Now that you’ve done some initial analysis on your finances, it’s time to start taking action. You will need to do some financial analysis, but first there are a few things you can do now that it is fall that will give you a financial boost.
Fees and Bills
If you took the time to examine your monthly costs, you probably came up with a few ways to immediately start scaling back on your costs. If you found that your bank is charging you just to have an account, see if you can change your account to eliminate the fee. If your bank doesn’t have an option to do that, it’s time to switch to a different bank. There are also credit unions out there. The difference is usually your fees for credit unions are less, they give you better interest rates, and they are local. We made the switch a few years ago and have been very pleased with how they are very open and honest about our accounts. They don’t stick additional fees on our accounts or pull out the money without notification (a problem we had been having with our large bank).
Do take the time to research banks before making the switch. Most credit unions and banks offer free checking accounts with some minimum requirements that you have to meet.
Review Your Insurance
Open enrollment is coming up for health insurance, which means you may be able to find a better deal. If you are changing jobs, make sure you take the time to see if you can get a better rate with your new employer. There are so many ways to cut down on costs without having terrible coverage, it just requires you put some time into researching and asking questions.
Don’t forget to review your auto and home insurance. You may be able to get a much better deal with a different provider, or by bundling your different insurance needs. If you have to have multiple types of insurance, it is the perfect way to save.
Holiday Savings
I’ve brought this up a couple of times, but it doesn’t hurt to remind you that you should have a savings goal for the holidays. If you haven’t done that yet, now is the time to get that going. Thanksgiving is less than two months away, and it is all down hill from there. If you start today, you will have that much more saved when you need it.
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