5 Financial New Year’s Resolutions for 2021

What better way to start the new year than with a few financial New Year’s resolutions to get you back on track towards being financially free?

We all know the festive season can become a bit of a spending spree — Christmas presents, holidays and family visits. Before you know it, January will come knocking and you’ll have blown through your budget before your first paycheck arrives. That’s why you have to start January off with clear financial goals so that your festive season debt doesn’t accumulate.

Cyber Finance offers you five suggestions to start your year off on the right foot and take steps to correct the overspending from the festive season.

1. Set clear financial goals

The first step to starting your financial year is establishing where you want to go in 2021. These goals will be specific to your individual financial needs and wants, but some could include setting up a retirement fund or saving for a down payment on a house. Set goals to pay off your high-interest credit cards within a fixed time period or start a rainy-day savings fund. Whatever your goals are, make sure to write them down and consult the list every month to make sure you are sticking to it.

2. Prioritize Debts

Make a list of all your liabilities and organize them according to the highest annual interest rate. Make a plan to pay off debt with the highest interest rate first so that interest doesn’t accumulate, and you can start to really invest and save money strategically.

3. Build an emergency fund

2020 definitely taught many of us a hard lesson — make sure you have emergency savings to fall back on when natural disasters hit us unexpectedly. Without an emergency fund, people will almost always look to credit providers to get them out of hot water, but this will lead to the accumulation of bad debt as they are borrowing money without having the means to pay it back. Discipline yourself to put away some money each month so that when disaster, in its many forms, strikes again, you’ll be in a better position to cope.

4. Monitor your credit report

Make a habit of reviewing your credit report at least three times a year. You can download your credit report for free, three times a year, from the major credit bureaus (Experian, Transunion and Equifax). Monitoring your credit report will allow you to keep on top of your credit rating and make the necessary adjustments to your debt repayment plan.

5. Keep up-to-date on financial trends

Try and keep up to date on the latest economic news and the country’s financial situation. Set yourself the goal of reading 5 current financial books this year and keeping up to date on monthly financial columns. Informing yourself is the most powerful way to stay in control of your finances. Knowing what is affecting the economic climate and in turn, your financial situation will help you make the right decisions when setting and executing, your goals in 2021.

Start 2021 proactively and request a free debt assessment from Cyber Finance and find out what your next step should be, today.