Planning for 2024 finances

A new year can bring about new financial goals; 2023 was full of ups, like inflation, increasing interest and debt. It also had its fair share of downs with shrinking wallets and budgets.

Nerdwallet’s personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer said the New Year is a great time to take a fresh look at your finances.

“Just taking even an hour to do a deep dive into your spending from the previous year and to think about what tweaks you want to make to reach your financial goals,” said Palmer.

According to a Forbes Health Poll, 38% of people’s New Year’s resolutions are to improve their finances in 2024. Palmer recommends grabbing a pen and writing down your financial resolutions and goals.

“Making a list of just really small steps that you want to make in the next few months,” said Palmer. “It might even be something like slightly increasing your contributions to your retirement account or finally opening up a high-yield savings account.”

Then create a budget. One of the most popular is the 50-30-20 method, where 50% of your take-home pay goes towards your needs.

Any recurring bill falls into it, like rent, car payments, student loans, utilities, gas and groceries.

“Thirty percent towards wants and 20% towards savings and debt payments, and it’s just a helpful way to give yourself a check to see if your spending is aligned in that way,” Palmer said.

You don’t have to stick to 50-30-20. Change the numbers to fit your household if need be.