Earn More Money, Save Your MoneyDecember 18, 2019January 20, 2020

New Years Resolutions That’ll Help You Financially

It’s the end of the year and that can mean one of two things. Either its Christmas, which we already wrote about or New Years’. For many, a new year means new beginnings. People often use this as an opportunity to change something in their life, usually for good. However, there are many of those who use New Years as an excuse to procrastinate on change.

Let’s use going to the gym as an example. You probably know someone who always says they’re going to go to the gym in the new year. They’ll go for a few weeks then drop out, only to start again next year. You can see this at all gyms. January seems to be a lot busier. However, come February everything turns back to normal.

The point I want to make is that we should take the new year as an opportunity to change something for the rest of our lives. To create the change you do need to make little steps. Therefore, if you want to go to the gym, try going one time a week. If you want to earn more money try doing it in small increments.

Here are a few New Years’ resolutions that will help you gain financial stability and possibly a better lifestyle.

Save More

One amazing resolution that you should look into is saving your money. We’ve talked about saving many times in the past year. However, it always good to reiterate key points, especially when they’re critical in your financial independence. Some of you may be thinking that you don’t need to save or that you’re already saving enough. However, we’ve shown that a bit more money or time can make a monumental difference. For example, in What Would Happen If You Saved $30 – $50 A Day? We should how large of a difference saving a little extra cash can make. Furthermore, every year you spend not saving money results in lost earnings.

According to Stats Canada, aside from retirees, many low-income earners are actually spending more than they earn. this causes them to either eat away at their savings, create debt or both. However, the average net (after-tax) savings is $852. Therefore, I challenge you to save more than that. Save more than 10% of your annual earnings. A good practice is to cut unnecessary costs as well. This is another form of savings that many people overlook. However, cutting unnecessary costs is just as important as saving a chunk of money from your paychecks. Creating good spending habits is a staple in financial independence.

Earn More Money

Earning more money is always good. It’s an amazing feeling that most people can agree to. Getting pay raises or a new job that earns you more are amazing moments. Therefore, I suggest that another resolution you should have is earning more money It does not have to be a lot of money, even if its an extra $5 a day or month. Taking baby steps will get you to your destination eventually.

There are many ways that you can earn a bit more money. For example, you can partake in one of the ridesharing programs like Uber. If you have flexible availability, obtaining a part-time job may not be out of the question either. Earning extra money means you can save and invest more. This will cause a snowball effect on your finances. More money means more interest and that can lead to a larger payoff.

Aside from getting another part-time job, you can pursue a high position than your current role. If you’re not the best employee, take this opportunity to become better. Work towards that new position with a pay increase. Depending on how far you climb up the corporate ladder, there may be more than money in it for you. For example, many companies pay for their employee’s phone bills, insurance, and living costs. Sometimes, they’ll even give you a company car and credit card. The possibilities are endless.

If you’re already at a full-time job, it only makes sense to try and move up wherever you can. However, if you do not want to take on that type of responsibility, there are always other options like starting a business.

Start A New Business

One thing that I always implore people to do is start a new business. It astonishes me when I see people with incredible talents who don’t try and monetize it. I understand that some people may not like doing the things they’re good at. However, I believe that if you have a gift you should capitalize on it in some shape or form but I understand when people don’t.

It’s true that starting your own business can be costly in both time and money. However, you do not need to start a huge conglomerate. You can simply do a side hustle that brings in a little extra cash each month. Car detailing is a great example of this. When I was working full-time, I was detailing cars on the side. This brought in some extra cash that would help with debt, car payments and insurance.

Although you need to put countless hours to take your business to the next level, you can definitely start a business and earn money part-time. Businesses like drop shipping are perfect for that. However, the initial time investment is large. The same goes for becoming a writer. You can become a content creator and writer for various companies or people. This can be done as a freelance writer or while employed through someone else.

Starting a business and earning extra money go hand in hand. However, I believe that everyone should create something that they can call their own.

Learn Something New

Try and learn something new. This can be literally anything. However, I’d advise learning new skills. These skills can be anything like knitting or horseback riding. It really doesn’t matter. What matters the most is that you find some sort of value. Value can be the key to anyone’s happiness. Therefore, even though you may not be earning extra money, you can at least gain something fruitful to you.

Monetizing the skills you’ve learned is also an amazing idea. There are so many skills and ways to make money, the challenge is finding what’s right for you. Maybe try your hand at making videos. If you end up liking it and becoming really good at it, becoming a YouTuber or actor of sorts may be your path. How about coding? Coding is a skill that is hard to master but is very much in demand. If you learn to code you can monetize the skill many ways.

Honestly, life is too short to be living inside a bubble. Try traveling, learning about the different cultures and foods that the world has to offer. Learn to play a new sport or how to do a backflip. Life is supposed to be filled with experiences. We have a limited amount of time, we should make the best of it.

Improve Yourself

The last thing that I want to mention is improving yourself. A lot of us feel like we shouldn’t have to change for anyone or anything. However, we’re not the pinnacle of human excellence, there is always something we can improve on. To me, that’s an amazing feeling. Being bad or mediocre at something then steadily improving is one of the best feelings ever.

There are so many ways that you can improve yourself and your lifestyle. Aside from saving money, investing and all that we’ve already talked about. You can eat healthier, exercise, read books, and go back to school. In my opinion, life is about constant improvement at your own pace. I believe this is why many people find themselves depressed or in a rut. Staying stagnant is the worst feeling and can lead to other thoughts. Therefore, trying something new and improving yourself will have side effects.

Let’s say you feel tired all the time. Eating differently and exercising can definitely help with that problem. Maybe you want to be a writer and never had the time or were afraid of criticism. Try attending writing workshops and submitting short stories. You’ll overcome fear and maybe even spark a career that started off as just a dimly lit candle in your mind.

That is all I have to say for today. As the year comes to a close I just want to thank everyone who spent the past year reading the content I’ve put out thus far. I promise there will be more content and other things in-store for 2020.

Merry Christmas, and happy New Year!

Shameed Chris Khan

Shameed is just a man on a mission to help those around him gain financial success. Obsessed with writing about all things finance, this GTA native is constantly learning and sharing his experiences with others.