Written by Vishnu Juvadi
Maybe try scrapping the resolutions altogether.
At the beginning of the year, everyone was eager to make a list of new year’s resolutions. We believe that we’re gonna follow through with them and change our entire lifestyle, right? Well usually that isn’t the case. In fact, around 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February. You must be thinking, what do I do now?
Well let me introduce you to what is known as a miniature year in review. Simply put, it is when you go back through your entire year and see what has worked for you and what hasn’t.
This idea has been popular among many successful CEOs and influencers, yielding tremendous success. Now I want to transform this idea to fit YOU, Gen Z! These tips are going to help you transform your financial habits so that next year you can get that $$$.
Step 1. Get a piece of paper and create two columns: Needs and Wants.
Step 2: Go through your purchase history through the past year.
Step 3: Now go through each week and write down any purchases (include the cost) that you made and organize them into the respective field: Need or Want.
Step 4: After you’ve organized all your purchases, go through your Wants list and see if you can cut down 20% of your purchases.
Step 5: Go through your needs list and see if you can make any substitutions for things which are particularly expensive. For example, an average Starbucks coffee costs around $2.75 but you can make coffee at home for around 18 cents per cup.
Step 6: After you have seen any substitutions you can make and anything you can cut down on, calculate how much money you’ll have left. Probably a lot of money huh!
Step 7: Find out what motivates you. Do you want to save up for a new car, or pay off your student loans, or maybe start investing? Use these motivations to stay on track with your saving goals.
I’ll admit, this is a tedious process but trust me, it can be very rewarding. I hope that instead of writing financial resolutions for next year, you do a year in review!
Photo: IMDB