10 Steps to getting financially fit in 2023
Part 1
With the new year comes new opportunities. Now is a great time to think about getting financially fit, and we’re here to help! We will start off this blog as part one of three – there is a lot of info and we want you to be able to stick with this.
Create a Budget – Before you can begin to get your finances in order, you need to have an accurate understanding of how much money you make and how much money you spend. Calculate your income versus your expenses and create a budget that will work for your lifestyle.
- Download the free budget template from Reliabank and be entered to win $250 in our 31 Day Financial Fitness Challenge. Let’s go!
- Calculate Your Income
The first step in creating a budget is calculating your total income each month. This should include all sources of income, such as wages from your job, investments, alimony or child support payments, and any other form of income. You should also include any money that you regularly receive each month like gifts or bonus checks. Knowing what your overall monthly income is will help you create an accurate budget that fits into your lifestyle. - List Your Expenses
Once you’ve calculated your monthly income, it’s time to list all your expenses. This includes rent or mortgage payments, car payments, insurance payments, loan payments, credit card bills, utility bills, groceries, and entertainment costs. Do not forget to factor in any taxes you may have to pay as well as medical expenses and vacation costs if applicable. It’s important to be thorough when listing out all your expenses so that nothing gets left out when creating a budget for yourself. - Balance Your Income with Your Expenses
Once you have listed out all your expenses for the month it’s time to compare them with your total monthly income from step one. The goal here is to make sure that the amount of money coming in every month is greater than the amount going out every month. To do this effectively it helps to categorize all your expenses into different groups such as “essential expenses” like rent and utilities versus “non-essential expenses” like entertainment costs or vacations. This will help you identify which areas where you can cut back on spending if necessary, so that your total monthly income covers all your essential needs while still leaving some extra money at the end of each month for savings or other goals like paying off debt or investing in stocks or mutual funds. - Practice Discipline
Creating a budget doesn’t have to be complicated; it just takes research and discipline! Once you know what comes in and goes out each month then creating (and sticking!) to a realistic budget becomes much easier. By following these three steps—calculating total income; listing out all expenses; balancing those two together—you can create a budget tailored specifically for YOU! With some dedication and discipline, anyone can get their finances in order by creating a budget that works best for them.
Track Your Expenses – Knowing exactly where all your money is going each month can be eye-opening and help you better understand where you can cut back on unnecessary spending. There are plenty of apps available that make tracking expenses easy and efficient.
Use your new 2023 budget.
Track your expenses regularly. That might be once a week or at the end of each day—or it might be before you leave the grocery store parking lot. Whatever works for you and gets every expense tracked with no paper receipts getting lost before you have a chance to track them. If you’re married, make sure both of you are working from the same budget and tracking expenses. This is great for accountability and communication. That way, neither one of you will ever say, “I didn’t know you spent most of the entertainment budget on ziplining tickets. I wanted to sign us up for a couple’s hip-hop dance class.”
Enroll in Online banking at Relibank.com for an easy way to stay on top of all your expenses.
Watch for Part 2 coming soon!
