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Get your money mojo back with these 8 quick financial wins

8 quick financial wins to get your money mojo back

 

Sometimes financial progress is slow. Like any other habit, getting sorted with money is an ongoing process.

Sometimes, you just need an easy win.

Here are a few quick financial wins I’ve found recently – there’s nothing quite like that sense of accomplishment!

Check your credit report

A quick win if there ever was one – requesting your credit report doesn’t cost any money and only takes a few minutes of your time. Hopefully there are no surprises! If all looks good, you get to sit back and relax for awhile. If there are any errors, it’s better to know about them now and get onto addressing them sooner rather than later.

Organise financial paperwork

I feel like I’m constantly chasing a pile of papers, even though I’ve transitioned to getting most things by email. Banking, mortgage, tax, investing, insurance and any other kind of financial documents lying around deserve a place to live. I sat down awhile ago and sorted them into various folders. Having some semblance of order there felt like a massive step forward!

Make an extra payment

Whatever amount you can throw at that loan, credit card, mortgage! Every little bit counts and results in less interest paid overall. WIN.


Ready for some BIG wins? Get the workbook here!

Set up an automatic transfer to savings/investing

For the first time, I have an automated investing plan (outside of KiwiSaver). It’s only $100 a month ($50 into 2 different funds) but you know, it was really hard to push the button on. I still have a massive fear of financial commitments but I am so, so aware of the power of paying yourself first.

Start tracking net worth

I kind of did this a couple of times, randomly, between the time I started working full time and the time I took a six-month leave to travel. I was pleasantly surprised, upon returning home, to see that the number wasn’t quite as low as I expected! Obviously I’d drained most of my liquid funds, but the investments I had kept growing, and so the total sum looked a little healthier than I anticipated. Anyway, since buying a house I’ve started tracking my net worth every month. It’s incredibly motivating to see the steady progress!




And while I’m on a roll, here are a few more ideas I came up with! All it takes is ONE thing for each of these – a single focus at a time.

Pick 1 thing to cut back on buying

Delicious pies. Overpriced juices. Skincare that never lives up to its miraculous claims. Whatever. Choose a line item and reduce spending there! Not saying cut it out – just trim it back.

Review 1 bill

You know, those boring but important and regular-as-clockwork bills. Power. Internet. Insurance. Choose one, do some research, shop around for a better deal. Maybe even negotiate with your current provider – they might sharpen up the price on your package. (Confession: I seriously never make time to do this, and I should!)

Track spending for 1 month

If you’ve never really tracked your spending, have fallen out of the habit, or perhaps had major changes to your financial situation, give it a go – it might be illuminating. People always go on about the hidden costs of home ownership – in my case I’ve been making do as much as possible and haven’t really spent much on the actual place, but between setting up a veggie garden, the chickens, and the dogs? Yeah…

Got any money moves to share that give you that sweet, sweet feeling of accomplishment?

8 thoughts on “Get your money mojo back with these 8 quick financial wins

  • Reply Ruth January 25, 2017 at 08:39

    GREAT LIST THANK YOU!
    The moral of the story is “just do something” and you will get to FI faster. I have spent the month of the Frugalwoods challenge and looking into my fixed costs I picked up the phone to my health insurer. I’m over insured. I’ve trimmed it back and will save $11 per week, $572 year etc etc. Now thats going into savings. Yeehaa

  • Reply Miss Mazuma January 26, 2017 at 12:35

    The tracking is definitely key to my success. I didn’t get serious about FI until last year and mostly in part because I realized how much I was wasting! I am still terrible at organizing my papers…one step at a time! 🙂

  • Reply Lisa January 27, 2017 at 08:07

    Great list! Setting up an automatic transfer, even if it’s small, is a great quick win because it feels good in the moment and every single time the auto-transfer happens!

  • Reply cantaloupe January 29, 2017 at 22:33

    This is a very doable list. And very applicable to me right now, haha, so thank you.

  • Reply femmefrugality February 3, 2017 at 17:02

    I love this! Reviewing the bills is such a pain, but I swear there’s an error on my internet bill. Every. Single. Month. My pile of papers is one of my biggest nemeses.

  • Reply Mel @ brokeGIRLrich February 6, 2017 at 04:55

    These are great. I love super actionable lists. I feel like when you first start getting into personal finance, the best way to stay motivated is to keep a lot of easy, but important, things that you can achieve on the list along with the longer term goals.

  • Reply Gary @ Super Saving Tips February 6, 2017 at 11:47

    Great list! I definitely need to get my paperwork more organized. Right now when I’m done with things they go into a big box marked 2017. Not a very good system.

  • Reply Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank February 12, 2017 at 12:12

    Lots of takeaways from this post. I also pay a little extra in my credit card and mortgage. I enjoy the benefits from the credit card and for the mortgage I still do later one once I know the length of time has become shorter and the payment I do has become less.

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