The ushering in of the new year enables you to start afresh with your future goals. It provides you with time to reflect on your past and current plans and give them new life. If you set your financial goals for the year, did you accomplish them or make progress? If you did, congratulations! If you did not, that's okay too. Here are five financial goals that can guide you in building wealth and securing your financial future.  Setting a Budget and Sticking to It Setting a budget for your expenses, savings, and future goals can help you keep your budget on track. When you determine what you will spend on groceries, personal care, entertainment, and even gifts, it can help ensure that you don't overspend in those categories. It's essential to keep track of your budget using a notebook, Excel, or a banking app to ensure that you know how much you're earning, spending, and saving every month. Keeping track of your income, expenses, and savings will enable you to make adjust

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) trend is prevalent in today's consumer market. Buying now and paying later enables you to purchase economical or big-ticket items without using your credit. The advantage is that you don't pay interest on things you would typically buy using a credit card or loan. It's best to consider other key factors when evaluating whether buying now and paying later fits into your budget. Let's review some key points to examine below. Interest-Free Using BNPL, you can finally purchase items without being charged interest. BNPL enables you to pay for the item's actual value and can help you keep your budget intact. Typically, you would pay between 12% to 25% interest on your overall purchases when using a credit card. Estimating what you are paying for an item can be challenging if you do not pay your balances off monthly. BNPL eliminates the guesswork.  Affordable Purchases Sometimes it may be challenging to purchase items that are not in your b

Budgeting for groceries could be as easy as looking at your past food purchases. However, it's not always that easy when you are in a single-income household, or your family's age varies significantly. Here are a couple of ways to develop your grocery budget and get your family involved in monthly meal planning. Developing Your Budget When developing your budget, you should consider your monthly income, expenses, savings, and the amount you can dedicate towards items such as groceries. There are a couple of budgeting rules of thumb such as the 50/30/20 rule or the 70/20/10 rule of thumb. The first rule is 50% of your income towards needs, 30% towards wants, and 20% towards savings. Groceries are needed, so this would fall in that first category when evaluating your monthly expenses. You should also consider the household members' size, age, and genders to estimate what everyone will eat weekly or monthly.  Monthly Food Plans The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes mo

Financial technology can be accessed from anywhere. You can access financial technology from home, work, and even while you're on vacation. Leveraging financial technology can help you achieve your banking and savings goals. Opting in for financial alerts can be accomplished by logging in to your financial institution's websites and setting up alerts specific to your financial goals. Here are five ways that you can take advantage of fintech.  Low Balance Alerts Opting in for low balance alerts lets you know when your checking account balance reaches a certain level.  This notification will help you cover any expenses or purchases that you plan to make. You will also be able to reduce your spending so that your balance does not decrease further. Some banks will charge you fees for not maintaining the minimum required balance. Reducing your spending can eliminate insufficient fund fees that can continue to drain your bank account balance. Monthly Statement Notifications  Getting

Fall is here, and with it comes family get-togethers, decorating, and maybe even gift purchases. Usually, these activities result in more expenses added to your fall budget. Make the most of your budget and the time you spend with family and friends by incorporating cheap or free activities into your fall bucket list. Here are a couple of my favorite low-cost fall activities.  Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash Attend A Fall Festival Many cities have fall festivals and pumpkin patches that are free to enter. These family-friendly outdoor festivals allow you to meet the local craftspeople, listen to live music, visit food trucks and vendors, and even play children's games. More importantly, you will be able to purchase a pumpkin a two for your fall treats or decorating delight. If you've been stuck in the house for too long this year, attending a fall festival is a great way to enjoy the great outdoors. Bake At Home Now that you've selected the perfect pumpkin, it's tim

Making changes to a few of your daily habits can help fix your budget and create a stress-free financial future. There are benefits to creating a spending plan and setting goals for the future. A couple of advantages are less stress around financial uncertainty, increased funds for emergencies, and even the ability to travel by paying cash for vacations. Let's take a closer look at how you can control your financial future, identify financial priorities, and increase your income. 1. Identify Your Income And Expenses Write down your income and expenses. Your income can come from multiple sources, especially if you are a business owner or consultant. When creating a budget, use income from steady sources, like a paycheck, disability payments, or pensions. Your monthly expenses could include your rent or mortgage, insurance, car loans, gas, utilities, groceries, and more.  2. Define Your Goals After you have identified the surplus income that you have, you can create your financial