My 2017 New Year's Resolution

This is the toughest thing I did in 2017 and I recommend you do it too.

This time last year I set a New Years’ Resolution to budget and document my spending.

For the entire year I committed to write down EVERY SINGLE purchase. Nothing missed or overlooked.

Whether large or small, I committed to documenting it in Excel.

As a Financial Planner, I’m aware of the positive impact increasing savings can have – so I was 100% committed.

It was week 2 before I was close to regretting the idea, but I pushed through.

This daily exercise felt like a chore, day-in-day-out noting every expense down, until a couple months in – it became a natural part of my daily routine.

3 - 5 minutes each day recording expenses. Surprisingly, it became quite a competition to see how much I would reduce my expenses each month.

Nothing like some competition to make it more effective.

Whilst tedious at times, the results were hugely positive. Unnecessary expenses were easily wiped out.

New Years’ Resolutions are often set and forgotten, but I’m glad I saw it through.

If people tell me that budgeting is difficult, I’d tell them they’re right, but that if they’re prepared to put in the effort, the rewards make it all worthwhile

How will you improve your finances in 2018..?