Jump Starting Your Finances for the Second Half of The Year

June is such a great time of the year. Cookouts, day parties, amusement pars, beach and pool days. Summer is here with a bang.

June is also the perfect time to give yourself a new start. We all set those resolutions so long ago in January, and if you’re anything like me(and most Americans) you have some vague idea of how you intended to be better this year but the execution has somehow slipped from your grasp.

While this isn’t ideal, its pretty normal and June is the perfect time to reset and actually make progress on those goals. It takes anywhere from 21 to 90 days to cultivate a habit, and we have about 190 days left this year. Why not seize them?

This month I’ve reached for the intentions I set in January and revised them a bit to suit my current need and goals. Although I’m not exactly where I envisioned self in January, I know that I will end the year exactly where I want to be.

The (second) biggest goal I had was to get my finances together, credit, savings and spending. With two international trips, a lot of shopping and a few graduations, my spending has gotten the better of me, especially in the past quarter. To reset, I’ve decided on a track and trim method to jump-start my finances for the second half of the year. I am spending as I usually would all of June, but tracking very single expense electronically through the Mint and Pocketgaurd apps as well as on paper in my budget notebook. The goal here is to see where my money goes, not judge how I’m handling it. In the month of July, I plan to use all the tracking I’m doing in June to cut my discretionary spending in at least half and to increase my savings by at least 50%.

Although were just bout midway through June, I highly recommend joining my track and trim efforts. I know you’ll be as surprised as I was just how much money you spend on small things, and how it all adds up. July will be more intentional, and we’ll be all the happier for it.