10 Small (But Life-Changing) Financial Resolutions You’ll Actually Be Able To Keep

Making changes to your finances can seem overwhelming.

Instead of trying to remake your entire financial outlook completely, focus on a few small tweaks that can compound over time. Trying to change everything all at once will make it much more difficult to stick with a coherent plan, and it’s more likely that you’ll give up.

Over a long enough timeframe, even a 2% improvement in your financial habits can make a big impact. Here are 10 manageable financial tweaks you can make.

Even if you do not change a single spending habit, tracking and following where your money goes every month will make a huge difference. There are plenty of apps that can track your accounts so you can see what you’re spending and where.

Having a detailed breakdown of how much money you have coming in and how much you’re paying out each month will give you a lot of clarity. From there you can figure out where you can cut spending.

Creating a budget seems daunting, but it’s worth it in the long run. Start slow and calculate a financial blueprint for essential items like food, fuel, and transportation, and go from there.

Once you figure out how much you need to spend on the basics, you can give yourself some wiggle room for other discretionary spending. And yes, you can buy that latte every once in a while.

Many apps allow you to invest small amounts of money from your phone or computer. You’ve got plenty of options from Acorns to Stash to Charles Schwab. Building up investments, even small ones, is a great way to grow your wealth over time.

Instead of thinking about making it big on one trade, consider how much you could grow your investments over several years.

Considering the rising costs of dining out, crafting a meal plan you can eat at home is a simple and effective change you can make.

Even committing to add one more day of eating at home will add up over time as restaurant prices tick up. Fortunately, coming up with a variety of healthy and delicious meals has never been easier.

You don’t want to spend time sorting through a bunch of bills and having some slip through the cracks, so automating is the way to go. Many companies make it easy for you to set up recurring billing during the month, which not only makes it easier to keep track of your payments, but also eliminates late fees you could incur if you forget to pay a bill on time.

Having a plan for where you want to go financially can be a big help. Write out a roadmap of financial goals and work backward to figure out how to save and budget to hit them.

It might seem daunting initially, but knowing how to reach your goal will make it much easier. And it doesn’t have to be something as big picture as buying a house or a car, you can start making changes based on little goals as well.

If you have consistent expenses throughout the year, using a rewards or cashback credit card is a great way to go.

Building up rewards points or getting cash back will help you pay for that vacation while also building your credit. There are many cards out there, even ones like Bilt that you can use to pay your monthly rent. Just make sure you’re using your card reasonably or it could have the opposite impacts on your finances.

Sudden expenses will come up, and you must be prepared for when they happen. A solid emergency fund will make it less overwhelming for you.

According to the Federal Reserve, a whopping 39% of Americans would struggle to cover an unplanned expense of $400 or more. Without an emergency fund, you’d have to use a credit card to cover the difference.

Figure out what you can contribute to your emergency fund and continue to build it up. You’ll be thanking yourself the next time your car breaks down or an appliance needs to be replaced.

Your credit score can greatly impact your ability to get a loan, and it is a key aspect of your overall financial health. The higher your score is, the more trustworthy lenders see you.

There are plenty of free services you can use to check your credit. If you want to improve your score, continue to pay your bills on time, work on closing out any outstanding debt, and avoid applying for too many credit cards simultaneously.

When considering a substantial purchase, take an extra day to think about whether you really need to buy it. By giving yourself a chance to process the potential purchase, you might find that you don’t actually need to spend the money. This method will prevent many impulse buys that can drain your bank account.

Making a change in your financial habits will not happen overnight. Starting with small changes that are easy to stick to will make the entire process much more manageable. Once you have these basics nailed, you can move on to some other approaches to improve your financial outlook.

From working to find a side hustle to getting more hands-on with your investment strategy, you’ll have plenty of options at your disposal.