Year End Financial Review: 25 Helpful Articles

“I’m actually going to do it this year”.

Ever heard that phrase?

But, this could be the year that you actually start to make a financial difference. 

Kudos to Brother Ford. 

This year (2009) my big brother (who has always been my big brother, if you know what I mean) decided he wanted to get in shape.  Actually, his wife made the decision and he followed along.  Well this year big bro and his wife made some AWSOME changes in their eating habits and exercise habits.  They both lost a crazy amounts of weight and some eleven months and a half months  later are going strong.

There are also a huge number of people that made some drastic financial progress in 2009.  For some inspiration see Debt Free in One Year: A True Story.

Learning the Art of Helping: Building Blocks and Techniques (4th Edition) introduces five essential attributes to good goals.

Goals should be specific

Goals should be stated positively

Goals should be simple

Goals should be important to the client

Goals should be realistic

This year I encourage you to review your current situation and ask if you’re on track of if you need to be making an adjustments or alterations.  Later in the week I’m going to introduce you to some of my 2010 goals.

Today I’m going to introduce you to several key topics you need to address, but if you need a little more big picture help I suggest you consider checking your self against Dave Ramsey’s Seven Baby Steps.  You can see the seven baby steps at the bottom of my post on Dave Ramsey: An Introduction For Newcomers.

Parts of Your Financial Plan that You Need to Review

Banking

10 Reasons to Change Banks – be sure to check out www.bankrate.com to see if you’re bank is offering a competitive interest rate. 

I’ve banked with ING Direct since 1994.  I’ve written about my experiences with both the ING Direct Savings and ING Direct checking account.

Budgeting

Are your budget category percentages appropriate according to your income? 

Are you falling prey to common budgeting downfalls?  See Ten Budget Busters

Credit Cards

Credit cards do cost more than cash but credit cards are more convenient?  Can you afford the convenience of credit?  Make sure you have credit card guidelines. 

Do you have credit card deadlines?

Debt

Are you upside down in debt?