The beginning of a new year is the best time to make some adjustments in your life; you could start a new workout program, find a new job, quit a bad habit, and a host of other positive things could be added to your daily routine. However, no matter the choices you make, don’t forget to include your finances as part of your new year resolutions. Believe it or not, saving and making more money in 2020 can help to improve the overall quality of your life. Yes, it is true that money can’t buy happiness, but it can put you in a better position once you have a healthy relationship with it. Here are four tips that you implement today to boost your finances in 2020:
SAVE
So many people underestimate the importance of saving money, but the truth is, the more money you’re able to save in 2020, the closer you’ll get to achieving your goals. No matter what money involved goals you’re trying to achieve; whether you are working towards completing your emergency fund, enrolling your child in college, setting aside retirement funds, or going on vacation, it is important to master the self discipline that comes along with saving. Aside from helping you achieve your goals, saving can be fulfilling the more you watch your bank account grow. One way that I’ve been able to save a nice amount without even thinking about it is through the DIGIT app. I will be the first to admit that I was slightly skeptical about using a savings app, but using the Digit app helps me to save money by taking out tiny amounts every few days and putting it into an account that I have labeled as rainy day fund. Last year I was able to pay off my credit card completely all from saving with the digit app. Before I realized it, I had a huge chunk of money saved that I put completely towards my credit card and wiped out that expense without even breaking a sweat. If you’re interested in trying the digit app risk free give it a try HERE.
BUDGET
It’s really difficult to save money when you don’t know what you’re spending on and you can’t give an account of where your income goes month after month. To be able to control that, you need create a budget that shows a detailed breakdown of your expenses. To create a personal budget, examine your bank and credit card statements from the past year to check your recurring monthly expenses, and see what you’ve been spending on. Make sure you consider one-time expenses and annual subscriptions in order to obtain the correct spending summary. After that you can analyze your total spending alongside your earnings and see the amount you’ll get. Normally, there should be enough room left in your budget to save up to 10% of your earnings on a monthly basis. However, if your monthly expenses doesn’t allow you save up to that amount, you might need to cut down on your spending. One person who always gets me into gear about budgeting is Dave Ramsey. Listening to his podcast and using the baby steps method has been key for me in eliminating debt, while budgeting has worked wonder for me practicing discipline.
DIVERSIFY
If you want to make more money, you need to increase your income streams, and there is really no other way to put it. Saving and budgeting is great, but you have to learn to earn more. The great thing about our generation is that we can be very creative when it comes to additional income streams. Instead of staying at the same company for 30 years or more, millennials are more likely to change jobs until we find the income and a schedule that suits us, but sometimes that isn’t always an easy task. That’s when things like working a 9-5 and having a side hustle come into play. These days almost everyone has a side hustle because it’s a great way to get extra cash. If you want to improve your financial status in 2020, you need to find something you love doing with your spare time and convert it to a source of income. For instance, if you like writing, you can sign up online as a freelance writer and get paid for writing. Regardless of what you do for extra cash, if you enjoy doing it and are creative, it could become a lucrative stream of income.
INVEST IN YOURSELF
It might sound counterproductive, but it’s like the old saying goes: “you have to spend money to make money”. Making wise investments in your personal development have enormous potential in helping you increasing your income. Investing in financial planning books to increase your financial literacy, investing in conferences or seminar tickets, and/or investing in buying a domain and a word-press theme if you’re thinking of starting a blog all have a huge ROI if you maximize the things that you learn. Knowledge and networking are key components in wealth building.
