5 Things to Remember on Financial Goals

When the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started, a large number of individuals lost their means of livelihood, with businesses forced to shut down, a huge chunk of the workforce had to face a different kind of struggle.

Many people, even the financially stable, felt the negative effects of the pandemic not only financially, but also emotionally.

As people never saw the COVID-19 coming, few were able to save up in case of dire emergency situations such as this pandemic. Those who were able to save up a small amount were also not prepared for the health crisis to be a war of attrition, a battle where finances are stretched too thin for comfort.

As hard as these times are, it’s still never too late to learn a little on how to better handle your finances in 2021. Here are 5 tips to remember so you could reach your financial goals this year even better.

Savings, savings, savings

Most of us fail to save money because we are impulsive buyers, we tend to buy things that we don’t really need and when the time comes that we have to buy things that we need, we cannot afford it. Savings can come in many forms, you can have your personal-home savings like every Filipino is doing with the good ol’ “alkansiya” or piggy bank.

On the other hand, you can also open a bank account to store your savings.

Take note of all your expenses

It may sound like you really take finances on the next level or some people will say that you’re overreacting but listing all your expenses is an effective way to control your spending. Sometimes we tend to forget that we spend more than we earn simply because we also forget where our money went. It could be on shopping, your Pinterest-saved haircut, bills, and more.

Making a list of all your expenses will help you monitor of everything you are spending. This will also help you be more disciplined on how you spend.

Pay bills on time

Don’t let it reach the due date, if you can pay in advance the better because late payment usually comes with penalties for some entities. In a time where everyone tries their best to stretch finances, every centavo counts.

Know your responsibility and pay your bills on time.

Avoid impulsive spending at all costs

Let’s face it, when a new or enticing product emerges in the market, such as gadgets, you may feel an itch to get a hand on such, thus neglecting the essentials you truly need. When these products are released, you are starting to think how much money you have in your bank wondering if you can afford those? The more important question is, do you need it? Now let’s be clear we cannot make our decisions for you but you really have to ask yourself if you really need these things.

Invest

Keeping money for emergency situations is of utmost importance now. But what if you have an extra amount of money to spend? Would you buy that gadget you always wanted, or would you invest it on something else–something that may comeback to you two-fold? Either investing in the stock market or opening a new business it’s all effective as long as you know how to play along.

Invest your money, make it grow and when it grows, make it grow even larger.

The question is, would you be willing to take the risk?(MLC)