Girl Get Your Money Right: Budgeting Resolutions for 2016

A new you, a new way to deal with your finances.

Be Better With Your Money - With the New Year around the corner, one major resolution we should all have is how to be better with our finances. But we know that’s easier said with done. Don’t worry though! Let us help you with these practical and easy-to-follow tips that will help you bank those bills in no time.  By Kellee Terrell (Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Corbis)

1 / 15

Be Better With Your Money - With the New Year around the corner, one major resolution we should all have is how to be better with our finances. But we know that’s easier said with done. Don’t worry though! Let us help you with these practical and easy-to-follow tips that will help you bank those bills in no time.  By Kellee Terrell (Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Corbis)

122815-breal-achievement-Girl-Get-Your-Money-Right-Budgeting-Resolutions-for-2016-1.jpg

2 / 15

Be Better With Your Money

Write Down Your Goals (and Weaknesses) - Before you can start get your finances and credit together, you have to be clear about what your goals are. Are you trying to save $6000 this year? Pay off a credit card? Not spend as much on eating out? Whatever it is, write down 3-5 goals you want to achieve this year and the obstacles standing in your way of making that happen.(Photo: Hill Street Studios/Blend Images/Corbis)

3 / 15

Write Down Your Goals (and Weaknesses)

How Much You Are Really Spending? - Now is the time to face exactly what you’re working with. Write down how much money you bring in each month versus all of your bills. Then look at all the spending you do outside of your necessities, like eating out, shopping and chilling with your girls? That number may shock you. Remember: The key to financial freedom is living within your means. (Photo: Blend Images/Corbis)

4 / 15

How Much You Are Really Spending?

Make a Realistic Budget - Yes, we could all use more money coming in, but most times you have to learn how to make it work within your financial constraints. Once you know what you make and how much you need to live off of, you have to be smarter with the money you have left over. Give yourself a grocery, entertainment, shopping and miscellaneous budget for the month and do what it takes to stay within those parameters.(Photo: Blend Images/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)

5 / 15

Make a Realistic Budget

ADVERTISEMENT
Find Ways to Cut Back     - If you’re spending too much and have no savings to show for it and barely have anything at the end of the month, start cutting back. Cook home more, buy your own wine, get rid of your cable, shop at discount grocery stores instead of Whole Foods, start using coupons, stop indulging at the mall as much, bring coffee from home, bring your lunch to work, etc. Those small changes can add up big time every month. (Photo: Tom Grill/Corbis)

6 / 15

Find Ways to Cut Back    

Open Up a Savings Account and Pay Yourself First - It’s really hard to save, but even harder if you don’t have a savings account. So open up one, preferably one that is linked to your checking. This way, you can transfer money directly into your savings. Also, ALWAYS try to pay yourself first, which means putting money into your savings before you do anything else. It you try and wait until the end of the month, you might have not having anything left. (Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Blend Images/Corbis)

7 / 15

Open Up a Savings Account and Pay Yourself First

Track Spending and Do the Work - Setting up goals is great, but it’s important to follow through by doing the work. How you want to do it is up to you. You can wait until the end of the week to pull out your receipts and map out what you’ve spent. Or, if you’re not a pen and paper kind of gal, there are plenty of apps such as BudgetBakers' Wallet, Spendbook and Home Budget with Sync that will do the work for you and keep you on track.  (Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Corbis

8 / 15

Track Spending and Do the Work

Be Honest With Folks - We all have those friends who love to spend money—and good for them. But in order for you to stay on top of your new finance goals, you have to be open with people around you about what you can and can’t do. (Photo: Steve Prezant/Corbis)

9 / 15

Be Honest With Folks

Learn to Say 'No' - If you are used to just taking out that plastic and spending away, it’s not going to be easy to break that habit. But you have to try. Part of financial freedom and success is self-restraint. So get used to saying “no” more to that new coat, that fancy dinner and that extra round of drinks. Trust, your bank account will thank you later. (Photo: Dreampictures/Image Source/Corbis)

10 / 15

Learn to Say 'No'

ADVERTISEMENT
Get a Hold of Your Credit Card Debt - Speaking of plastic, do not forget to make sure you make room in your budget to pay down and hopefully pay off your credit cards. The first step in doing that is paying off more than the minimum. This will help you pay off the debt sooner and not pay as much in interest. If you have more than one card, start paying more on the card with the highest interest rate, paying the minimum on the other. Once one card is paid off, you follow down the line with the others. (Photo: Blend Images/Corbis)

11 / 15

Get a Hold of Your Credit Card Debt

Don’t Ignore Your Student Loans - Oh, those student loans. Here’s the deal, don’t let your loans default because you cannot afford the monthly fee the borrower has set. Thanks to President Obama, the Income Driven Repayment Plan can help bring that number way down based on your current income. Even better: In 25 years, whatever you have left over, you don’t have to pay.(Photo: 68/Scott Quinn Photography/Ocean/Corbis)

12 / 15

Don’t Ignore Your Student Loans

Get a Side Hustle If You Can - Sometimes, we really don't make enough to save and get by. So this is when getting a side-hustle is key. No, having two jobs isn't always fabulous — it's hard work. But it's worth the sacrifice if you are really serious about getting ahead. (Photo: Hero Images Inc./Corbis)

13 / 15

Get a Side Hustle If You Can

Get Financially Creative With Ways to Hang - Memories with your girls don't have to cost a lot of money. Have a girl's night at your house or host a taco night dinner. Or opt for a matinee movie or a really cheap happy hour to meet up with friends. Get creative with it and don't let the fun stop. (Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Corbis)

14 / 15

Get Financially Creative With Ways to Hang

Photo By Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Corbis

Focus on the Long Term  - Like most resolutions, it's important to keep in mind that this isn't just for a few months of the year, but for down the road and hopefully for the rest of your life. Being financially savvy is one of the most important aspects a young woman can possess. So get to it! (Photo: Zave Smith/Corbis)

15 / 15

Focus on the Long Term