3 Great financial goals to set for 2020!

Happy New Year!!!  With every new year comes new resolutions, and on this very first money tip of 2020, I want to talk to you about the most common money resolutions that people set, and help you strategize on how to stick to them!

RESOLUTION #1: SAVE MONEY

We all know how it goes- life happens, unexpected  expenses come up, and saving goes by the wayside. ????But there’s no use looking back and regretting it, lets just work on saving moving forward! One of the best ways to stick to this resolution is to set it on autopilot! Make saving easy for yourself. Do you work for a company that offers a 401k? If you do, set up an auto-withdrawl from your paycheck to go into an account NOT attached to checking. You can do the same thing even if you don’t have a 401k. Set up a seperate account, whether it’s a simple savings account or an investment account of some kind, and have money automatically deposited into it each month. The important detail here is that you don’t want this account to be something that is easily accessible (translation: easy to spend from). Pay yourself first! 

RESOLUTION #2: GET OUT OF DEBT

You can do it, I promise! But to get started getting out of debt, you need to know where your money is coming from, and where your money is going. It’s not as daunting as it sounds, and I have a worksheet that can help you get on track! One of the reasons you want to set up a budget is so that you can minimize your expenses. I like to follow a 70-20-10 rule. You’ve heard me talk about this before and, you’ll hear it again. But that is because IT WORKS. So what do I mean by 70-20-10? 

• 70% of your net income should go towards your lifestyle. This includes housing, vehicles, groceries, etc. Of this 70%, 30% of it should be allocated towards housing.   
• 20% should go towards principal debt reduction. *note* once you have paid off all your debt, add this 20% to savings!!
• 10% should go towards savings. 

So how do you fit all of your lifestyle expenses into 70%? You can start chipping away at expenses by doing simple things like making lunches instead of eating out, skip the starbucks, and my personal fav, UNENROLL from subscription sites. You’d be amazed at how this small sacrifices eventually add up to big savings! Also turn off auto renewals, and get rid of anything that is a swipe or doubleclick for payments. I recently unenrolled from all my automatic subscription renewals, and realized that I was wasting $166 a month! Which is almost two thousand dollars A YEAR. And let’s talk about those lunches out. If you’re spending an average of $11 on a lunch during the work week, that adds up to four thousand dollars a year. FOUR ????That’s half a down payment on a home for a lot of people!  Which brings me to our third resolution…

RESOLUTION #3: BUYING A PRIMARY RESIDENCE

This is obviously my favorite financial resolution for any year! Purchasing a primary residence is huge investment for you life, and it will take planning if it’s something you want to do this year. So here are a couple tips to help you prepare:

• Check your credit. Know where you’re at so you know what you’re getting into! 
• Gather all your financial documents. 30 days of paycheck stubs, last two months of bank statements, W2s. You will need tax returns if you’re self employed or earn commissions, or have variable income streams

Another pro tip that may be helpful when shopping for a home loan is to share that budget that your’re creatig from resolution #2 with your loan officer! This will help them get an overall picture of your financial health and goals, and find a payment that is right for you!

The new year (and new decade!!) is an exciting time for all of us! I hope this video helps motivate you and give you some tools to make 2020 your best financial year yet! As always, if you have any questions, please reach out. I’m always here to help 🙂