The new year brings with it fresh possibilities, and an opportunity to rewrite your financial story from a place of intention.
But the start of a new year is also the time we put pressure on ourselves to attain sometimes unrealistic goals in the name of resolutions.
Nothing wrong with new year’s resolutions. Just make sure you take steps to follow through with them. Research, after all, shows that as many as 80% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions by February. Only 8% of people stick with them throughout the year.
Stay away from the ‘new year, new me’ crowd
You don’t need a new you. Just a better version of the same you.
The reason, according to psychology, that many of us fail with our resolutions is because we rely on that feel-good New Year energy to carry us through the year. Once we don’t experience that we throw in the towel.
But the truth is, to make progress on our resolutions, build good habits and sustain them we need more than motivation and the feel-good vibes that the promise of a new year hypes us with.
Progress over perfection
It’s so easy to get hung up on doing things the perfect way that we end up giving up when things don’t go according to our perfect plan.
Rather than beat yourself up when this happens try to focus on achievements. You are allowed to revisit and even “change your goals. Expect setbacks to happen. It is part of life.
With the pressure of new year’s resolutions gone, you can now focus on adopting solid and yet realistic financial habits early in the year to set the tone for the next 12 months.
Here are 10 actions that can help:
- Unlearn harmful money beliefs. Challenge ideas like “money is for men to manage” or “I’m just bad with numbers.” Replace them with empowering beliefs that as a woman you can be capable, disciplined, and good with money.
- Track where money goes and where it comes from. Consistently track your income and spending to understand your spending habits and spot patterns, especially where you might be overspending. This is the foundation of financial awareness. Use a notebook, excel sheet notes app or whatever works for you and review where your money actually went on a weekly or monthly basis.
- Create a simple flexible budget. Include all essential costs such as food, housing and medical. List all your income sources, and create a category for saving and investment. Allow room for both emergencies and a little fun and self-care.
- Build an emergency fund. An emergency fund is the safety net that frees us from dependence on high interest loans in times of crisis. Start with even 10,000 shillings weekly (or whatever is realistic). Keep it separate from your spending money, for instance in a unit trust account.
- Understand your debt situation. Differentiate between healthy (education, business) and harmful debt (luxury spending, high-interest mobile loans). Learn repayment strategies that reduce stress. List all your debts and prioritise repayment over luxury spending.
- Start saving at whatever income level you are at. Don’t wait for “big money.” Even small, regular savings build discipline and compound into real progress over time. Open a savings account in a unit trust account dedicated to your financial goals; school fees, home, travel, or business.
- Learn the basics of investing. Understand what compounding is, how unit trusts or treasury bills work, and the risks vs. returns. Investing shouldn’t feel like a man’s world. Challenge yourself to learn about one new investing concept this month. For example, read about unit trusts, or treasury bonds.
- Practice financial confidence. The next time you’re offered a service (investment, loan, insurance,), ask questions about costs, risks, or benefits before you commit. Read the fine print the more you practice evaluating financial options the more your confidence and knowledge will grow.
- Build a money community. Join or start a savings group, or investment club, or accountability circles. Collective learning makes financial growth less lonely. Find or create a money accountability buddy. But be careful about who you choose to share your money journey with; the wrong financial buddies will lead you down a dark path.
- Connect money to values and goals. Instead of chasing wealth blindly, align money with what matters, family security, freedom from financial abuse, health, education, or travel. Define your “why.” Write down three things you want money to help you achieve. Use these to guide your financial decisions.
Have an awesome year!