Four ways to improve your finances

It’s very likely that increasing your finances is one of your top goals for 2021. We very often cannot wait to, “blow” financially, however, it takes more than just wishing to increase one’s finances to actually cause any change.

This is because most times, we desire to climb up the financial ladder in our different lives, but as the popular saying goes, “it’s better said than done.” And this is true when it comes to making financial goals — the right moves to accompany our desires for financial increase.

So what are the right moves for a brighter financial future? The answer is simple; creating smart financial habits and following them diligently.

While it will take a lot of discipline to follow through with these smart financial habits, it definitely pays to follow them through.

Some financial habits to cultivate this year include:

• Start Saving and Investing

There’s nothing to feel ashamed of should your finances be a mess. The most important factor when it comes to financial improvement is knowing where one is financially, and where one is headed to.

It’s okay if you’ve never saved before if you’ve made wrong investment decisions in the past or whatever financial mistakes you may have made. Let your past financial mistakes go, make a fresh financial plan for your future, work towards your financial plans, and follow-through.

Savings may seem like a simple habit, but it’s a discipline that’s not so easy to adopt.

• Stop Redundant Spending

A lot of times, you might be spending redundantly. This means spending on unnecessary things. For instance, spending on subscribing to your Netflix, Iroko TV account and Cable (DSTV, GoTV etc) when you’ll hardly watch cable is redundant spending.

Keeping track of your spending is an excellent way to curb redundant spending as financial records show where exactly your money is going. By combing through your financial records, you can tell which spending is unnecessary or can be substituted for something else.

• Read Financial Books & Take Financial Literacy Courses

There are tons of great financial literacy books and courses available for consumption. Books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and financial courses like Money Africa Courses are readily available for reasonable prices.

Research the most-appropriate financial books and courses depending on your financial goals and purchase them. Most times, these financial resources will require that you practice what has been learned. Do well to follow through.

• Track Your Spending

In one of the earlier mentioned points, we have demonstrated the importance of keeping track of one’s finances. Its importance cannot be underestimated as financial tracks will help put in front of a person, their total income, how much they spend, what exactly they’re spending on, how much saved or invested, as well as bills which have to be made periodically.

Financial obligations such as repaying debts can also be included in a person’s financial record.

The major pro of a financial record is to know plainly, the state of one’s finances.