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December 30, 2022 By Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money

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How to Set Financial Goals for the New Year

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Are you ready to get serious about your personal finance situation this year? The beginning of the year is the perfect time to do this.  Think outside of the box when setting New Year’s resolutions this year and set financial goals this year (and every year after this).

Follow these tips for setting financial goals and you’ll be on your way to saving more money this year than ever before! 

RELATED POST:  Top 20 New Year’s Resolutions to Save You Money

Learn how to set financial goals for the new year

Why Set Financial Goals for the New Year?

Setting financial goals is one of the best ways to start your year. Think of it as dreaming about a better life, but also knowing how to keep your priorities straight in order to meet your goals.

It’s important to sit down and set financial goals each year, even if you have more money that God. Why? Because it’s a great way to budget for your year. A budget tells your money what to do, without it you are spending blindly. It also helps you stay focused on financial priorities and spending your money in alignment with your values.

RELATED POST: How to Save Money with Value Based Spending

Don’t know how to budget? Read this post to get started.

You can also check out my favorite way to budget with a zero-based budget.

Your financial goal can be as small as saving $500 in an emergency fund by the end of the year or as big as saving up cash to pay for a house. Either way, setting a financial goal will help you figure out how to save and spend your money more wisely so that it works to your advantage.

Are Financial Goals the Same Things as Financial Priorities?

By definition, goals and priorities are not the same thing.

A goal is something that you want to accomplish while a priority is something that must be managed to accomplish a goal.

When it comes to financial goals and priorities for the new year, it’s okay to lump them together. If your goal is to save money for a down payment on a house, the priority might be to spend less on dining out in order to meet your goal.

It’s important to think of both goals and priorities.

Make Your Financial Goals More Than a New Year’s Resolution

Resolutions can be so much more than losing weight and eating better.

Saving money and making good financial decisions should always be on your New Year’s resolution list no matter how financially savvy you are. If you set good financial goals it can be so much more than a New Year’s resolution. Setting an achievable goals will allow you to envision how you want to spend or save your money.

How to save more money in the New Year. New Year's resolution to save money. #savemoney #newyearsresolution #getoutofdebt

Saving money can be pretty easy if you plan for it.

That’s right, you actually have to plan to save money. Otherwise you’ll probably end up spending your money each month instead of saving it! Once again, this is where budgeting comes in handy!

How to Set Financial Goals

In order to get your priorities straight when setting financial goals, I suggest making a list of 3-5 financial goals. Use this printable to help you brainstorm. Download the PDF version here.

How to Set Financial Priorities for the New Year

Steps for setting financial goals:

1. Jot down three financial goals

For example, this is what I wrote down two years ago and I’m happy to report that we accomplished all of these goals!

  1. Continue to pay off education debt
  2. Contribute to college funds for the boys
  3. Save up towards a van

2. Take some time to think about your goals

Keep the sheet somewhere you can see it and add to it as you think of new goals. I may come up with more goals or get rid of a goal. When I did this exercise in 2015, I added the following:

  • Set up our will
  • Save for a vacation

3. Make SMART goals

Finally, reformat your priorities to make them specific, yet attainable goals.

It’s always good to follow the SMART method when goal setting. Follow the SMART acronym:

  • S- specific
  • M- measurable
  • A- attainable 
  • R- results focus
  • T- time bound 

Having a deadline for them is the easy part since you want to accomplish all of this by the end of the year. Mine ended up looking like this:

  • Wipe out the remainder of Tom’s student loans by the end of 2016
  • Contribute at least $600 for each boy’s education this year
  • Save up at least half of what is needed for a used van, so we only have to finance half of it.
  • Set up our will by end of January
  • Save $700 for a Disney trip in April

Every year, I get super excited about our financial priorities because I love checking off stuff from my list.

Need a New Year’s resolutions worksheet? I’ve got that too!

Download it here: New Year’s Resolutions

Here’s a recap on how to set spending priorities for the New Year:

  1. Come up with a list of 3-5 financial goals
  2. Think it over, expand on them, or take them away.
  3. Turn them into specific, attainable goals with a deadline if possible

Like this post?

Don’t forget to follow me on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) to see more of what I’m up to in real life. If you like this post, you’ll love my social media accounts too! Want to know another way you can see more of what I love? Follow me on Pinterest.  I’d also love for you to pin this post to Pinterest if you liked it!

How to set financial goals for the new year. Easy new years resolution for personal finance.

 

How to save money more this year. Save money as a New Year's Resolution

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Filed Under: Budget, New Years

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kyra Rodriguez says

    December 27, 2018 at 1:16 am

    This is such a great idea! This is actually my goal for 2019!!!

    Reply
    • Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says

      December 27, 2018 at 8:08 pm

      Awesome! Best of luck with your goal!

      Reply
  2. Mary Price Grice says

    December 31, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Great article! Thank you Hannah and Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says

      January 2, 2023 at 3:02 pm

      Thanks Mary! It’s an old one, but still good. This kind of advice never really goes out of style!

      Reply

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While I love saving money, I also have expensive taste and a passion for the environment. I firmly believe that you can live frugally while enjoying the finer things in life such as travel and high end products. I like fine foods and quality ingredients, I also enjoy spending money on fancy local coffee and kombucha. It’s all about the experience! Join me as I balance a budget and preserve our Earth, while enjoying the finer things in life.

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