Weekend Challenges to Help You Become Financially Fit
Make 2010 the year that you commit to becoming financially fit. This year you can make the changes that you need to in order to get ahead financially. It can be overwhelming to make huge budget changes or to begin to invest when you do not know where to begin, but this year through a series of Weekend Challenges you can begin to take control of your finances. The challenges will be designed to help you understand the basics of money management, and help you actually apply them to your budget.
Budgeting 101
In January your weekend challenges are going to center on budgeting. Your budget is an important money management tool. It allows you to decide how to spend your money. It lets you track your actual spending and see if it matches your goals. A budget only works if you want it to. So your first challenge this week is to write down a few...
Weekend Challenges 2011: Budgeting Take 2
This weekend the challenge is to find more money in your budget to reach your financial goals. Last week you set your financial goals and wrote down a basic budget. The budget did not necessarily include money to help you reach those goals. This week your challenge is to find extra money to reach your goals. If possible try to find an extra...
Weekend Challenges 2011: Find the Right Budgeting System for You
It is one thing to sit down and write down your budget on a piece of paper and another thing to execute it successfully. If you feel like you have a workable budget, but you have problems executing it each month, then you may need to rethink your budgeting system. A budget needs to be tracked everyday, so you know how much you have left in each...
Weekend Challenges 2011: Evaluate Your Budget
This weekend your challenge is to evaluate your budget. You set up a realistic budget, and learned to manage it with computer software or other help, now you need to make sure it is really working for you.
Weekend Challenges 2011: Set UP Your Debt Payment Plan
Most people would tell you that you'd be better off if you were debt free, but most people don't do anything about it. You can get out of debt more quickly than you think. Learn how to set up a solid plan that will speed up the amount of time it takes you to get out of debt. With a concentrated effort and focus by attacking one debt at a time...
Weekend Challenges 2011: Ramp Up Your Debt Payment Plan
The challenge this weekend is to ramp up what you are paying on your debt payment plan. You should have set your payment plan up at the beginning of the month. The more money you can put towards your debt, the more quickly you will pay it off. You’ll be surprised at the difference it can make.
Weekend Challenges 2011: Retirement Savings
This weekend your challenge is to do a retirement check up. Most people in their twenties do not worry about their retirement, because it is years away. I do not think you need to spend time obsessing over how much you have in your portfolio or even really think about it, once you have set up a regular contribution to your retirement each month....
Financially Fit Step by Step
Make 2012 your year to succeed financially. Start the challenges and follow through and you should be in much better financial shape by the end of the year.
Weekend Challenge 1: Setting Your Goals
This first challenge will help you formulate a plan and help you begin to reach some of your financial dreams. You have to start somewhere and this is the place to do it.
Weekend Challenge #2: Knowing Where You Are
This weekend we are going to take an honest look at where we are. This can be quite painful, but it is a necessary step. We cannot fix a problem until we know how bad it is. It is not a time to cover up or deny any mistakes that we have made in the past. This weekend it is simply about figuring out where you are and what you need to do to help...
Weekend Challenge 3: Get Out of Debt
This weekend you need to set up your debt payment plan. It will help you to improve your financial situation. This is the first step to getting out of debt, and it will help you focus your efforts.
Weekend Challenge 4: Build Your Budget
You need to get your budget in shape so that you can win financially. This weekend's challenge helps you set up a budget that lines up with your current goals and financial plans.
Weekend Challenge 5: Insurance Check Up
It is time to complete a simple insurance check-up. You just need to make sure you have the right type of coverage and the correct amounts for your current situation. This may be one of the easiest weekend challenges to complete.
Weekend Challenge 6: Retirement Check Up
It is important to take care of your retirement planning. If you make your retirement savings automatic, all you need to do is check in a few times a year to make sure you are still on track.
Weekend Challenge 7 - Relationships and Your Money
The way you handle money in your relationship will have a long-term affect on how successful your relationship is overall. It is best to start out with a working system between the two of you, but you can make adjustments if you are already married.
Weekend Challenge 8: Book Report
It is important to keep learning about money. This weekend your challenge is to read a book about money management. This will help you as work towards your goal of building wealth.
Weekend Challenge 9: Slash Your Spending
This weekend the challenge is to find three different ways that you can reduce your spending each month. Slashing your spending can help you in many different ways. It reduces the amount that you spend, which gives you more money to apply to debt payments and savings. It also gives you more freedom to do what you want with your money. For...
Weekend Challenge 10: Check Your Credit Report
This weekend your challenge is check your credit report. Your credit report contains basic information about your credit history. It should show the credit cards that you have had out in your name, it show the number of late payments you have had as well as your payment history, and it shows the current amount of money that you owe. It will not...
Weekend Challenge 11: Budget Check Up
This weekend the challenge is take a look at your budget and make any adjustments that you need to. You have had a month or two since you sat down and wrote out your first budget for the year. Often the first estimates people make are off in a few categories. You may have new bills that you did not previously or you may be doing better than you...
Weekend Challenge 12: Review Your Goals
This weekend's challenge is a chance to review your financial goals and to set new goals for the next quarter. It should not take more than an hour to complete.
Weekend Challenge 13: Increasing Your Income
This week the challenge is focused on helping you to increase your earning power. If you are progressing steadily towards your financial goals, and feel that you have a good handle on how much time you spend working and how much time you spend enjoying life, you may not need to participate in this challenge. However if you are struggling to make ends meet, and you feel overwhelmed by the amount …
Weekend Challenge 14: How Much Do Your Financial Habits Cost You?
This weekend the challenge is to look at what your financial habits are costing you. When you are struggling to change your financial habits it often takes something big to open your eyes and really commit to the change. It may be skipping your first payment or bouncing your first check that finally gets you to wake up to the seriousness of your financial situation. You may think that you are do…
Weekend Challenge 15: Giving Back
This weekend the challenge is to find a way to give back to your community either through financial donations or through volunteering your time.
Weekend Challenge: 16 Get Connected
This week your weekend challenge is to get connected with other people who are working towards the same financial goals that you are. This may mean finding a money mentor who you can trust to give you solid advice when it comes to big financial decisions. It may mean reaching out to your friends and discussing your money situation with them or...
Weekend Challenge 17: Preparing for Emergencies
This weekend the challenge is to get prepared for emergencies. There are several different types of emergencies that you may face, but it is not difficult to have specific things in place to face most of the emergencies that you will have to deal with. The emergencies could be health related, job or money related or caused by nature. This easy...
Weekend Challenge 18: Update Your Resume
This weekend the challenge is to update your resume and your networking list. This is an easy task and should not take more than an hour. You can also update your portfolio or reel if you have one this weekend.
Weekend Challenge 19: Staying on Track
This weekend challenge is about staying on track. It’s time to take a minute to look over how you are doing on your budget and debt elimination goals. It is also a good time to see if you can increase your savings or your income so that you can reach your goals more quickly. Finally take time to budget and plan for you vacations.
Weekend Challlenge 20: Are You Ready to Buy a Home?
This weekend the challenge is preparing to buy a house. There are many reasons why you may not be ready to buy a house this year, but it is important to consider the option, and to take the steps to get ready to buy a home. Planning and saving now will make it easier for you to purchase a house when the time comes.
Weekend Challenge 21: Learn About Investing
This weekend your challenge is to begin thinking about investing. If you still have debt besides a mortgage, you should hold off on investing money until you are out of debt. This is true because generally the interest rate you will pay on your debt is higher than the rate of return you will earn on your money, so you would not come out ahead. However, you should be contributing to your 401(k) u…
Weekend Challenge 22 - Finding Your Motivation
This weekend the challenge is to find the motivation you need in order to make the big financial changes and sacrifices you need to in order to reach your goals. There are many different things you can do to find your motivation, but it is going to be different for everyone.
Career Planning
his weekend's challenge is focused on where you want your career to go. Many people will changes jobs and change careers on a regular basis. The opportunity for advancement often means moving from one company to another. Additionally many people find that they want to specialize in a different area than they originally thought or find another...
Weekend Challenge 24: Open Enrollment Prep
This weekend your challenge is designed to help you prepare for the open enrollment period at your company. Open enrollment is the time when you can adjust the majority of your benefits. You can enroll in health insurance, dental insurance and life insurance at open enrollment, if you have opted out in the past. Additionally you can look at...