Every new year provides an opportunity to reflect on what you have achieved as well as what aspects of your life you may want to change or improve.  Generally in late December and early January many people set new year resolutions with varying success.  As it is now the new financial year we wanted to get people thinking about what are their new financial year resolutions.

Improving personal finances is a popular theme so we thought we could provide some ideas on how to make resolutions which are achievable.

The first step is to ensure that you have a crystal clear understanding of where you are at financially.
We recommend that you prepare a summary of income, expenses, assets and liabilities as at 30 June.

Secondly, review each of these four areas to answer questions like:
    How can I increase my income?
    What do I spend my money on?
    How can I increase my assets?
    What debt can I reduce or eliminate completely?

Thirdly, based on the answers above you then need to determine what needs to be done so attach some timelines so that you know what needs to be done and by when you will have it done.

Fourthly, put a reminder in your calendar for one month so that you can review your progress.  You don't need to wait until the end of the financial year to check that you are on track to achieving your goals.

Achieving the goal of improving personal finances is quite broad however if you have a better idea of where you are at, and are working towards a goal then you will be in a better position knowing what is going on in the financial side of your life.