The new year is upon us and now is the perfect chance to change your bad habits for good habits, particularly when it comes to money in today's tough environment. Here are our top five recommendations for the new year:
- Take Care of Your Debt – Ignoring debt can be costly and taking action to solve problems now is the quickest way to ensure that you stop bleeding money. If you owe a little money, pay your bills as soon as possible and move on. If you owe a lot of money, seek help from a debt settlement company that can help you reduce the amount you owe and get back on track.
- Track Your Finances – One of the best ways to regulate your spending is to actually pay attention to it! Free online tools like Mint.com can help you track all of your finances in one easy-to-use place. This can help you discover where you are wasting money and can even help you identify areas where you didn’t even know you were spending money!
- Refinance Your House – Homeowners are now experiencing one of the lowest interest rate environments in history with rates at just over 5%. Still, many homeowners are paying mortgages at 8% or higher because they don’t want to take the time to refinance. For just a couple hundred dollars out of pocket, you can save thousands of dollars a year on your mortgage payments if you take the time to refinance!
- Setup Automatic Savings – One of the best ways to save money for troubled times is to do it automatically. When you don’t see the money at all, it’s a lot easier to live without! High interest savings accounts through banks like ING Direct offer automatic deductions from your existing savings accounts. Just setup this account and don’t even look at it until the next new year celebration in 2010!
- Shop Intelligently – Coupons, online shopping, and eBay all have one thing in common – they are cheaper than spending at regular stores. Before you pay regular price for your next big purchase, check prices online and look for coupons in your local newspaper. These small savings can result in big savings over time!