Your Financial New Year | FlexFi Online Personal Loans

3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts of your financial new year

Happy new year, and welcome to 2018! To kick off the new year, FlexFi would like to share with you some helpful tips when it comes to your finances. Starting early will help you get into good habits, so let’s get started now!

DO put together a monthly budget.

Putting together a budget is a simple, yet difficult task. It sounds easy, but sometimes it’s hard to look directly at your own finances and realize where your money is going. However, it’s a very necessary exercise to ensure you can achieve your financial goals. Take a look at a couple of articles we’ve written to help you budget!

DO start planning for vacations early.

A recent study by the CNBC states that the best time to book for a vacation or flight is generally around 3 months in advance. Of course, there are peak travel times which always spike up in price, such as the summer and winter holiday season, but if you start early, you’ll be able to monitor the prices and generally snag some good deals.

DO plan for rising interest rates.

The central bank has raised interest rates twice in the last year, and it’s looking like a possibility again this year. If you have any loans with floating interest rates, make sure to budget yourself more conservatively to factor that into account

DON’T make any impulse purchases.

This is more of a broad tip for your finances in general. There will be lots of times when you see an amazing deal, and think to yourself “I HAVE to get that”. Retailers often use this psychology to their advantage. Take a breather, and come back to the deal in a few days. Remember, if you never wanted something in the first place and ended up buying it, you’re not saving any money!

DON’T make minimum payments.

Loans are a great way to get a head start on something, whatever it may be. However, remember to make regular, consistent payments on them in order to pay off your loans in a reasonable time.

DON’T ignore workplace benefits.

Lots of companies offer their employees certain benefits. However, many employees forget about using them. If you work for a company that provides benefits, make sure you make full use of them by finding out the details from your managers or HR.