How can you keep next year’s financial resolutions?
Many people make resolutions to improve their financial situation when they’re preparing for a new year. Plans such as saving more, reducing debt and spending less are common, but it can be struggle to stick to your resolutions without a strategy for success.
Here’s how you can help yourself stay on track with your financial resolutions next year.
Focus on well-being
With a connection between financial health and physical and mental wellbeing, it pays to realise how sticking to your financial resolutions can help you follow through with improving your mental and physical health in 2019 and beyond.
Visualise how saving £100 a month could help toward both long- and short-term goals to keep you incentivised. Perhaps half of this could be saved for use in retirement, with the rest helping you enjoy a health-giving holiday or gym membership.
Get help
Having someone to support your financial resolutions is a good way to keep on track. This could be as simple as looking for outsourced accounting services such as those from Mushroom at https://www.mushroombiz.co.uk/homepage/services/accounting/, who could help with anything from making a self-assessment tax return to a corporate tax return.
Downloading a budgeting app could also help you understand more about what you spend and how much you could transform your patterns.
Don’t let mistakes derail you
Unexpected expenses will no doubt occur during 2019, causing you to spend more than you had resolved to and be unable to save as much as you had planned. Be realistic about what you need to spend and where cost-cutting could be done. If you falter by splashing out on a meal with friends one week, don’t decide to ditch the saving plan entirely. Instead, think about how you might be able to make up the difference by reducing spending elsewhere or exploring opportunities to make some extra income.
Money Saving Expert gives tips on how to reduce the amount you spend on shopping.
Do what you can to mitigate spending mistakes by being proactive about making your savings work hard for you; securing the best possible interest rates is a great start. You should also consider how best to fund big-ticket items by researching 0% credit cards or store credit, always ensuring you pay off the full amount before any time limit expires.
