Happy Best Month Ever!
I hope you are all enjoying your first full week in the best month of the year…I know we are! We’ve kicked off this month with some diet & exercise changes (as mentioned in previous posts) as well as some financial changes. Both of us are growing in our careers, enjoying life as newlyweds, and taking steps to keep the momentum going far into the future.We have lots of wonderful dreams and it’s not a secret that sometimes dreams require money (houses, children, trips, etc…). 
We’ve been taking steps each month to be more and more financially responsible & this month we’re maximizing the benefits of our credit cards based on our lifestyle. It was such a happy coincidence that I was introduced to Credit Card Insider & challenged to blog about financial fitness. I vaguely comment about finances on my blog but Phil and I do a lot to make sure we’re prepared for our future, enjoy our lives now, and don’t have to stress, too much, about it all! Finances are often a source of stress, conflict, fear, etc.. for a lot of couples and individuals and it doesn’t have to be that way. SOOO, below are my 5 tips for financial fitness and wellness in 2016 and beyond. I can’t say they’re perfect or will lead you to world domination, but I can promise they’ll help remove some of the stress that comes along with financial planning.
5 Tips for Financial Fitness
- Know your budget: This can be a tough one but we sketched out a rough budget based on what we generally could account for & spent the next 3 months putting everything on one credit card and keeping receipts for any cash purchases. After each month I sat down with the receipts and the credit card statement to compare against the budget. From there we made adjustments to both the budget and our spending habits so things were in line.
- Find your split: Phil and I practice the 50-30-20 rule & it works well for us. 50% of our annual income goes towards our general living expenses, 30% goes towards savings, and 20% towards fun/extras/etc..
- Don’t Obsess: Maybe during the initial budgeting stages you spend a little extra time looking at the numbers but after you have things settled, back off! That doesn’t mean stop keeping track of things or don’t continue to maintain your financial records, but try to revisit things either biannually or quarterly depending on your profession.
- Make it EASY: We’ve all got a lot to keep track of and I for one used to find it annoying to keep my finances straight…from my perspective I thought it wasn’t as important as all the other balls I was trying to keep in the air & boy was I wrong, haha! For the most part we all have smart phones with cameras, apps & all those fancy things – make a few folders in your email, snap a few screen shots, pics of receipts, and you’re off!
- Keep it clear: Take time to get clear on what is important to you in terms of quality of life, future plans, etc…clear out ANY debt you have and be honest with yourself as things change. It also helps to clear out all the extra credit cards, store cards, etc… Find a card (or two) that works for your life and try to avoid getting sucked into the potential for more debt.
I hope these help you and with navigating financial fitness wellness moving forward. Also, check out CreditCardInsider.com as a great resource to get you on your way!
’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂
Livingleen 