The beginning of the year is the prime time to focus on what’s going on with your money. With the right plan in place, you can stick to your financial resolutions and end the coming year in a better place than you started it.
To help you get started, here are 5 financial resolutions to set, along with expert tips on how to keep them.
- Refinance Your Mortgage
While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on many parts of life this past year, it has also provided some opportunities. For example, you can now secure record low mortgage rates, making this a prime time to refinance and lower your monthly payments.
We have mortgage experts ready to answer any questions you have and get you started on the refinance process. - Pay Down Credit Card Debt
If you have credit card debt, consider making it a goal to pay it off. There are a few approaches you can take, but two common strategies are:
Paying off your highest debt first (the debt avalanche method)
Paying off your smallest amount of debt first (the debt snowball method).
If you’re struggling with payments, consider a low-interest balance transfer, such as our Go2 Visa card, or a personal loan. - Create a Spending Plan
A spending plan allows you to choose what you spend your money on instead of restricting yourself on what you can’t spend. Start by determining your monthly fixed income and then decide what spending categories are most important to you.
As a general rule of thumb, you should start with a necessity bucket, which likely includes semi-fixed expenses such as rent, utilities, groceries and funding your savings accounts. After you’ve identified how much you will need for those expenses, you can create other spending buckets, such as a fun bucket, that the remaining funds can go toward.
Money management tools like our e-Track are a good way to keep track of where your money is going. - Automate Your Savings
When you automate your savings, you won’t have to think about how much money you want to set aside each month or be tempted to put less into savings.
Most employers allow you to divide your paycheck so that different amounts go into different accounts. If not, you can set up automatic transfers to a dedicated savings account, such as the MyFund. - Improve Your Credit Score
Your credit score plays a critical role in determining whether you get access to financing and other financial services you need. Your credit score can influence your car insurance rates in some states, as well as how much you pay in interest when you get a loan.
Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get a free copy of your credit report and score.
To increase your credit score, consider these 4 tips:
Pay all bills on time and in full.
Lower your credit utilization ratio.
Take advantage of score-boosting programs, like ExperianBoost.
Don’t apply for new accounts too often.