Getting a handle on your finances may seem like a monumental task. However, when you’re able to make daily progress, you build your financial confidence in no time. If you want to better manage your money, here are a few things you can do today to boost your financial well-being.

Financial Well-Being Checklist:

1. Enhance your financial literacy
2. Increase your savings contributions
3. Plug any financial leaks
4. Prioritize your health - exercise & eat health
5. Review your credit score
6. Organized your financial documents 
7. Develop a debt repayment strategy

1. Educate Yourself

One of the most important things you can do today to boost your financial well-being is to increase your finance literacy. Building your financial knowledge over time will equip you with the tools and resources you need to achieve a secure financial future. You can’t make great financial decisions if you don’t know anything about your finances. The more time you spend enhancing your financial education, the more financial confidence you’ll gain.

Take the opportunity to spend some time at your local library, or start doing research online, to boost your financial knowledge. While you are here Wealth’s Meta blog is a great place to start, we are out to promote financial literacy. Learning is our primary core value, along with ethics, growth, thoroughness, and security. Compare that to banks (lending institutions) out to squeeze you for every penny they can.
 

2. Increase Your Saving Contributions

Many Americans struggle to save for the future. It’s easy to procrastinate when the future seems so far away. Continuing to put off saving and contributing toward your retirement can have harsh consequences. With the uncertainty of Social Security and the rising rate of inflation, you need to proactively protect your future.

Whether you’re already saving or contemplating starting a savings account, do yourself a favor and increase your monthly automatic contributions. Even if you can only start with $50 a month, it is better than nothing. For example, if you only saved $50 a month, you would have $132,006.24 after 40 years (assuming 7% interest and 2% inflation).
 

3. Plug Your Financial Leaks

Overpaying on car insurance, paying your bank for holding your money, and not canceling unused subscriptions are all financial leaks. You work hard for your money, why should you throw it away on unnecessary expenses?

Reviewing your budget and financial statements is the best way to patch financial leaks. Once you identify unnecessary expenses or areas where you’re spending too much money, you can begin to make plans to eliminate them. For example, if your bank charges a maintenance fee for holding your money, look for other financial institutions that waive these fees. There are plenty of financial institutions who would be happy to have you as a customer and hold your money free of charge. All you have to do is spend a little time to find them.
 

4. Prioritize Your Health

Did you know the average couple will need about $285,000 in order to afford health care costs in retirement? Health care is one of the largest expenses retirees will face when living out their golden years. Prioritizing your health is one of the best ways to minimize these costs.

Exercising, eating right, and visiting your doctor regularly can help you maintain your health. Today, take a walk outside and pass on the French fries. Do it in the name of your health!
 

5. Check Your Credit Score

Errors on your credit report can prevent you from buying a home, opening a business, and can even prohibit you from accepting the job of your dreams. According to the Federal Trade Commission, at least 5% of consumers had an error on one of their credit reports.

Examining your credit report will allow you the opportunity to confirm that all of your information is correct and that you’re not a victim of identity theft. To find a free copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus visit Annualcreditreport.com. 

Reviewing your credit report also gives you the opportunity to discover areas that may need some improvement. For example, if you have made a few late payments over the last few years, you may want to establish automatic payments to make sure your payments are on time. Late payments will lower your credit score.
 

6. Get Organized

Do you swoon at the idea of rummaging through financial documents? Probably not. Organizing your financial documents may not be at the top of your priority list, but it can help set you up for a better financial future. How can you possibly make improvements if you don’t know where you’re starting from?

Implement a filing system to sort all of your documentation. Log your expenses, debt, goals, and income. This is also a great time to review your net worth and identify your financial standing. Using the Wealth Meta Net Worth Dashboard can help you determine your financial status.

Knowing your net worth and organizing your documentation can help you track your progress in one place. This will help you see your progression and potentially keep you motivated toward achieving your goals and financial objectives.
 

7. Develop a Plan for Paying Down Debt

Paying off high-interest debt is key to building your net worth and maintaining peace of mind. If you have revolving debt balances that have been chipping away at your financial stability, it’s time to get serious about eliminating debt.

A common debt repayment strategy is to pay off your smallest debt balances first. This allows you to gain momentum and motivation to live a debt-free life. This strategy for repaying debt is also known as the snowball method.

Creating a method for repaying your debt will get you one step closer to financial security.
 

The Bottom Line:

The longer you wait to tackle your finances, the less time you will have to prepare for your financial future. If you’re ready to get a handle on your finances, complete these task to boost your financial well-being today.