Right after new year’s, there is always an overload of information on how to reinvent yourself, reach tons of goals and do everything you’ve ever wanted to do. The problem with this, though, is that most of us end up overwhelming ourselves by reaching for massive goals without having a plan. My issue for years was that I would just pick some arbitrarily effective habit and try to force myself into it. When this fails, of course, I would go back to swearing off resolutions as a whole. Over the years though, I’ve figured out what works for me, so here are my goals for the year!
- Save $400 a month: I’m lucky enough to live at home, so my only real expenses have to do with my car and supplies for school. I work part time and make about $1100 a month, so I currently have my bank automatically set up to transfer $300 to my life-savings account and $100 to my emergency fund. This has been a game changer, since the natural consequence hits if I spend too much.
- Learn to invest: When it comes to the stock market, I’ve always felt really intimidated, but this year I decided I wanted to become financially literate. To be honest, investing seems way scarier than it really is, and it’s actually really simple! The hardest part was picking a brokerage to open an account with, other than that, it’s not as hard as it seems! Most people invest into ETFs, which are basically baskets of hundreds of companies in one stock. When you put money into an ETF, it gets divided evenly into each company, that way if one company does badly, you don’t lose a lot of money. It can be as easy as that! More women should learn about investing, it gives you such a sense of independence! I personally use Schwab for my Roth IRA, and Fidelity for my brokerage account. Both are super easy to use and have tons of educational resources in the apps, so if you’re worried at all, either app is a great choice to get started!
- Journaling daily: I’ve always wanted to do this more, and I’ve been pretty successful since starting! This has made such a difference in my mood for the day, it feels like such a great emotional release, especially as someone who tends to hold onto things. For anyone else who struggles with dealing with stress, I highly recommend this! The best tip I learned was to take the pressure off of yourself to write a lot. I started by setting the goal to write 3 sentences a day, and now I’ll easily write a page a day, it just took consistency!
If you’re someone who doesn’t do new years resolutions, I’d still recommend trying at least one of these at some point! If I had to recommend one, I would 100% say become financially literate. Learning about how to be smart with money is intimidating, but understanding the basics can grant you so much freedom and independence. At the end of the day, starting and ending the year being happy with your life is what matters, and these are the goals I hope to all achieve by 2027!