Here are 3 things to do in January to help keep your financial life on track this year:
Here are 3 things to do in January to help keep your financial life on track this year:TASK #1
Set Up Your Budget
Set up your budget for the new year. Review your spending habits from the previous year and create a saving and spending plan for the current year. You can use online tools to help with this. I use http://bit.ly/FirstStepCashManagement when working with clients but you also check out http://www.YouNeedABudget.com or http://www.Mint.com
TASK #2
Get A Credit Report
Get a copy of your credit report. You should be checking this three times throughout the year. You are entitled to one free report every year from all three agencies Experian, Transunion, Equifax. So, spread out your requests over the year. Pick one agency to obtain report from now. You want to look for anything that doesn’t seem right on the report and take action if you need to. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com
TASK #3
Review Retirement Plan Contributions
If you aren’t already maxing out your retirement plan contributions consider increasing the amount you contribute by 1% this month. Since you’ll be looking at your budget this month make sure you work savings into your plan. Keep increasing your contribution by 1% every 6 months until you’ve at least reached the 10% mark.
Sources:
Mahopac Money 