Personal Financial Resolutions For 2020
The beginning of a year is your own time to start building a more prosperous future. Reflecting on the things that have helped me achieve my goals, here are some resolutions that you could consider to help you achieve success in your personal finances, your business or your work life. Perhaps not all of these reflections are practical for the situation you are in, but I hope you put some of them into action.
The perfect time to start doesn’t exist, take action today
If you are waiting for the perfect day, the perfect Monday, the perfect day to start acting towards your financial goals, this day is today. Wait no more, there is no perfect day in the future. The most important thing is that you start. Whether it’s paying your debts, saving for your own business, saving for emergencies, starting English or computer classes, etc., the time to do it is today. If you don’t start, the probability that you will fail is 100%. If you start, every day that you make yourself win to meet your goal, the odds will gradually go in your favor.
Healthy body, healthy mind, better finances.
Before talking about practical financial resolutions that you could put in place, I want to express one of the most valuable things that helps me survive my busy life of work, family and projects like blog and other companies. I understood a while ago that our mind can make non-existential problems seem like a herd of elephants rushing towards you, or that you fall off a cliff. The answer to this problem is meditation. NO, not buddha-style meditation or anything like that, it’s just breathing for ten minutes and letting your mind find peace. You have nothing to fear, take a meditation or mindfulness course (there are many free, Google is your friend) and explore if this can help you. Many times our paralysis to begin with is nothing more than a mental arrest that we put on ourselves because our natural instinct tells us that we are going to die if we change our routine.
Now here are some resolutions to start improving your personal finances:
Establish a Family Budget
Imagine that you are walking in a forest, aimlessly, without a path, just hoping that one day you can get out. This happens with your money and your finances when you do not have a budget, you do not know what the direction is. There is a chance that you will arrive at your destination by luck (many times it has happened to us); but wouldn’t it be better if you have a compass or GPS? something to guide you and let you know step by step where you are? Well, this is the budget.
A family budget helps you know how much money goes into your home and how much goes out. Knowing your financial status will help you make decisions that guide you to your goals. You will know how much you can save, the unnecessary expenses, and the opportunities for improvement that you may have. There are apps, like Mint, You Need a Budget, and EveryDollar (and there are many more) that you can download to your device. If you’d like to do it on your computer, there are templates for Excel and Google Spreadsheets that you can download (search Google) to help you get started.
Review all your expenses, and make temporary decisions to help you achieve your goals.
This tip is a follow-up to the previous one. Since you have a personal budget. Carefully detail your expenses, and consider eliminating or reducing one of them to help you set these goals. Sometimes it is impossible to spend less, and I understand that, I was there too. The goal is that you at least try to do the mental exercise and try to be a little creative.
Start saving today. There are no excuses.
It is a daring for me to tell you to save because you will tell me that you do not earn enough to do so. I hope you’re not reading this from your latest iPhone or Samsung phone or having a coffee at Starbucks. We all have our hard times, but we won’t get out of them if we don’t save. Our debts and our monthly expenses without saving make us slaves of our financial crisis. The only opportunity to have your financial freedom is saving, spending less than what you earn so that you can use the rest to increase your family wealth.
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