New Year New You
With the majority of the holiday festivities now behind us, and the anticipation of the new year upon us, are you trying to decide on a new year’s resolution? Not sure what to set as your goal for the coming year? Keep thinking to yourself “New Year, New Me!”?
A lot of times new year resolutions focus on creating new habits and most of the time, these center around a new healthy lifestyle. And although eating healthier, working out more, losing weight, and getting more sleep are excellent new routines to try and build, don’t forget the importance of practicing good behaviors with money/finances.
Set Finances as a Priority
Much like any new year resolution, you have to set your finances as a priority. Whether it be deciding to track your checking withdrawals, setting goals on saving for a specific reason (or just throughout the year), scheduling a meeting with an advisor and start investing, or deciding to sit down and commit to a monthly budget, the first step is acknowledging that focusing on your finances is just as important for a healthy lifestyle as losing 10 pounds.
Be Intentional
While meeting with a client recently, we were discussing the importance of being intentional. This included not only being mindful of what they were spending their money on, whom they were spending it on, or how much they were spending, but also when they were spending their money.
This means thinking through if there are certain times of the year that you know you will be spending more than normal, or if there are upcoming situations where you may be spending money outside of your monthly bills. Knowing ahead of time when you may be spending more than you normally do, will help you smartly spend your money, finding either meaningful gifts, items at a discounted price, or just helping you save for the large purchases to come.
Be Proactive
During the meeting that I mentioned above, we started talking about ways to be more proactive. And through the conversation, the idea of reviewing your upcoming year now can help set you and your budget up for success.
They threw out the idea of the week between Christmas and New Year, or even the first week after the new year, they would take out their 2023 calendar and look over each month. They are going to write down birthdays, holidays, and special occasions (i.e., weddings, anniversaries, graduations, etc.) that they were aware of, and jot them down. Not just on the calendar, but also on a spreadsheet to start thinking through how they will need to allocate more dollars for those specific months, or how to plan for these things in the coming months.
Just as important as it is to meal plan when you are starting with a new healthy eating regimen, as it is to do the same when mapping out your monthly finances.
Be Consistent
Doing something once doesn’t make it a habit. Even doing something twice, doesn’t make it a change. Doing something over and over, especially when you are starting a new routine, is what will give you the most success in sticking with it. In the beginning, this can be hard. Especially if it is something you don’t care to do or something that makes you uncomfortable. However, the more often you can set aside time to focus on finances, and working on a budget, the more it will become second nature.
Making and setting up your budget is the easy part. Tracking your expenses throughout the month and making them fit into your budget is the hard part. But you have to keep with it to make it worth it. Pencil in 2-3 times a week you can dedicate to checking in on your budget and making sure it is up to date. The more you do this over and over again, the fewer errors you will have, and will be less likely to overspend.
Be Patient
Remember this new habit or lifestyle isn’t going to be instant. It’s going to be a work in progress, but it will become normal for you if you stick with it. You just have to be patient and give it time. Stretching those “muscles” of focusing on your finances by setting a budget, reviewing expenses, and doing it daily, will soon feel as if you have always done these things.
Sticking to new year’s resolutions can be hard, but are worth it in the end. If you want to make focusing on your finances a new year’s resolution, reach out to a member of our team. We have 11 financial advisors on staff and a certified master financial coach ready to help you make your finances a priority!