Finding Financial Security in the New Year

it’s the start of a new year and we all know what that means; it’s time to set some New Year’s resolutions! A great New Year’s resolution you may have set for yourself is to gain more financial security in the upcoming year – and you’re not alone. According to CNBC, 81% of people¹ who create New Year’s resolutions state they wish to be better off financially in 2022. When it comes to finances though, we know things can be confusing and even downright overwhelming. Cash Central wants you to be successful in all your endeavors, so here are some tips you can use for finding financial security in the new year.

Set Goals

A great first step toward finding greater financial security is by first defining what financial security means to you, as this can look different to different people. Do you want to lower the amount of your debt? Do you want to increase your savings? Do you want to simply be more aware of your finances so you know where your money is going? By narrowing down your definition of financial security you will be able to pinpoint what’s important to you and focus your efforts in that area.

Budgeting

Another step you can take towards greater financial security is by creating a budget². Doing so helps you see on paper the money you’re bringing in and where you’re currently spending it. Once you have that figured out you can usually decide how much you should actually be spending in each of your spending categories and find areas where you can save or reallocate funds. For example, you may find you spend a lot more money on shopping than you thought. Now that you’ve seen this, you could reallocate some of theses funds toward your financial security goals, for example by putting the money in savings, or using it to pay off debt.

We know what you might be thinking – creating a budget sounds like a tedious and difficult task – and we hear you. To help you out, Cash Central has made creating a budget easy with our Budget Planning Tool. This tool takes a lot of the hard work out of creating a budget by outlining the process step-by-step. All you need to do is a little research on your spending and then fill in the blanks – it’s as easy as that!

Apps

While Cash Central’s Budget Planning Tool is a great option for creating a budget, financial planning apps can sometimes make things even easier. A lot of financial planning apps allow you to sync your bank and credit accounts to the app and will complete the tracking portion of budgeting for you. Oftentimes, these apps will even make recommendations on changes you can make to better reach your goals. While some apps charge a fee to use them, a lot of financial planning apps are free. For more information, feel free to check out the Cash Central blog post on Financial Planning Apps.

Track

While setting your goal and working towards it are important, it’s also important to make sure you’re tracking your progress. As you see your hard work pay off and you see yourself accomplish what you’ve set out to do, you can begin to feel more financially secure. How you choose to track your progress is completely up to you. If you’re using a financial planning app, then the app may track your progress for you. Otherwise, you could make a list and check things off as you go, keep track of accounts on a spreadsheet, or write goals down on the calendar. Whatever way you choose to track your success, you just want to do so in a way where you can easily look back to see how far you’ve come.

Cash Central

Sometimes no matter how much you prepare for an unexpected expense, and unplanned one may come at a time when finances are tight. With Cash Central in your pocket, you can have confidence in knowing we are here for you when a financial emergency hits. Apply online and receive an approval decision within just a few minutes or, if you’re already a customer, log in to your account to request your next loan. With Cash Central, you can usually expect to receive your funds directly in your checking account as soon as the next business banking day, though the exact funding time depends on the terms of your financial institution. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-460-4305 and a friendly customer service representative will be happy to help!

Sources:

¹Dhue, Stephanie. (2021, Dec 9). Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/making-new-years-resolutions-during-covid-has-paid-off-fidelity.html

²Malter, Jordan. (2019, May 29). Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/29/how-to-budget-your-first-step-to-financial-security.html