Thank you to CreditRepair.com for sponsoring this post. All opinions are of course my own.
I get asked a lot of questions about how we can afford to travel so much. My answer is always: we got our financial house in order. One of my major goals in life has always been to be financially stable enough to be able to travel with my family. Travel is important to us, but I realized a long time ago that we can’t travel if our financial house is in shambles. Personally, I’ve struggled with savings, spending habits, repairing my credit and saving for the future. Basically, EVERYTHING. What I have learned over the years is that staying financially fit takes work, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Today, I’m sharing with you easy tips that I’ve learned to help you stay financially fit this year.
Tips to Help You Stay Financially Fit
1. Have a Budget
Let’s be real, no one likes to budget. But having a budget is one of the best ways to figure out what to do with your money and where it is going. For example, I have a book budget that I stick to every month! It helps me not to overspend on one of my favorite things. Even if you are living paycheck to paycheck, or a you are freelancer who isn’t quite sure when your next check is coming, you can still get into the habit of making a budget.
2. Start Saving Now
Having money for the future is something everyone should plan for. Right now, I’m planning for a vacation that is 5 years from now, and plotting on my retirement funds and working on contributing to a college fund for Pookah. Don’t worry about how late you are getting started, just start saving NOW to secure your future.
3. Get A Credit analysis with CreditRepair.com and Monitor Your Credit Report
Don’t stick your head in the sand and wish your not so great credit score away. Remember, your credit score is not written in stone! There are many steps that you can take to help it improve including using CreditRepair.com. CreditRepair.com’s site gives it’s members a personal online dashboard, a credit score tracker and analysis, info about creditor and bureau interactions, text and email alerts to help you keep up, mobile apps and credit monitoring. Remember, your credit won’t fix itself, but a free consultation from CreditRepair.com will help you get started!
4. Set SMART Finacial Goals
SMART Goals are helpful for both long and short term financial goals. Your financial goals should be:
Specific: don’t create broad goals, be very specific with your goals like: I want to save $5,000 for a dream vacation
Measurable: every month you save a certain amount towards that goal
Assignable: Who is saving this money? You? You and your significant other?
Realistic: Don’t try to save $500 a month when you know it’s not in your budget. If $100 is all you can realistically do, plan for that.
Timeline: Give yourself a deadline! When is this vacation? When do you need this money by?
Smart goals help you feel accomplished and can help you stay focused on bigger goals in the future.
5. Build an Emergency Fund.
If you have a family, or you own a house, or if you are an adult living his or her life, YOU NEED AN EMERGENCY FUND! Life is uncertain and one thing like getting laid off, a medical emergency, a leak in the roof, or the refrigerator breaks can impact your finances hard if you don’t have the cushion of an emergency fund. Then you could be forced to take out costly personal loans or get more into debt by using credit cards.
Of all of these tips, I think having an emergency savings account and repairing my credit have been the most beneficial for me. So these are the things I always tell people to start with. An emergency savings account can be started with $25, and built up over time. Repairing your credit is the other. CreditRepair.com is a leading provider of credit repair services in the United States! Let them help you achieve the credit score you deserve because bad credit can cost you!
Hopefully, these easy tips to help you stay financially fit can help you to improve your financial health this year!
Questions? Let me know in the comments or on social!