Bring in the New Year with 5 New Financial Tips

 

People are feeling more secure about their finances as a whole and are planning their purchases more strategically. We want to celebrate this fact by encouraging savers to take these good financial habits with them into the New Year. Budgets have become more discerning and savers have become better planners for their holiday spending, prioritizing savings along the way. Many shoppers got a head start this year and had started buying gifts for the season before summer had even come to an end.

 

These successful financial habits don’t have to stop there. With the New Year comes an opportunity to make some improvements to your financial health. Don’t make just another resolution that disappears shortly after the New Year. Take your financial wellness to a whole new level: a New Year, a new financial you.

 

 

These five steps will help you to establish your best financial path for 2020, and you can have all of it done before the ball drop:

 

1) Pay attention to your finances. Take account of all your income, expenses, and existing savings/investment accounts. Don’t forget to include any naughty debts you may have incurred in the spirit of the season.

 

2) Create a budget for the year to come. Plan your holiday spending for 2020 with this handy worksheet from America Saves and find the method for budgeting that you’re going to use in 2017, and rough out what you’d like it to look like from month to month. Be pragmatic about your needs and be honest about where your money is going. Plan to make adjustments and really dig into your spending habits when you check back in on a regular basis.

 

3) Check your credit report. It is your legal right to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. Add a visit to AnnualCreditReport.com to the calendar as an annual “holiday” or divvy up the bureaus to get a free report from a different bureau every four months.

 

4) Set up bank and credit alerts, and financial reminders. Whether you’re at your computer or on your mobile device, you are in an ideal position to receive notifications about upcoming payments, suspicious activities on an account, transactions over a certain dollar amount, low balances, and more. Find out what online services your financial institution(s) offer, and supplement what they don’t with an app or calendar reminder. It’s all right there at your fingertips.

 

5) Make a Commitment to Yourself to Save. Those who make a commitment to themselves and their family to save usually save more than those who don’t. Think of this as your New Year’s Resolution. Make your commitment today by taking the America Saves Pledge and get regular advice and support from America Saves while you save money.

 

 

 

A new financial you is an achievable goal for 2020. Join those savers who have successfully opted to reduce holiday spending and prioritize savings throughout the season. To learn more about spending and saving during the holidays and take the Vennmedia Saves pledge, visit www.vennmedia.org.

About Vennmedia: ANME 

Vennmedia: ANME is an organization that supports the mission and programs of economic, educational and community development through career training, continuing education, internships, youth programs, fundraising initiatives, and community outreach efforts, helping raise the community resources it needs to make a difference for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Vennmedia Saves is a local campaign  for America Saves, managed by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. Learn more at AmericaSaves.org.