Personal finance changes you should make in the new year

It’s a new year and it’s time for a new you. Now get in the gym! Just kidding. What a giant waste of money. I’m not saying you shouldn’t get healthy if you feel you need to, but don’t be one of those people who join the gym and then are back on the couch before February comes rolling around. How about focusing on something else, like your finances! No matter how well you’re doing with your money, we could all do a little better. Here are a few ideas for improving your finances in 2023…

Save more: We should all be saving more. Are your savings automated? If so, try increasing the percentage you’re sending to your savings account each pay period. It’s really simple. Set it and forget it. And this works the same with your 401k. Hopefully you’ve got an app or other easy way to adjust your 401k contributions, so try to up that contribution this month (and maybe even do it again this summer).

Re-budget: Budgets are great, so hopefully you have one that you stick to. But it’s a new year, and maybe your finances are a little different than last year. So now would be a great time to take a look at your current budget and make adjustments as needed.

Challenge yourself: Bills have to be paid, but there are areas in your spending that are more “want” than “need”. Find some of those purchases and challenge yourself to make that spending look drastically different than it did last year (and I mean cutting it down). If you can set a monthly goal and hit it all year, you’ll probably have more money than you’re used to having at the end of the year and that will feel great.

John Pettit

John Pettit

John Pettit is the Managing Editor for CUInsight.com. Through news, community, press, jobs and events, he keeps credit unions digitally informed throughout the day. Web: www.cuinsight.com Details