3 Things to Include in Your New Year’s Resolution List

How was your Christmas? What happened to your bonus? Have you spent them all for gifts and Noche Buena or movie tickets for “My Bebe Love” or “Beauty and the Bestie”? Were any of you spared a little sum for savings for the year ahead?

Well, after Christmas here comes the New Year, and every New Year we set a list of our New Year’s Resolution. Besides losing weightJ, it will be wise if you also add these three things below in your list to make your wish of a prosperous 2016 in reality

1. Plan Ahead

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

We all have financial goals. We all have something we are looking forward to that needs money. This might be a long awaited vacation, a new car, house, get out of bad debt and have savings, start a business and many more. Whatever that goal is, we will never achieve it without planning the steps to have it.

Plan, Plan, Plan.

Start by making a monthly budget all throughout the year. You can do this in a notebook or in your computer or even in your smart phone. List your sources of income. List your monthly expenses. List your debts. Try very hard to include savings and debt pay off, if you have debts that you are paying, or haven’t started paying yet. 

Planning  your finances ahead for the whole year will give you direction. It helps you to have focus. It shows your priorities. Listing all the things you plan to spend your money on will give you a clear view of things that are more important. You may cut down on some other expenses to add more on savings.

P.S.
Don't forget to give back to the one who gives you blessings. Give back to HIM, offer a part of your earnings to God. If you do this, it helps you clearly appreciate that everything you have is from the Lord.

2. Save

For those who haven’t gotten the chance to save in 2015, the year 2016 is another chance for you to start. Saving is a habit. Form a habit of saving every time you get paid from whatever work you are doing. For employees, this is not hard to do although many complain that their salary is too little, that they have nothing left to save. But I found this reason untrue.

If you list down all the things where your money goes every week or every month, you can always find an item in your expenses that you can cut down so you can put that  in your savings instead.

How many times do you eat out in a week?

How much money do you spend for your mobile phone cash load everyday? Every week?

How many times do you see a movie?

How often do you gimmick with friends after work?

How many bottles of coke do you drink in a week?
How many sticks of cigarettes do you consume everyday? 

Believe me, saving is not hard. If you lessen the amount of money you spend on the sample items I listed above, there is always something left for savings. 

3. Grow your money

I hope that in the year 2016, you will start growing your money. While you are saving every payday, invest on your knowledge. Invest on yourself, first.  You should read materials about personal finance. Educate yourself on the money machines that may help you achieve financial freedom. Be wary though with the quick money making schemes that are advertised everywhere. Otherwise your hard earned money will go down the drain. 

Learn about mutual funds, stock market, UITF, VUL. If you are good at entrepreneurship, study your business of choice, the dos and don’ts. Read and learn about the investment instrument of your choice before engaging yourself into it. 

I hope that by the end of 2016, you have started your steps to your journey to financial independence and be one of the very few Filipino investors.

Happy New Year and I wish you all the best. Have a prosperous 2016!!! Happy Saving and Investing.

P.S. 1 If you liked this post, please feel free to share it with your friends. 

P.S. 2 If you want to know about the stock market, you may avail of my free e-Book by filling in the subscription form below. 

P.S. 3 You may also listen to Bro. Bo Sanchez talk on the importance of investing at the Truly Rich Club website and get his free e-Book My Maid invests in the Stock Market.