Your personal finances require regular maintenance. When was the last time you reviewed your budget? Do you have a suspicion that there are cheaper options for some of your regular bills, but haven’t taken the time to look into it yet? Are you using all of your subscription services?
Don’t let these questions cause you to stress! Put aside a little time to take a closer look at your personal finances. By taking care of a few routine updates to how your money is handled, you’ll have less stress and be more in control of your financial choices.
Below you’ll find several items to take a closer look at during your update.
Review Your Budget
When it comes to managing your personal finances, this will always be the first step and should be done regularly. Adding a calendar reminder to review this every six months would be wise.
Does your budget still make sense for your earnings and expenses? Hopefully, you’ve been tracking your expenses. You can do this using a regular spreadsheet or sign up for a tool like Money in Excel or Quicken to make this more efficient. How does your actual spending look against your budget?
Don’t waste time feeling guilty if you haven’t spent the way you meant to. Instead, decide how to make adjustments going forward so you can get back on track.
Review Your Retirement Savings
Do you know how much you need to save for retirement? Are you on track? An important part of updating your personal finances is making sure that you are on target for your goals.
Update Your Online Banking Passwords
Cybersecurity is a serious issue. By changing out your passwords on your financial accounts regularly, you can keep your accounts safer. Always use a unique password for any of your financial accounts.
Take Advantage of Apps
Part of upgrading your financial life is taking advantage of services that can automate things for you. Have you set up automatic payments to your savings account every month? This can make saving simple for you. Have you looked at services like Key Ring where you can store all of your discount cards? Or Mint, which helps you sort out your budget? Use online tools to help keep you on track.
Look at Your Subscription Services
Online services like Netflix are one type of subscription service, but so are things like your cable or internet bill. Are you watching cable television? If not, you can save money by canceling your subscription! Are you using all the streaming services you’ve subscribed to? Do you read the newspaper you’re paying for?
Subscribing to services is fine if that fits in your budget and you are using them. Anything you’re not using can easily go. Take the time to make those cancellation calls.