Setting goals at the start of the year is always a “beginning of the year syndrome” that affects almost everyone, especially financial goals. It’s more like a new year, a new beginning, and another opportunity to review the past year and set the ball rolling again. Financial goals seem to be the height for some of us as that is the time where we sum up all the things we want to achieve into a monetary figure that it will produce at the end of the year.
Hence, we will be discussing how to meet your financial goals and stay out of debt this year. Financial goals can be scary sometimes because you write the figure and you ask yourself, can I really meet up with this? The answer is you can if you plan and follow the tips we are going to share in this article.
1. Create a budget and stick to it.
A financial budget is necessary for every financial goal. It helps you to plan how much you will be spending on certain things every month. You can do this by creating a list of what you spend every month. Examples of these expenses are groceries, subscriptions, transportation costs, provisions for the house, savings, amongst others. It is important to create a budget for all these to know when you are spending more than you earn and when to control it.
This article by The balance will help you learn a step-by-step guide to creating a personal budget.
2. Stop impulse buying
Sticking to a financial budget takes discipline which shows if you know how to say no to impulse buying or not. There are times where they are just too beautiful to ignore or you need them to satisfy your cravings at the moment but you need to know how to stay disciplined so that you can meet your financial goals. This year, ensure that you buy with your head, not your emotions.
3. Pay off credit card debt
Here at CredPal, we encourage an early repayment lifestyle. Our credit card services are flexible and give you a grace period of 3 days when you miss your repayment before incurring late fees. Late repayment habits attract more than you are expected to pay back which is unhealthy for your financial goals.
Here is an article that speaks to why it is important to make early credit card repayment.
4. Invest
Another way to get your money to work for you is by investing. Ensure that you invest in what you trust alone. There are so many fraudulent investment plans out there, do not fall for them. Do your research and invest wisely.
5. Get paid what you’re worth
We live in a country where the thirst for getting employed allows many to accept any pay. This narrative should change this year. You can have conversations with friends who are already in the industry and be informed about the salary range so that you can negotiate well and ask for an increase at the appropriate time. It’s 2022, you should get paid what you’re worth.
6. Cut down on monthly subscriptions
We are in a technology age where we have to subscribe to many channels in order to enjoy their services. Services like magazine or newspaper subscriptions, gym membership fees, and other streaming services. There are some of these services that you might not be using frequently or some that you do not use at all in a month, you should cut down on them. You can also find other alternatives that would not require you to pay monthly fees at all.
7. Build emergency savings plan
This is what we call, saving for the rainy days. The last 2 years have taught us that rainy days can come at any time. Who would have thought that there would have been a pandemic that would render some jobless and many half-paid. An emergency fund is money set aside in times of financial distress. Don’t be caught unaware. This is different from your monthly savings, it is just another savings wallet. Financial institutions like PiggyVest and Cowrywise are very good apps that can help you save for different goals.
8. Prepare for a major purchase
Most of us start the year with plans to either get a new phone, buy a car, build a house, start a major course amongst others. Some people make the mistake of getting these items in the course of the year and end up being broke because they had to put a huge sum of their savings into getting them.
Do not make this mistake in 2022, prepare for that major purchase.
One way to hack this is to get the items and spread the payment over a period of time. This way, the pressure of paying at once is lifted off your shoulders. Here at CredPal, we allow you to spread your payments within 6 months. And to crown it all, we have partnered with merchants within different industries like gadgets and electronics, flight & travel, groceries, fashion, amongst others. This also saves you the stress of having to shop from merchants who are not reliable.
You can read more about our buy now, pay later services here.
9. Have an additional source of income
You do not have to start big, it could be a small business where you serve as a retailer and resell to end-users, you can learn how to bake from YouTube and start selling pastries, become a makeup artist, a fashion designer, or manage a social media account for brands. This doesn’t stop you from focusing on your 9-5 as you must also learn to strike a balance between your major source of income and other income channels.
Be intentional about hitting your financial goals this year and you will be glad that you did.
