January Challenge #14

Today your challenge is to work on getting yourself financially fit! Before you begin any exercise or self improvement program, you must first know where you live. This means taking a hard look at what your current situation is and get all the facts out in the open. For this challenge, you will need to dig deep into your finances. Write out a list of all your accounts; checking, savings, money market, CD's, 401K's and other retirement accounts. Get out all your credit cards and add them to the list. Also add all of your regular monthly bills such as phone, cell phone, cable/satellite, auto insurance, student loans, gym memberships, etc. Get everything you can think of on your master list. Now either call or go online and find out what your balances are and for your credit cards what the current interest rate is. If your rate is higher than you thought, asked to have it lowered. It never hurts to ask and you just might save yourself some money. Start putting together your financial outlook. By the end of this you should know exactly what you have and what you owe. It's healthy to check things out, like your annual doctor exam, so you know what your financial health is. Finance experts suggest anywhere from 3-6 months of income in your savings. Most of us are a far cry from that, so maybe this is an area you can target to improve. Most of us have at least one credit card with a balance over $5,000 and are paying interest rates much higher than we should. Ask to have it lowered and if the company won't, than target that card to get paid down first. Any card with a high interest rate needs to go down first! See if you can find a financial advisor with a free introductory meeting to help get more tips. We are coming on tax season, and with that there may be some special offers you can take advantage of to meet with a tax/fiancial consultant. Many of us are not happy with our finances right now, so this is the time to face it and get a plan together to get our finances in shape! Enjoy the challenge today, knowing that once you have a clear picture of your fiannces, you can begin to whip them into shape as part of a healhthy new year for the new you!