6 Simple Steps to Make Your Top Financial Goals a Reality in 2018.

Financial Goals – Travel

Is 2018 the year you finally get your act together and reach your long-desired financial goals? Owning a new home. Visiting family in England. Upgrading the family car so everyone fits without sticking your littlest in the boot (just kidding). 

We’re hurtling into yet another Christmas at breakneck speed, and I can’t help thinking – will I achieve everything I set out to, this year?  

Will you? 

We’re living in an era of instant gratification  

The need to experience ‘happiness’ and satisfaction in the now means you’re spending more money today, so you have less spare to put towards your bigger financial goals in a year’s time. But, that doesn’t mean they’ll never happen. You just need to introduce better money habits. 

I’ve put together a summary of my best tips, so you can finally reach some of those unicorn goals in the next 12 months.

1. Set Your Goals

You can’t really work towards something if you don’t know what that something is. So, make three lists on a piece of paper.  

1-year goals 

2-year goals 

5-year goals 

Now prioritise them in order of importance to you. Chances are you won’t achieve every single one, but, putting them in order of priority will keep you focused on one at a time (and more likely to succeed). 

Finally, work out how much (more) you need to be saving each month, so you can meet each goal. 

2. Make Your Life Cheaper – Review Your Everyday Expenses 

Don’t fall into the trap of doing the same thing you’ve always done because you’re too lazy to find a better deal. You should review all your contracts and suppliers each year and compare your service/products with the market. You could save thousands. 

This includes a review of all your daily spending habits, like, your need to buy lunch everyday instead of bringing in leftovers from home. 

3. Set Your Budget 

When you know your end goal and where your money is going in the day-to-day, you can set a realistic budget and savings plan. A well thought out budget is your foundation for strong financial health and increases your likelihood for success.  

But don’t just create your budget and leave it to gather dust. A good budget is regularly reviewed, re-evaluated, and adjusted to keep you on track to meet your goals. 

4. Pay Down Bad Debt 

In the current economic client – it’s probable that your credit card and loan debt interest is higher than any high-interest savings account you have. Which means you’re spending more money on interest than you’re earning. Your bad debts must go. 

Before you commit to your exciting new savings plan – explore your options to pay down bad debts. A good way to do this is to pay more than the minimum monthly repayment. Even if it’s adding an extra $10 per month – make it a priority because every little bit counts! Get in touch with our team for a customised debt management strategy. 

5. Automate Your Savings (and Bills!) 

This is where you can introduce effective savings and spending habits. It’s a little trick called automation. 

Make sure you have separate bank accounts for your expenses, savings, and emergency fund. Then, set up automatic bank transfers for the day after each pay cheque clears that send a pre-set amount of money to each. It’s an effective savings strategy because it doesn’t rely on your input = guaranteed results. 

6. Choose Your Game Plan 

There are obviously tons of other strategies you can introduce to help you reduce your spending and improve your savings habits. Check out this list of 30 Ways to Save for some ideas and choose 5 that you can realistically introduce and stick to for the next 12 months.  

Form New Habits 

Did you know it can take you between 21 and 66 days to form a new habit? That’s over 2 months.  

Consciously forming new spending and savings habits is your key to success; to achieving your unicorn goals and bringing them to life so they stop feeling like unicorns and start appearing more like beautiful white horses instead. Goals that can be touched, felt, experienced. 

So, is 2018 the year you’ll finally make things happen? 

Drop your 2018 financial goals and 5 new habits into the comments below. I’d love to hear what you’re committing to!