The first half of the year is almost over and the most important decision you can make right now is to figure out how you want your finances to look.
Here’s a quick guide to get your finances back on track sooner rather than later.
Evaluate
Begin by asking yourself questions about your income and expenses.
- How much is my total income?
- What have I been spending on recently?
- Can I track all my expenses?
- Have I been living up to my budget?
- Have I been saving?
- What do I need to improve on?
- Do I need to Invest?
Answering these questions will help you figure out where you are on your personal finance journey and how to improve.
Revamp Your Budget
The next step is to create a budget that adequately reflects what you want out of your finances.You need to pay yourself FIRST(save), then allocate funds according to priority. There are so many apps that automate your budgeting and an example is PiggyVest’s TrackIt. With it, you can track your income and your spending each month. No matter what, remember that there is always rice at home.
Don’t forget the 50/30/20 rule.
Generate Extra Income
When searching for a side hustle, it’s important to do your homework and research properly. The more you know about the industry you’re getting into, the more successful you’ll be. Know who the competitors are, what people charge, who your audience is, and where they like to connect with these types of brands. Possibilities include freelance writing, social media management, blogging, retailing, enrolling as a driver on Uber or Taxify, etc.
Tip: It’s very helpful to do something you already have an interest in.
Automate your finances
Automating your savings by scheduling monthly/weekly or daily transfers to a savings account is a reliable way to make sure you stick to your plan. For example, N200/day adds up quickly and you probably won’t even notice it’s missing! Your future self will thank you when the inevitable rainy day hits!
Quit one habit that’s costing you money
Try going out once a month instead of once a week.You can also grocery shop instead of ordering out. There are quite a lot of habits we form that cost us money. It doesn’t need to be drastic, but saving N1000 — N5000 a few times a week adds up really quickly!
Following these steps above is a good place to start if you need to get your finances back on track, save more money, or make more money. You really don’t need to be an expert .
If you have tips on how you got your finances back in check, please share your experience in the comment section below.
You’ve got this!
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This post originally appeared on Happy Economics by Tolulope Eweniyi.
The Happy Economics blog covers finance, investment, business and economic topics that we find interesting. The aim of her blog is to simplify everything people want/need to know about finance, helping them make better personal finance decisions and to better understand the economy.
