Happy 2020!
I hope the holidays treated you well and that you’re excited about what the New Year has in store for you. Like many of us, you’ve likely made resolutions. Reflecting back on my 2019 resolution, I unfortunately did not master the art of lip-reading. (Haha, I tried to come up with a silly one last year). Whether it’s eat healthier, work out more, worry less or spend more time with family/friends, these are all very noble resolutions! Unfortunately, it’s not a secret that many of us will fail at our resolutions, some by late January or February! To be successful at your resolutions, it’s important to a) understand what the goal entails b) have a plan to achieve it and c) have some sort of accountability mechanism. You’re not going to get in shape unless you a) figure out which gym you’ll go to, think about a workout plan b) get gym clothes and pack them and make time before or after work for it and c) tell a friend, go with a friend, set calendar reminders to make sure you achieve them!
For some of us, we’ll be setting financial resolutions. Whether it’s earning more money, saving more, spending less, I applaud your efforts! After having been a personal finance blogger for over 7 years, as you can imagine, I’ve accumulated a lot of good articles and guides on various subjects! So, in an effort to help you SUCCEED at achieving your personal financial goals, I wanted to provide some resources!
General Personal Finance
Personal finance honestly is easy: Spend less than you make each month. Save for the future. Avoid bad debt and focus on putting your money in places where it’ll grow the fastest. Don’t avoid risk but don’t take on too much – be a risk mitigator.
Additionally – here are a few more articles to get you on track:
Why Discipline is all your need to be Rich
Do these 5 things and ignore everything else
The little things I do daily for financial success
The YoungMoneyFinance Guide to Personal Finance 101
The YoungMoneyFinance Personal Finance Checklist Guide
Earn More
There are two ways to get in better financial shape – either earn more or spend less! Although it’s not as easy to simply earn more, it is something you should be focusing on. This could come in the form of earning more at work through promotions or raises, or from picking up additional side work, in the form of a side hustle. Hopefully you’re able to earn a little more each year than the year prior! The same applies to bank accounts – don’t settle to earn 0.01% on your bank account – many online banks are paying 1.5%+! I personally use both CapitalOne and AmericanExpress. Why not earn more if it’s just sitting there?
Additionally – here are a few more articles to get you on track:
How to be a better employee (which might get you that raise)
Real life side hustles (to get your creative juices flowing)
Save/Invest More
Keeping your money under a mattress won’t make you rich, and you certainly won’t be able to retire and stop working one day unless you save/invest and have your money grow. As scary as investing in the stock market is, it’s been a proven way to grow your money over a long period of time! So, make sure you have a good savings account paying high interest, and start investing in the stock market (ideally an index fund) by opening a brokerage account and moving some money in!
Additionally – here are a few more articles to get you on track:
Why a savings account will make your poor
Short, Medium and Long Term Investments
Why index funds are the way to go
The YoungMoneyFinance Guide on Saving for Retirement
Spend Less
In theory spending less should be easy to do…say practice saying ‘no’ more often. Spending less is one of the easier ways to improve your financial standing but honestly it’s tough! There are dinners to go to, social outings to attend, new clothes to buy and new toys to purchase. So, make sure you have a good budget with solid financial goals and start saying no to anything outside of that!
Additionally – here are a few more articles to get you on track:
The top 11 excuses to get out of yet another dinner with friends
Why it’s important to spend money (just in the right ways)
How I eat a PB&J everyday (and thus save money)
Accountability
Write your goals down somewhere. Put a calendar reminder every 3 months to check-in with yourself on your progress. Tell a friend, family or coworker. Or drop me a note at ben AT youngmoneyfinance.com and I’d be happy to help you out as well!
Personal Finances are certainly top of mind for many of us. If you're looking to get serious about improving your financial situation, we've got lots of great materials all over this site! Additionally, we realize that there's a lot of noise out there, and so we created PERSONAL FINANCIAL GUIDES focused on topics with all the info you need, and without any of the noise/ads/clickbait. 
