Diana Clement: The 12 financial tasks of Christmas

What have you done well this year? Photo / 123RF

The 12 days of Christmas are on their way and, for many of us, that will mean holidays. Why not take five or 10 minutes a day (or even a bit more) to do all those financial tasks you always put off.

Below are 12 tasks to tick off as the days go by. They include looking back at the year gone by, and planning for next year.

Some, admittedly, are easier than others. Getting started at least is a lot better than shoving financial tasks to the back recesses of the brain.

There is nothing like a list of tasks ticked off for satisfaction and motivation:

1. Reflect on what has gone well. The first day of Christmas is a day of celebration. Even if you have just five minutes, reflect on any financial positives you can conjure up. Plan to do more of the same for 2023. Your successes don’t need to be momentous. It could simply be having paid down a debt, or putting your children on a budget.
2. Analyse your 2022 spending. Instead of spending more on Boxing Day, take a look at your spending. If your bank has a budgeting app you can use that to divide your spending up into different categories. Or download your statements and slice and dice them in Excel.
3. Read a book about personal finances. Next week’s article is 10 reasons not to go shopping in the Boxing Day sales. You can, however, borrow a free personal finance or related book (such as how to build good habits) from the library online and read it.
4. Do some big-picture thinking. Good personal finance management requires short-, medium- and long-term planning. Sit down and plan where you want to be financially in five and 10 years’ time, and at retirement age. A similar exercise for your career adds value.
5. Create written goals for the future. Take yesterday’s big-picture thinking and your Boxing Day spending analysis and make a list of achievable financial and life goals for 2023. Keep it short and write it down.
6. Review your KiwiSaver. Even if you find you’re in the right fund for you, the right provider and contributing the right amount, reviewing KiwiSaver annually is essential. If you need to make changes, most can be done online. If you’ve taken a break from contributions, this may be the time to start contributing again.
7. Create your 2023 budget. It’s the first day of the year and time to take last year’s numbers for earning, spending and saving, revise them, and create a 2023 budget. If you haven’t already, split your spending into categories and assign limits for each category. If you’ve never budgeted, check out my earlier article about the different budgeting methods.
8. Make a plan of what you need to buy this year. Too many of us get a sudden urge to buy things. It’s wrecking our planet and our finances. Write a complete list of what you actually, truly need to buy this year. Make sure it includes fun purchases. Assign each and every item you need to buy, assign it to a month, and put a monetary figure beside it. If you have a budget, dovetail it in.
9. Sort out your insurance. When did you last have a conversation about life insurance? Never, for most people. Insurance to cover life, health and income can really pay off.
10. List strategies for becoming healthier. Being in good mental and physical health is fundamental to wellbeing and is directly correlated to financial wellbeing. Conversely, ill health is the major cause of disability that stops people working. Losing your income is devastating financially.
11. Find advisers to surround yourself with. This might involve visiting a mortgage adviser, seeking bigger-picture savings and investing advice from a financial adviser, getting budgeting help from a free mentor, or teaming up with a buddy to keep each other accountable.
12. Write a review. Make written notes from your 12 days of planning and file them to be re-read once a month.

Why not seek input from a financial adviser? Photo / 123RF