If you’re feeling broke, there’s no need to panic! You may just need to conduct a financial wellness checkup. With a few easy tips, you can improve your financial picture and get to a more comfortable place. Here are nine ways to get back on track.
1. Income and Insurance Review
If you’re feeling strapped for cash, have you taken a look at your income recently? This is the first step in your financial wellness checkup. If there are areas where you can make adjustments, such as your health insurance elections, this can help you keep more money in your pocket. You’ll have to calculate if another plan would suit your needs better and wait till open enrollment to make changes. But, these small changes to maximize your income can help you feel more secure.
2. Review Your Budget
Part of a financial wellness checkup is to evaluate how your budget is working for you. If you’re feeling broke, you may be saving too aggressively. You also could be overspending in certain categories that can be cut back on. Simple things like cutting subscriptions or lowering bills can help tremendously.
3. Check Your Credit Score
How are you doing with credit card debt? If you are fully paying off balances each month, or working on paying down debt this can lead to feeling like you have nothing left at the end of the month. By reviewing your credit score, you can make necessary improvements to boost your score, correct any mistakes, and qualify for a better loan if needed in the future.
4. Review Financial Goals
Do you have too many financial goals that you’re working toward? A financial wellness checkup can help you streamline your goals and prioritize what’s most important. While having financial goals is important, tackling too many at once can be counterproductive. Make sure that your goals are realistic for your income and budget to stay on track.
5. Assess Your Debt
Does paying off your debt mean large monthly payments? It may be time to look into debt consolidation, refinance your loans, transfer credit card balances, extend the term of your loan, or try to negotiate lower interest rates. This can take some of the pressure off of you if payments are leaving you feeling broke.
6. Evaluate Your Savings
Do you have a healthy emergency fund and savings? Maybe you’ve been saving aggressively for a while. It may be time to reevaluate your strategy and make your money work for you.
7. Review Your Retirement Plan
How much of your income are you contributing to retirement savings? It may be time to run the numbers and see if you are saving enough for retirement, or if you can afford to readjust your retirement planning.
8. Reevaluate Investments
Are your investments on track and growing? If you aren’t seeing dividends, it’s a good idea to adjust your strategy. Maybe you need to explore new investment avenues like cryptocurrency to diversify. It may be time to consult an investment manager to get back on track.
9. Get Creative
Once you conduct a financial wellness checkup, you can use what you’ve found to adjust. But, if you still haven’t found ways to feel less broke, you may have to find creative ways to improve your financial situation. For example, better utilizing cashback offers and rewards can put extra money in your pocket. You may even need to add in extra income from a side hustle. Maybe couponing will help you feel like you have more while spending less. It’s all about feeling secure and finding out what feels comfortable for you.
Have you done a financial wellness checkup before? How do you overcome feeling broke? Let us know in the comments.
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