June 2022 is here and that means it’s time to review your financial checklist for the year. While it’s all fun in the sun, don’t forget to carefully take stock of your current financial status and the half year that has gone by. This will help you plan for the rest of the year too. Here are our top tips on how to review your financial checklist for June 2022.
This essentially involves 2 steps:
- Taking inventory of the past few months and assessing your progress
- Making adjustments and restructuring your plans if necessary
Let’s get right into it.
Take stock of the past few months
There’s no doubt that the past two years have been financially difficult given due to the pandemic. But now that things are getting back to normal, your finances should also be getting back on track. That said, assess your current situation to find out how your finances have fared so far this year. The most important checks are related to your credit, debt, spending, and savings.
Keeping track of your credit score is a vital part of developing a good relationship with money. You can get your credit reports from the leading credit bureaus or any credit-monitoring app that offers it for free. Many personal finance websites also offer this service. The reports offered by parties other than the main credit bureaus are the unofficial ones but are still very reliable. You’ll get an idea of what your credit situation is like. You will also be able to see if there are any errors in the report. If you do find errors, make sure you report them to the credit bureaus right away so that the necessary corrections are done.
Is debt in your financial checklist?
As far as debt is concerned, how much have you managed to pay off so far this year? Are all your payments on track or are you lagging behind? Debt payments need to be done on or before the due date, failing which, your credit score will take a bad hit and you may be charged extra fees and default interest by your loan provider.
Spending and saving habits contribute greatly to your financial health. Have you been able to keep your spending under control during the first half of the year? Have your savings been slowly increasing and progressing towards the goal that you have set for the year? If you’re finding it hard to track these metrics, you can check out some of the budgeting and savings apps that are available.
Adjust your plans for the rest of the year
Once you’ve evaluated your financial progress and health for the past 5 months, it’s now time to see what needs to be done to help you achieve your targets for the year.
If you’re on target and are confident about staying the course till the end, there’s nothing much more left for you to do. In this case, you could perhaps try and increase your savings and debt repayment targets so that you can save more while paying down debt further.
If you feel you’re not progressing as well as you would like, or if you want to do more to achieve your financial goals, here are a few tips that will help you:
Reset your savings and spending goals
If your assessment reveals that you’re spending more than what is on your budget or not saving up as much as you want to, restructure these targets for the next 6 months. Make it a point to follow the new structure diligently if you want to improve your finances by the end of the year.
Save more every month
Savings are extremely important if you want to set up a future for yourself and your family. This includes your 401(k) retirement savings as well. Many employers offer matching contributions for every dollar you contribute toward your 401(k) plan. This is free money, so make sure you contribute the maximum possible amount.
Reduce fixed expenses
If you have fixed or recurring monthly expenses such as TV bills, internet bills, other subscriptions, etc., you might want to look for cheaper alternatives. Or you could even cancel the subscriptions you’re not really making full use of. This can help you save quite a bit of money every year.
Shop and save during summer sales
The summer is a great time to shop for stuff that you will use for the next year or so. Major sales and discounts run during the summer months including Labor Day and July 4th. You can also get great discounts on off-season items like winter gear and winter clothes and stock up for the colder months.
