What’s in a New Year’s Resolution? We all make them, we all try and follow through with them – and some of the time we are even successful. However, perhaps the best way to ensure we can stick to these resolutions is to choose ones that are realistic and in the ‘ball park’ of being achievable.
So, of course this will mean that each individual will end up having resolutions that are more suitable to their needs at the current point in time at which they set to make them a reality. If, for example you want to improve your finances for the new year – then making sure you choose strategies within this framework that will help you meet this ultimate goal will be very important.
Here are 3 top bad credit New Years resolutions you can perhaps put into action now, in order to improve your financial position as you move closer to 2016.
1) Setting a Budget
Since budgets are really the first line of defence when it comes to regaining some financial stability in your life, you want to make sure this new budget is designed with a complete picture of where you current finances stand.
Sometimes, this may mean that it will take more than one sitting to complete this new budgeting plan. The last thing you want to do is become too overwhelmed because you think you have to do this all at once. In this state of mind, you are more likely to feel rushed and as a result may leave out some crucial pieces of information – or even you may just end up calling it quits and scraping the entire budget all-together.
Instead of giving up however, start by telling yourself that you can spend multiple days finalizing this budget. Remind yourself that being able to take your time and being thorough will help set you up for the success when it comes to being able to prepare and to stay on track with this budget.
Over the course of these few days, you can gather all of your income info, such as your specific salaries, interests and gifts. Next, you can gather your expense info, making sure you pay attention and don’t leave out any of these important details.
A budgeting worksheet or online formatted program can help you as you include all of your details and add up all of these totals. In the end, you will have a better picture of your incoming money as well as your outgoing expenses and financial commitments. With these revised totals you can then start on a path that will enable you to stick to your new spending plan and make a fresh financial start as the new year rolls in.
2) Reducing Your Spending
Just as you have devised your new budget prior to making even more financial adjustments – your budget has also helped you identify how much you can spend towards your expenses and of course where you will need to reduce and cut back. Reducing your spending will also be key to improving your credit situation this new year. Even as you have recognized where you will need to cut down your spending when it comes to your budget, the challenge more so is knowing how to actually go about this. Again, you need to have realistic plans for making this second goal take place and compiling a list of ‘needs versus wants’ can be a good place to start.
For example, what purchases have you made in the last year that are consider wants instead of needs? Are some of these wants those you have actually used or can’t live without? If some of these items falls into this category then perhaps you can move forward without making these types of purchases in the future.
Of course, there are some wants that may fall within a grey area – and while treating yourself from time to time is not always a bad thing – however also remember to perform responsible spending practices and make sure that they are not in large part a source of your current bad credit issues.
Furthermore, are some of the items you have previously classified as a ‘need’ something that you actually do need?? If your answer to this questions ends up being yes, then another way to proceed in reducing your spending can be to look for alternative items and services that can still fulfill these needs, yet may be less expensive. In this case, cutting out and cutting back can both be methods of obtaining your goal of lowering your overall expenses.
3) Increasing your Payments Slowly
Lastly, if you intend to raise your credit this new year – then another vehicle for getting you there is to look at increasing your payments. While, this may present a bit of a problem for you in terms of finding the extra money to make this happen – just remember you are also looking at freeing up some additional income this year – by reducing your spending in other areas.
A number one way to make sure you boost your credit is to start paying down more of your debt. Therefore, by even looking at increasing your monthly payments by a few dollars above the minimum balance each time, this can help move this process along a little bit faster.
Perhaps, your monthly salary does not allow for you to make a larger monthly payment in one lump sum – however another way to pay a little more each month is to make two payments each month – broken up into two instalments. This strategy can sometimes be a great fit for individuals who receive income payments every 2 weeks.
While, of course not every loan can be paid with an unconventional payment plan – this strategy can however be an effective way to approach credit card payments. In the end, let this strategy help you increase your payments at a pace that is not too fast, yet is still helping you experience some vital debt-relief at the same time.
All in all, keep in mind that New Years resolutions don’t have to be huge monumental actions, they can be smaller actions that can be comprised of fairly precise methods and set of steps that will make sure you can see them through to the end.
If you want 2016 to be the year your bad credit experiences a reversal of sorts – then setting up goals and strategies now can certainly help promote your overall success in this area. With that being said – Happy New Year and may your financial future be much brighter in 2016.
