People always make resolutions to manage their personal finances better. Whether that means saving more, or setting up a personal budget, the suggestions can get overwhelming. In order to cut through all of the clutter, Bill Druliner, GreenPath Midwest Regional Manager, shares his top five personal plans for financial success to consider.

Set Up a Money Management System that Works for You

One fundamental fact that gets lost in all the discussion of personal finances is this: To become financially secure, you must spend more that you make. Different systems work well for different folks, but here are a few ideas:

• Write down your income and all of your monthly expenses. Look for opportunities to trim expenses wherever you can.
• Identify the areas where you might overspend, and then decide to use cash for these transactions. Then, limit the amount of cash you put in your wallet each week to the amount you've decided to spend. Seeing the amount of money available as a fixed, finite thing can help you control your spending.
• Set up automated budget alerts using your financial institution's website or a service like Mint.

Review Your Credit Report

You don't necessarily need to pay for a credit monitoring service to be able to understand your credit report. You can obtain each credit bureau report one time per year for free by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. If you're having trouble understanding how to improve your credit, a free credit review with a non-profit agency, such as GreenPath, can help.

Begin to Save

Once you've got a workable budget, automate the process of saving. Setting up direct-deposit into savings makes it much more likely you'll save. Plus, paying yourself first helps the money to be "out of sight and out of mind," so that you'll be able to stick more closely to the spending plan you've set for yourself.

It's important to reach a point where you have a balance between short-term savings and long-term (retirement) savings. It should be a priority to try to adjust your budget, so that you can take advantage of any employer-sponsored retirement plan that is offered at your job-especially of the employer offers a contribution match.

Get Serious About Reducing Debt

One of the first steps in decreasing your debt load is to stop adding to it in the first place. Begin to get out of the habit of using credit cards for purchases.

If you have debts, look for ways to try to reduce your overall interest costs. This could include balance transfers, consolidation loans, and/or a Debt Management Plan with a reputable agency such as GreenPath.

"Strive to reach a point where you never carry a balance on your credit card," said Druliner. "The money that you have been spending on interest is money that could be going toward building savings and financial security."

Achieve Financial Success With First Alliance Credit Union

There is a wealth of information available about personal finances! Many community organizations, non-profits, and community banks and credit unions have free courses available to learn about money management.

You can also get a boost on the path to financial success when you become a member of First Alliance Credit Union today. We have guides to help you do everything from pad out your savings account to raise your credit score in our resource center, and the My Money tool in our online banking platform will help you create a budget that works for you. We've also partnered with companies like Green Path Financial Wellness, which offers free, unlimited financial education tools and one-on-one financial counseling. 

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