Steps to Achieve Your Financial Resolutions This New Year
Robins Financial Credit Union is dedicated to our mission to be Member Focused, Financial Partners, Community Proud. We empower our members with the financial knowledge and resources they need to make informed decisions and achieve their financial goals.
The New Year is the perfect time for you to reevaluate your financial goals, set new ones and embrace fresh opportunities to better your budget. For many, this includes making financial resolutions – whether it’s saving more, spending less, or investing wisely. While setting resolutions is easy, sticking to them requires discipline, strategy and consistency. As your trusted financial partner, we’re here with tips to help you achieve your financial resolutions, making 2025 the best year yet.
Define Specific and Achievable Goals
Start by outlining your financial resolutions in specific, measurable terms. Instead of saying, “I want to save money,” try setting concrete goals like, “I want to save $5,000 by the end of the year.” This allows you to break your larger goal into smaller milestones, such as saving $416 per month or $96 per week to help you reach your resolution. Having clear, actionable goals gives you a roadmap to follow and makes your progress trackable.
Create a Realistic Budget
A well-planned budget is essential for financial success. Begin by listing all your income sources and expenses. Build out your budget by categorizing your spending into needs (e.g., rent, groceries, gas) and wants (e.g., dining out, entertainment). Allocate a portion of your income to savings/investments and debt repayment, ensuring it aligns with your goals. Take advantage of budgeting tools and apps to stay on track and identify areas where you can cut back your spending.
We gladly offer Financial Tools, a specialized service that allows you to see a consolidated view of your finances, helping you monitor and manage all of your accounts in one place. Use this tool to track spending and evaluate areas you could be saving.
Prioritize Your Emergency Fund
Unexpected expenses can derail even the best financial plans. It’s important to prioritize building an emergency fund to make sure you’re covered during these times. Experts recommend you save at least three to six months’ worth of living expenses. This safety net ensures you won’t need to dip into your savings or rely on racking up a substantial amount of credit card debt during emergencies. Start out making small contributions to your emergency savings if necessary – even setting aside $20 a week can add up over time.
Automate Your Savings
Automating your savings can eliminate the temptation to spend money that you’ve set aside for future goals. Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings account or certificate of deposit each payday. Our Change the Way You Save program is a great tool to help you put money back by rounding up your debit card purchases to the next dollar and placing the change in your savings account. Although it’s a small amount at a time, every penny brings you closer and closer to reaching your savings goals. Once you sign up, just sit back and watch your savings grow!
Reduce Debt Strategically
If paying off debt is one of your resolutions, adopt a focused strategy. List your debts, including balances, interest rates, and minimum payments. You can then choose a debt repayment method that best fits your financial situation. There are several methods you can use to help reduce your debt throughout this New Year:
- Snowball Method: With this method, you focus on paying off your smallest debt balances first. Once that debt is wiped out, add the amount you were paying on it to the minimum payment on the next largest debt and so on and so forth until you’ve paid off all your debt.
- Avalanche Method: With this method, you focus on paying off debt with the highest interest rate first, then move on to the account with the next highest rate and so on. This method may end up saving you the most money over time by wiping out the costliest debt first.
- Debt Consolidation/Balance Transfer: A debt consolidation loan or balance transfer may be the best option for you if you find yourself stuck with several high interest-bearing balances. This method allows you to combine multiple balances into one lump sum, making it easier to not only keep track of your monthly payments, but it could also land you with a lower interest rate, freeing up cash in your monthly budget.
Whichever method you choose, it’s important to make more than the minimum payments whenever possible to reduce the total interest you will owe.
Educate Yourself About Personal Finance
Knowledge is a powerful tool for achieving financial success. Dedicate time to learning about personal finance topics like budgeting, investing, and retirement planning. We are proud to offer financial education modules that you can easily access through Digital Banking. Sign up today for free and start earning points while you learn about various financial education topics. You can even redeem these points for gift cards to your favorite online stores! Be sure to also follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) for more financial tips and information.
These tools are available to you at any time and are sure to help keep you on track this year as you strive to reach your financial resolutions.
Track Your Progress
One of the best ways to stay on top of your financial resolutions is to set aside time to regularly review them. Set monthly or quarterly check-ins to evaluate your progress and adjust your plan as needed. Make sure to celebrate small victories along the way to stay motivated. You can take advantage of tracking tools and apps that provide insights into your spending patterns and highlight areas where you can make improvements.
Seek Accountability
Surrounding yourself with people who will positively influence and encourage you is key to achieving your financial resolutions. Once you’ve determined your financial goals and have crafted a plan to help you get there, identify the people in your life who can provide accountability and support to help you reach those goals. Turning to people closest to you will help keep you engaged with your plan and encourage you to achieve your financial resolutions.
The Bottom Line
Achieving your financial resolutions requires commitment and intentionality. By setting specific goals, sticking to a budget, and surrounding yourself with others that will encourage you along the way, you can make significant strides toward financial stability and independence. Remember, progress is more important than perfection – every step you take brings you closer to your goals. Let this New Year be the start of a brighter financial future!
Looking for products to help you reach your savings goals? Head to our website to check out our suite of savings products that are tailored to meet your individual needs.
Read our other blog articles to help you gain the financial knowledge you need to succeed.