7 Smart Money Moves to Crush your Finances in 2020

It’s time to celebrate the previous year, but it’s also the perfect time for some reflection about the year ahead.

Read on for some smart money moves you should start making Now to set you up to crush 2020.

1. Set Your Financial Goals for the Coming Year

When you think ahead to the end of 2020, what would make you feel super accomplished?

What if you cut your credit card debt by half?

What if you were able to boost your savings account to four — or even five — figures?

What if you saved enough to make some long-overdue improvements to your house?

Or build up that emergency fund you know you need to have?

Think about what you want to celebrate at the end of 2020, and then set some goals to help you get there.

We’re fans of the SMART method of goal-setting. A SMART goal is:

Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

For instance, “become financially secure” isn’t considered a SMART goal because it’s ambiguous.

On the other hand, “pay off $5,000 in student debt by the end of 2020” would be considered SMART because it’s specific, measurable and timely.

By thinking through your financial goals in this way, you’ll have more clarity about what you’re actually trying to do,

and that will give you a better sense of how to allocate your resources and energy in the year to come.

1. Make An Extra $1,000 Per Month.

I’ve saved you the trouble by putting together a list of 11 of the Best Side Hustles to earn an Extra $1,000 per month.

Find them HERE.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” –Peter Drucker, Author and Business Consultant

2. Get Organized

Here is the playbook I used to get out of Debt.

It’s simple and straightforward.

Take Action:

I negotiated discounts on all of my recurring charges.
I switched to a less expensive gym,
I sold nearly $500 of my things on Ebay.
I stopped using a storage locker.
I started writing this blog.

Coming to terms with my spending habits: I tried to understand where my money was going. I tried to slow down and learn why I wanted the stuff I was buying. I learned to budget. I set small financial goals and I hit them.

I cut back. And I cut back even more. I paid attention to every single penny. I paid attention to purchases that created true value in my life. And those that added minimal value, I cut out.

3. Make a Budget

Get organized: Creating a budget. I created a budget using a free app, Everydollar.com.

It’s a very good app, but I didn’t keep using it. What worked well for me was old school: keeping a notepad next to my credit card bills. And keeping track of the good, the bad, and the unexpected in my monthly bills. I was also keeping track of my bills in my head because I became VERY focused.

Read my post, 7 Tips To Help you Create a Budget here.

The Stupid stuff I spent money on here

Relevant Articles:

45 Ways to Increase your Income

9 Best Ways to Save $7K This Year

11 Legitimate Survey Sites for 2020

4. Pull Your Credit Reports and Examine Them for Errors

This is another task that should be part of your regular financial maintenance, but a lot of us either forget or we don’t really see the point.

But when you go over your credit reports with a magnifying glass, here’s what you might find:

1. Accounts that aren’t yours. It’s possible you have accounts on your credit report that actually belong to someone with a similar name. Do you, Karen Smith, really want to have the overdue Dillards’ charge card belonging to a Karen Smythe on your credit report?

2. Accounts you didn’t realize were delinquent. Maybe your dentist’s office repeatedly sent the bill to the wrong address until the unpaid bill wound up in collections, leaving a giant black mark on your credit report, and you weren’t aware of any of this until your application for a car loan or mortgage was turned down.

3. Outdated or incorrect information about your accounts. Perhaps you paid off a loan last year that’s still showing up as unpaid, or your credit card balance is listed as being much higher than it’s ever been. These could significantly ding your credit score, and those three little numbers hold a lot of power over your ability to access credit in the future.

Freezing your credit is now Free here

5. Make sure you have Insurance

There are the eight types of insurance worth having:

Auto Insurance
Homeowners/Renters Insurance
Umbrella Policy
Health Insurance
Long-Term Disability Insurance
Term Life Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance
Identity Theft Protection

I’ve laid out all the details – Eight types of Insurance you need in 2020 Here

6. Celebrate Your Progress

We know this post has been all about how to do better going forward,

but we also know you’ve probably accomplished some pretty good stuff in 2019 too.

Maybe you’ve started looking for ways to bring in more income through a side hustle, or you’ve steadily chipped away at your student debt. Maybe you started educating yourself about personal finance — after all, you’re here, aren’t you?

Take a few minutes to think about what you’ve done in the past year that you’re proud of, and give yourself some time to really let that feeling of pride sink in.

And now remember that feeling throughout the coming year, especially when things get hard and you encounter setbacks (because you inevitably will). Trust that if you stick to your plan, you’ll get to experience that feeling of satisfaction again this time next year.

Relevant Articles:

45 Ways to Increase your Income

9 Best Ways to Save $7K This Year

11 Legitimate Survey Sites for 2020