Fast Tips for a Financially Fit New Yearsticky notes on clothes pins with resolutions

When the countdown ends, it’s the perfect time to reset your own clock as well. There are plenty of simple ways to ensure a great financial start to the New Year, and at BMI Federal Credit Union, we’ve got you covered!

Find the Best Discounts

Saving after the holidays is important, but we still have goals and expenses in the New Year. The start of the year is the perfect time of year for gym and sports club memberships, including discounts on start-up fees and monthly fees. Ask about corporate discounts! Already belong to a facility? Chances are they will honor those reduced fee deals for you too.

Reduce Your Bills

We are always touting this one: call your cable, energy, and internet service providers to negotiate a lower bill. Ask about New Year deals. While you’re at it, reconsider some of your services all together. More and more people are trading in their expensive cable package for services like Netflix or Hulu, which cost around $10 per month. It’s also a great time to evaluate your energy needs. Turn down the heat while you’re not at home, and turn off lights when you’re out of the room. Get a few house plants to circulate the air in your home without running your fan.  

Make a Monthly Resolution

Setting goals for the whole year can be overwhelming. Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew and end up abandoning our lofty commitments. Set monthly resolutions for yourself instead. A good place to start is to evaluate your excess spending, and then negotiate with yourself! Perhaps it’s, “I’ll only eat out once this month” or “I won’t buy a coffee before work for this month”. When the month ends, you can keep your goal or make a new one. You will save money, learn what you can live without, and increase your financial self-discipline.

Work Smarter Not Harder

We love to talk about our Financial Wellness Tools! Some of the best ways to make healthy financial changes is to monitor your income, reduce your spending, check your credit, save often, and manage your accounts well. Financial wellness tools allow you to do all this and more. You can separate spending by merchant or date, see where you spend the most, and set financial goals. All your accounts, all in one place. Login to Online Banking and click on the Financial Wellness in the menu bar.

Need a Little Extra Help?

Visit us for any of our free financial workshops, designed to help you succeed. You can join us for any of our free workshops open to the community, or you can hold your own corporate workshops where we come to you! Don't forget to stop by any of our five branches in Columbus, Dublin, or Westerville, or call 614.707.4000. We are here to help and improve your financial lives!