Money Smarts Blog
How to fit your budget to your resolutions
Dec 22, 2014 ||
Saving more money is consistently one of the top New Year’s resolutions. It’s all well and good to resolve to save more, but a resolution does little good without commitment and a plan of action. IHMVCU is here to help you develop a solid game plan for keeping your resolution in 2015!
You need backup Develop a savings for emergency situations to handle car trouble, job loss or unexpected medical bills. Ideally, this reserve should be between three and six months of net income. Start small, but choose an amount to set aside with each paycheck and start packing it into the bank until you reach your emergency fund goal. Then, life’s little surprises don’t become life’s huge tragedies. Consider opening a savings account with IHMVCU to hold your reserves!
Ditch the bad habits Meet multiple resolutions in one fell swoop. Americans spend an incredibly high amount of money on healthcare every year, but exercising regularly, quitting smoking and eating healthy are all viable ways to not only improve your health, but also make some room in your budget.
Opting for in-home exercises instead of a gym membership allows you to work out when it’s convenient for you, while saving you money. Quitting your smoking habit can save you thousands of dollars as well as lowering insurance rates and medical bills (and it makes it easier to exercise!). Eating healthier means more home-prepared meals, which in turn means eating out less, saving your family bundles.
Nominate a play maker Choose someone to keep your family accountable for the budget you create. This means keeping the family updated each week on progress made toward savings goals, keeping tabs on the amount in each account and dispersing cash as necessary to each family member.
Deciding on a specific family member to keep everyone accountable not only keeps everyone motivated and informed, it also keeps the flow of money in and out of accounts in check. The tools available in IHMVCU’s Online Branch are indispensable to a family play maker, allowing for on-the-spot transfers, deposits, alerts and more!
