In January, many of us decide to kick start our year with new goals, resolutions and good intentions. From getting fit to stopping smoking to becoming vegan, January is full of new ways to improve yourself. Often financial planning isn’t high up on peoples lists of new year’s resolutions, but it is the perfect time to get your finances under control, plan for the future and make better habits. These new year resolutions for your financial future are easy and achievable, perfect for getting your finances in check for the whole year.
Monitor Your Spending
The first step in getting on top of your finances is to have a clear picture of what your current spending looks like. In order to do this, you need to get everything together. This means everything – receipts, bills, bank statements, insurance policies and credit card balances. You want to get as close as you can to how much you spend, on what each month. If you have debts that you need to pay off, you should factor this into your budget. Find out how much you spend a month on household bills, your mortgage, electricity and gas and home insurance.
Cut Where You Can
The next step is to try and create a better plan for this year, so see where you can make some cuts to your spending. Break down what your monthly spending consists of and see whether there is anything that you could get rid of or reduce. It may be going out for lunch every day, or something like spending on takeaways or subscriptions you don’t use which add up over time to a surprisingly high amount.
Earn Some Extra Income
Another thing you can do to help your finances is plan ways of gaining extra income in 2019. There are a number of ways you can do this. One of the best and most popular is to become a buy to let landlord. Whether it’s renting out a property that you have inherited or purchasing a new property by experts like RW Invest, extra rental income is a great way to boost your household income. Look for a buy to let property in a great location, like a popular student city or up-and-coming area and consider off plan investment for below market value prices.
Continue Keeping Track
It’s important that you continue to keep track of your spending throughout the year, so you know how you are doing, and there are a number of handy tools you can use. These budgeting apps allow you to take control of your spending, make savings and even share expenses between members of your household.
Save Without Thinking
One of the best things you can do for your financial future is to save money automatically. Make sure you have a good savings account; some even have special perks. Then, set up a direct transfer or standing order transferring an amount you can afford every month to your savings account. Try and budget a little more than you think for your savings account and if you need to use it in an emergency, that’s no problem. Set yourself an achievable goal, like purchasing a buy to let property, and save towards this every month.
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