It is reported that over 100 million Americans either struggle with their finances or characterize themselves as in crisis. That’s about 37% of the population. But with a new year comes new resolutions and new beginnings. Now is as good a time as any to get to grips with your personal finances.

Having said that, it can be daunting to know where to start when it comes to money. But there are several, simple and potentially money-saving strategies that you can employ to keep your finances in check. 

Whether you are grappling with debt or just looking for more ways to save, these strategies can help you with your personal finances as we move into 2023.

Take Financial Planning Courses

As mentioned, sorting out your personal finances can be an intimidating task. A good place to start is by building your financial skills and knowledge by taking courses in personal finance planning. These courses will help you better understand how to manage your money, how to prioritize savings, how to deal with debt, how best to budget, and the basics of investing.

Online or in-person courses are a great way to learn the essential building blocks of personal finance. They require no pre-requisite knowledge of the financial world to get started so are a great place to get started.

 Investing in your own financial expertise is the first step to financial independence and comfort.  Begin your journey with courses in personal financial planning, debt management, and investing for the future.

Build an Emergency Fund

No one likes to think about unexpected expenses when making a financial plan. But such expenses can and will arise in your life, and it is much better to be prepared for when they hit. Unexpected expenses can come in many forms, including unexpected medical bills, auto repair bills, or sudden unemployment

Having an assigned emergency fund for these expenses will lessen the risk of financial hardship when they come around. This is because having such a fund available will mean that it is less likely that you have to take out emergency same day loans that carry high interest rates or use credit cards to cover the unexpected event. 

When making a fund, it’s important to decide what exactly counts as an “emergency” expense. With this in mind, you can plan how much to put into the fund each month, and thus have the funds necessary when an unexpected event does occur. This will really help with long-term peace of mind, as you won’t be scrambling when you are hit with an unexpected event.

Learning how to strategize in the event of an unexpected expense is an unfortunate, yet essential part of financial planning. Having a fund available for such an event is a great place to start

Understand your Financial Goals

One of the first steps you should take when it comes to personal finance planning is defining your financial goals. Everyone’s goals will be different, but knowing what they are will help in planning your financial future. The goals could be relatively short-term such as saving for a vacation or a vehicle, or more long-term like paying off a mortgage or establishing a college fund. 

When it comes to more long-term goals, it is important to set up benchmarks for yourself so that you don’t become disillusioned with the length of time it takes to achieve that goal. Benchmarks in progress will not only help with motivation, but can also help in planning a budget to fit around those goals. Speaking of which…

Make a Budget

Creating a detailed monthly budget is probably the most important part of responsible personal finance planning. It takes some time and effort to do, but is absolutely essential in understanding your financial situation and learning how to properly manage it. 

Begin by listing all your sources of income (job, investments, and others) so that you understand how much you bring in each month. From there, figure out how much money needs to go on essential monthly expenses such as food, utilities, loan payments etc. Doing this will help you understand what your necessary outgoings are. 

Once you have a clear picture of your ingoings and outgoings, you will be able to strategize on ways to save towards your longer-term goals. Outlying your financial situation is essential for financial peace of mind.