It’s almost the end of January and keeping our financial resolutions in check will only get harder as the year goes on. As we reach the end of the Yahoo Finance January No-Spend Challenge, we talked to financial experts for their tips on how to stay motivated and financially on track for the rest of this month and beyond.
Set SMART Goals
Financial expert author Chris Hogan says it’s important to set SMART goals when focusing on your financial resolutions.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and it must have a time frame.
Make sure you write them down where you can see them, he says. “If you want to make a certain amount of money, tackle a certain amount of debt, or start investing, write it down on paper and keep it where you can see it, like in your car or in your wallet,” Hogan says.
You could also create a visual representation of your goal to track your progress, says Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, author of “The 30-Day Money Cleanse.”
“Physical representations of your goals make them more tangible,” Gerstley says. “For example, if you’re looking to pay down debt, you could make a bar graph and as you hit milestones along the way to paying it down, you can color it in. It’s really gratifying.”
Add to your emergency fund
Having an emergency fund is crucial to protecting your savings, says Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert at NerdWallet.
“We recommend you have 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency account and you put it in a high-yield savings account that’s FDIC-insured at a bank,” Palmer says. “If you have something unexpected come up, like lost income or an expense, you can pay for it from that emergency fund instead of turning to credit card debt.”
Palmer recommends cutting other expenses, like going out to eat, and adding that money to your emergency fund instead.
Max out your 401(k)
Another way to add to your long-term savings is to invest in your 401(k) and increase your contributions month to month, says Jamila Souffrant, host of the podcast, Journey to Launch.
“You can do that by increasing your contributions every month by one percentage point or whatever makes sense for your budget,” Souffrant says. “If it can’t be done automatically though your company, mark it on your calendar and manually increase your contribution each month.” You should be contributing between 10%-15% of your income each year to a 401(k), so gradually increasing your contributions until you get to this amount will help you reach this benchmark in 2019.
Ask for encouragement
You don’t have to tackle your goals alone. Ask for help and find encouragement from your friends and family.
“It’s easy to get tired, it’s easy to get frustrated, so find somebody to encourage you,” says Hogan. “Accountability with goals is a big deal, to have someone say ‘Hey, you said you wanted to do this.’”
Souffrant recommends making sure you’re feeling inspired throughout the year to keep you on track.
“Make sure you are surrounding yourself with people who are going to encourage you, and with ideas that are going to inspire you to keep going,” she says.