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Take Control of Your Finances in 2018

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Take Control of Your Finances in 2018

With the new year around the corner, it can be time for some new goals, resolutions, and changes. And one of those things that can often be on people’s minds is their financial situation. A lot of other goals may be riding on how your finances are doing, so taking charge of them can be a good thing to do. Plus, after the holidays your finances may need a little more tender loving care than at any other time. So the new year is the perfect time to do it. Here are some steps to take control of your finances and make 2018 a better year for you and your money.

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Set Financial Goals

The road to getting control of your finances or to getting wealthy is going to be paved with goals. If you haven’t got a particular end goal in mind, then it can be hard to stick at what you’re doing. If you don’t know why you’re doing the things that you’re doing, then it can be hard to carry on making financial cuts here, there, and everywhere. So know why and know what your goals are. There may be things that crop up from time to time. But if you know where you want to be financially by the end of the year, then it will help to see you through.

Track Every Penny

There is a mixed train of thought when it comes to this. Many people think that you should track every penny that you spend, when others think that you shouldn’t ‘sweat the small stuff’. But at the end of the day, if you want to take control of your finances, then you need to know where every penny is going. Like you would start a food diary if you wanted to take control of your diet or eating habits, start a money diary to keep track of the things that you’re spending on. When you write it down, you become so much more accountable. And according to refinery29.com, you are much more likely to avoid mindless spending when you need to record it each time.

Cut Your Debt

You will never be in full control of your finances while you have debt. So you need to come up with a plan to clear it as soon as you can. When you’re paying out interest every month, it can end up costing you a lot more in the long term. So debt consolidation, using a site like debtconsolidation.co could be the way to go. If it will help you to pay less interest and get your debts cleared, then it is going to be a good thing.

Set a Budget

After writing down and tracking your spend for a few weeks or a couple of months, you need to think about what kind of budget you are looking at. You don’t get rich by spending lots of money, so you need to look at where the cuts can be made. According to book ‘The Millionaire Next Door,’ over half of millionaires keep a budget. So it sounds like you’ll be in good company.