Financial Wellness is an important part of our overall health and wellness. Studies have shown that finances are one of the leading causes of stress, and finding ways to manage your financial stress is important for your health.
November Challenge- Complete the three weekly financial wellness challenges below
Week 1 Challenge: Set aside some time in your week to create a budget. There are even apps such as Every Dollar that make budgeting very user-friendly. If you already have a budget, take some time and look it over. Are there any areas where you can increase your savings, decrease spending, or pay off debt more quickly?
Week 2 Challenge: Select an area to cut back and actually cut back. See how much you can save! Maybe instead of stopping for coffee every day this week, you make coffee at home and only stop one day. That could save over $10 a week! Tip: Find a way to motivate yourself to cut back and make it fun. Take the money you would spend on coffee and put it in a vacation fund so it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice.
Week 3 Challenge: Sit down and make a list of all of your debts: college loans, car loans, credit cards, etc. Write down how much you owe on each and the percentage rate. Don’t know? Find out! Create a plan to pay off your debts. If you already have a plan, could you make it better? Could you be putting more towards your debt?
*If you want more info on this, Dave Ramsey has a lot of tips and resources for paying off debt.
November Challenge- Complete the three weekly financial wellness challenges below
Week 1 Challenge: Set aside some time in your week to create a budget. There are even apps such as Every Dollar that make budgeting very user-friendly. If you already have a budget, take some time and look it over. Are there any areas where you can increase your savings, decrease spending, or pay off debt more quickly?
- Create a budget. If you don’t have a monthly budget, you should! There are countless benefits to having a budget. (https://www.budgetingincome.com/10-benefits-of-budgeting-your-money/)
- Gives you control over your money
- Keeps you focused on your money goals
- Helps you be aware of how you’re spending your money
- Helps organize your saving and spending
- Enables you to save appropriately for unexpected costs
- Gives you a way to talk about finances with your significant other
Week 2 Challenge: Select an area to cut back and actually cut back. See how much you can save! Maybe instead of stopping for coffee every day this week, you make coffee at home and only stop one day. That could save over $10 a week! Tip: Find a way to motivate yourself to cut back and make it fun. Take the money you would spend on coffee and put it in a vacation fund so it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice.
- Cut Spending! Think about small lifestyle changes you can make to save a few dollars. Here are a few tips: (https://www.fool.com/personal-finance/2018/09/18/20-ways-to-cut-spending.aspx)
- Go cash only
- Have no-spending days
- Always shop with a list
- Unsubscribe from email offers
- Plan out your meals and meal prep so you aren’t forced to eat out
- Do you make frequent coffee/soda/snack stops? Make coffee at home, pack snacks, or buy two liters of soda and put it in a reusable bottle (this is more eco-friendly, too!)
- Use coupons and discount codes
Week 3 Challenge: Sit down and make a list of all of your debts: college loans, car loans, credit cards, etc. Write down how much you owe on each and the percentage rate. Don’t know? Find out! Create a plan to pay off your debts. If you already have a plan, could you make it better? Could you be putting more towards your debt?
*If you want more info on this, Dave Ramsey has a lot of tips and resources for paying off debt.
- Create a plan of attack to eliminate your debt. Take a serious look at your debt. Here are some tips to kick that debt to the curb: (https://www.thebalance.com/start-getting-out-of-debt-960852)
- Increase your monthly payments and look for ways to put additional money towards your debt
- Stop creating more debt!
- Create an emergency fund. If you have an emergency fund for those times when you need new tires, you need a new washer, etc. those emergencies won’t put you into greater debt because you’ll have saved ahead of time.
- Pick one debt and give it all you got
- Cancel credit cards
- Assess your financial well-being: https://www.smartaboutmoney.org/Courses/My-Financial-Well-Being-Plan/What-is-Financial-Well-Being
- Take a look at your PSERS info: https://www.psers.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx
- Free budgeting apps: Mint, EveryDollar, PocketGuard, YNAB (You Need a Budget)
- Want to become financially literate? https://investedwallet.com/become-financially-literate/
- Becoming Financially Well: https://acispecialtybenefits.com/2017/07/25/10-tips-for-financial-wellness/