MYM #024: 5 Steps to Conquer Your Finances in 2024

By: Fran Walsh

Read Time: 4 minutes

In this edition, we're diving into a practical guide on how to crush your financial goals in 2024. Doesn't it sometimes feel like every year you keep churning without any MAJOR progress? Well - today were going to dive into 5 steps to make sure that doesn't happen and we end the year feeling FANTASTIC about the progress we have made.

Achieving financial goals brings peace of mind, stability, and opens doors to opportunities. It's not just about money; it's about gaining control of your future.

Many people fall short of their financial goals due to a lack of clear planning, consistency, and adapting to changing circumstances. Yes, we know life is constantly changing & things get hard. However - if we prepare, and have a game plan, all we have to do is make adjustments just like any good sports team does when things go wrong!

As we step into 2024, let's not just set goals; let's lay out a roadmap to crush them. Financial success isn't about luck; it's about intentional, actionable steps.

1. Setting SMART Goals

Stop me if you've heard this before (we know you all have!) but its always worth repeating! Goals need to be:

S - Specific. What will be accomplished? What actions will you take?

M - Measurable. What data will measure the goal? How much? How well?

A - Attainable. Is the goal doable? Do you have the necessary skills and resources?

R - Relevant. How does the goal align with broader goals? Why is the result important?

T - Time Bound. What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal?

If you go ahead and tell me you want to save $10,000 this year. Well that sounds awesome on paper. But is it attainable? Do you have the cash flow to do this? Can it work in the current budgeting situation? How can we measure this on a weekly & monthly basis to ensure we are staying on track?

By using SMART goals -  we will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable & aren't just throwing dreams out into the void hoping by some miracle things happen.

A major goal I have is to run the CoC 100 mile race in Maryland this year. I can't just wing it & hope when I    show up on April 27th that I am able to run for 24 hours straight. There needs to be a disciplined action plan, with measurable & time-bound goals over the next few months to ensure I am ready when that day comes!

2. Confirm Our Budget, Savings & Debt Pay-Down Strategy 

Take a minute to sit down, write out all your expenses, forms of income, etc. Yes - this can be a stressful activity at times, but is necessary to have a clear idea of exactly what is coming in & what is going out. Way too often we have conversations with individuals who have no clue how much money is actually being spent on a monthly basis. At a minimum, doing this activity will make you more conscious every time you are spending on something that isn't an "essential."

Once we know how much is coming in & going out, it gives us a much more clear idea as to how much we have to allocate towards the financial goals we set earlier. 

If we have an extra $500 a month of free cash flow, fantastic! Now we can decide whether we want to use those extra funds to pay down debts, invest in our future, or even take a piece monthly to go enjoy yourself.

If you aren't sure where to start with how to set up your budget, cash flow operating system, etc - please check out our Master Your Money Course where we teach you everything you need to know to take control of your finances, and provide you a personalized workbook to see your entire financial situation in one excel sheet.

3. Automate EVERYTHING

Once we have determined our budget, savings/investing plan, and our debt-pay down strategy - the next step is to automate everything! Set up automatic billing, automatic investing, and automatic debt payments on the days of your choosing. For some people, this may be every week, every 2 weeks, once a month, etc. 

Everyone has a different preference and that's totally fine! Whatever system works for you is the best system, just be sure to automate. Because if you don't - you will forget at times. It's human error, things come up, life gets busy, etc. We want to completely remove human error from our finances. Automating does exactly this & ensures we are staying on track with those goals we set earlier!

4. Accountability Partner

We LOVE the idea of having an accountability partner (not only in our financial goals but all goals.)

Whether this person be your spouse, friend, sibling, work colleague, etc. Simply tell this person your goals, when you want to accomplish them, and set up regular check ins where you are going to be held accountable for ensuring you are staying on track to do those things you set out to do!

Nobody wants to be the person who says they are going to accomplish X, Y, & Z and then never follows through on anything!

There was a study a few years back saying you are 42% more likely to accomplish your goals by just writing them down. In my opinion having an accountability partner takes this even one step further and probably doubles your chances of crushing them!

5. Regularly Assess & Adjust!

To quote the great Mike Tyson "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." While we hope nobody gets punched in the mouth this year, the reality is sometimes our finances can certainly feel that way! 

Things are going to go wrong, emergencies are going to pop up, and it's going to feel like nothing is going to plan at times. What is important is to take everything in stride. Adjust things as necessary and continue moving forward in a positive direction.

Don't let a minor setback become a major problem. If we need to put savings on hold for a few months to take care of a something - I promise you it's not the end of the world! We just don't want to make changing the plan a habit. We want things to stay as consistent & automated as possible. 

Conclusion:

For most people, finance & fitness are the 2 most popular New Year's Resolutions. These are 5 simple steps that you can take in order to ensure you stay on track to crush all of your financial goals in 2024.

If you are looking to crush your fitness goals as well... be sure to check out Team Opulus taking part in the Philadelphia Love Run where you can sign up to crush your fitness goals!!

Actionable Tip:

"Goals without Action are Simply Dreams." Take action today!!