The New Year is almost here, and with it the chance to reset areas of your life that you might want to improve. This time of the year is an excellent time to do a financial reset – a “deep clean” of your finances, in order to reach your financial goals for the next year. Here are 10 simple things you can do in one afternoon or less, to set up your finances for smooth sailing in 2024:
- Review your spending for 2023. Take a quick look through credit card statements, bank statements or receipts to get a sense of where your money went. If you keep a budget or track your spending, this will be much easier.
- Take the time to set up automatic payments on regularly occurring bills. This way, you’ll never make a late payment.
- Cancel any subscriptions you aren’t using. This includes newspapers and magazines, but also digital subscriptions to apps and streaming services.
- Set up automated payments to your savings account. Ensure that you have enough money in your emergency fund.
- Go through your bills and see if you can shave expenses. Do you really need that cable package since you hardly watch television? Is it time to give up your home phone? Are you paying for more internet than you actually need? On the other hand, do you often get charged for going over on your data?
- Check your credit score. In Canada you can do this for free once per year through Equifax, or TransUnion. This won’t affect your credit score and will give you a good picture of where you are at with debt.
- Ensure that you have saved the maximum amount that you can to your registered savings plans such as your RRSP, TFSA, RESP and FHSA:
- You can find your contribution limit for your RRSP on last year’s Notice of Assessment
- For 2023, the TFSA contribution limit is $6,500 (increasing to $7,000 in 2024)
- For your child’s RESP, they can receive up to 20% of the first $2,500 contributed to the RESP. Children from middle and low-income homes can receive even more through the Canada Learning Bond.
- If you are saving for your first home, you can contribute up to $8,000 into a FHSA.
- Change your passwords on all of your financial online accounts and apps. In fact, many security experts suggest that you make it a pass “phrase” to make it even more difficult for fraudsters to guess.
- Shred any documents you no longer need.
- Set financial goals for 2024. Think through the steps you’ll need to take to reach your goals and write them down.
Kindred Credit Union cares about the financial well-being of our members. We can make saving your money easier – we’re here to help with budgeting, saving, and debt solutions. Kindred offers values-centred banking that empowers you to make peace with your money. Not yet a member? Join today!