Minding your money: financially fit

 

I want to share with you something that I feel is super important but not a lot of people are talking about and that is money! First of all let me start off by saying that I am no financial guru and am just a struggling post grad like most people! The only reason I have this on my mind though is because one of my New Years resolution for this year was to become financially fit, and with only roughly four months left in the year the pressure to keep the promise to myself is becoming unreal.

All of my anxieties aside I hope this blog post can help you get on a strong financial path for your fiscal future!

My first tip is to get all of your accounts into one place and you can do that a couple of ways but one of the tools that I use and absolutely love is Mint is it a free website/app that can help you set budgets as well as give you a grand scope of all the money you have accessible as well as the debt that you have.

• Budgeting: it's a great tool to use because this way you can see how much money you have and then divide it up amongst your different categories like shopping, gas, coffee shops, as well as groceries and you can even create your own categories; for example I had a category for my sorority so that I could track and see how much money I was spending on all the little things and in the end they were really adding up. 

Next tip is to get all of your financial information as well because you can be fiscally fabulous if you don't have all the facts. The best way to do this is to get a copy of your CREDIT REPORT! You as a consumer are entitled to have access to your credit report from all three of the major credit unions once a year. The best way to take advantage of this is by to get one from each bureau every 3 months! 

• Make sure that the first time you are hit with your credit report is not when you are getting denied for a credit card, trying to purchase a car, or when you are applying for a mortgage. There should be no surprises to you and if there is anything that is questionable make sure that you contact the bureau and get more information. I had a discrepancy on one of my reports and I contacted the bureau and they removed it and it was as simple as picking up the phone and the result was a positive impact on my credit!

• Please note; this is not a site that will give you your credit score! It just gives you all the information like the accounts you have open as well as the money you owe and payment history!

 The next thing that I have done to help get myself on the financially fit path is to get all of my past credit card statements so that I can put into perspective all the places that my money has gone. I am a visual person who needs to make sure that I can see exactly where all my money has gone and with that requesting previous statements from credit card companies dated back five years has really helped me. 

• Tip: Financial institutions are required to keep your financial records for the past 7 years so you can get your statements as far back as that!

Lastly, I am now trying so hard to budget my money so that I can enjoy the fruits of my labor but it is hard. I have come out of all of this with a little more piece of mind in that I know what I can and can not spend and I know how to spend responsibly or at least I hope so!

I hope this has helped you and has inspired you to become financially fit as well! If you have any questions or tips of your own I would love to hear them! 

XOXO- RPO1

*I am by no means a financial expert and have only shared my personal experience and tips. There was no compensation given for the links shared in this post, or opinions stated.