Best ways to be financially-savvy in 2023

Most people listed down their New Year’s resolutions as they greeted 2023, and for sure a few of these will deal with money matters. Whether we admit or not, a lot of our happiness in life depends on our financial situation. For how can we be happy if we are burdened with a lot of mortgages and have to pay off credit card debts so that there’s nothing left with our salaries at the end of the month?

I only have debit card so I don’t have to deal with that kind of debt. Still, I know that there are things I need to do to put my house in order. This is why I wrote down “be more financially-savvy” as one of my resolutions for 2023.

To ensure that this vow doesn’t go into thin air, I listed down the important things I need to do to achieve financial independence, and this can apply to you too. The proper planning and execution of these action steps are guaranteed to help us later in life.

1. First is setting financial goals to help me make informed financial decisions and stay on track. This includes pinpointing specifically what I want to achieve financially in 2023 and that is to increase my savings to xxx,xxx (six digits) for the year. I also want to earn more by adding more income streams such as opening a couple of businesses.
2. Always creating a budget is what most financially-savvy people do, so I will follow that. A budget that religiously tracks my income and expenses, so that I can see exactly how much money I have coming in and going out of my wallet.
3. Think twice before shopping. Glancing at my purchase history for 2022, it was easy to see that shopping was a big part of it. The sad thing is that some of the stuff I bought were unnecessary, or what you would call impulse purchases. So I need to put some sense into my head and shop more sensibly in 2023. This way, I will save more too!
4. Knowledge is key to growing money so I resolve to stay informed, to keep up with financial news and trends so that I can always make sound decisions. Thankfully, I have come across the website calculator.me . The site takes the guesswork out of mapping out a budget, for example. It has a Family Budget Planner where you just input your income on the chart, and it will automatically allot what percentage of your salary should go to housing, transportation, food etc.

Calculator.me also has a Net Worth Calculator which tallies one’s Liquid Assets (cash, t-bills etc.), Investment Assets ( retirement funds, bonds etc), and Personal Assets (residence, vehicle, jewelry etc). The total of all these will determine one’s net worth. Access the different calculators by using the sitemap.

Planning to sell, or buy, a home? The site’s Residential Property ROI Calculator comes in handy. Need to know the frequency of payments you need to make to be debt-free? There’s the Debt Pay-Off Goal Calculator to the rescue. Need to know how much you could save if you brought your own lunch to work instead of eating in the office cafeteria? The link to the Brown Bag Calculator is the way to go.

Truth is, calculator.me has more than 100 calculators for every type of financial question or situation so there’s no reason for us to say ” it’s a hard thing to do” or “this matter is just for the professionals.” The site is definitely my essential companion to being financially-savvy in 2023.