Financial Literacy Month is in April, but you can do a financial checkup anytime in the year to review how you manage your money and make new financial goals. Just like a checkup with your doctor, you should regularly evaluate your personal finances. Doing an annual review will help you meet your spending goals and stay on track for the rest of the year. To start your financial checkup, take a look at your income, expenses and goals:
Income and expense changes
The first thing you should do is take note of any changes in your income or expenses over the past few months. For example, if you’ve recently started a part-time job or started paying for your own data plan on your cellphone, you will need to adjust your spending for these changes. Take a moment to jot down how much you are making every month and what you think you are currently spending. If you’ve already made a budget, be sure any changes are accounted for. If you don’t have a budget, consider creating one and use these figures to start.
What are your financial goals?
The next step in your financial checkup is to figure out your financial goals - new or old. Think about any goals you might have set previously, like saving for college or buying a new pair of headphones. Whatever you wanted to accomplish, reflect on how you managed your money to reach the goal or what you still might need to change to get what you want. If your goal is still in sight, think about any other financial objectives you have. Do you want to start saving for college? Write these goals down and keep them in mind over the next year.
After figuring out how much you make, spend and what you want to accomplish over the next year, you can move forward with a plan.
The information contained in this article does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice and its authors make no claims about its accuracy or completeness. The authors of this article do not hold themselves out as providing any legal, tax, financial or other advice and do not make any recommendations or endorsements as to any investment, financial plan or any other product or services. The materials contained in this article do not constitute advice and you should not rely on any material in this article to make, or refrain from making, any decision. As laws and regulations change frequently, we cannot guarantee that the information contained in this article is current or applicable to your specific circumstances. Laws and regulations may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Legal, tax and financial advice must always be tailored to your specific circumstances and nothing in this article should be viewed as a substitute for the advice of competent legal, tax or financial advisors.