Begin with one Financial Resolution

At the beginning of a new year, many of us make resolutions. We resolve that we will lose weight, exercise more, read more, clean or declutter our homes. The idea of making a resolution is simple: we want to make sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of our previous year. Thus, these resolutions are a symbol of what we want to be or become.

So, if resolutions are symbols, their power is in their belief and use. Many people start with a resolution to be better at managing their money. Some people will start to catch up on their taxes or put their receipts away. Others will start to look at their investments or call their financial advisor/ planner in January. However, by about now, March, many of them have given up. They may not have made the large RRSP deposit they wanted to make, or have not recovered from Christmas - as they had hoped. Accordingly, they have given up.

Well, I am here to say that there is hope. We can start today to improve our finances. Today can be January or March or July or December. The day or month is not important, all that matters is that we start to make a difference. Just one clue: make the goal easy and give it a deadline.

For example, the goal could be to bring your lunch to work with you. If you spend $10 to 15 for lunch, this could mean that you could save $50 to $75 dollars a week. This simple change could provide a savings of more than $2,500 a year, if you just bring your leftovers to work. Or put differently, small changes can be powerful. So why don’t you make a small change today and make your financial life a better one.

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