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The UMe Guide To 2021 Financial Fitness, Part 1

Welcome to The UMe Guide to 2021 Financial Fitness!

That’s right, UMe-verse, we’re here to get U and your wallet in shape because we’re calling 2021 the year of fitness — financial fitness that is! There are things U can do to strengthen your money habits and grow your wallets. Consider us your PFTs (Personal Financial Trainers) —  here to motivate U every step of the way! We’ve created a plan for your financial success: UMe’s Guide to Financial Fitness, and we’ll be sharing them in our blog, bit by bit, to help make this year your best financial year yet! So, let’s stretch (that dollar), get loose (change), and get this financial fitness party started, shall we?

 

Self Assessment

Let’s begin with U.

Before we come up with a financial fitness game plan, we need to assess your current situation. That means we need to determine how much money you expect to earn this year, how much your monthly expenses add up to, and how much debt you might have. We recommend writing all of this down on paper to help you stay organized.

 

Step 1: Account your earnings and expenses
List out what your monthly earnings are and what your monthly expenses are, including debts you have to pay down. Once those are all listed, you can get a better idea of where your money goes and how much you have leftover each month. This also helps point out where you might be able to save some money. (Do you really need 5 streaming subscriptions? Is dining out every day costing you a small fortune? Are you taking #TreatYourself a bit too far?)

 

Step 2: Get your credit score
Another important part of your financial self-assessment is knowing your credit score. Having a healthy credit score is important because it will help you qualify for the best loan rates in the future. Taking a peek at your credit score is easy. You can request a free copy of your credit report from each of three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) by clicking here. If you have new credit, or not-so-good credit, we – your personal financial trainers (aka personal bankers) at UMe – can help!

We’re off to a great start. See, this financial fitness thing isn’t too difficult, right? In the next week or two, we’ll be uploading your next financial fitness session, where we’ll be talking about the big B-word…Budgeting! See you then!