’s not intended as a long-term financial solution, but it is a way to get through an unexpected emergency until you can get your finances back on track. The financial world is filled with investment and borrowing options you should know about.
A big part of being financially independent includes the ability to manage your own personal finances successfully. Whether you call it a New Year’s resolution or not, let 2020 be the year you set a goal to learn enough about managing your own money, so you don’t have to rely on others in the future.
