How to stick to your 2018 financial New Year resolutions

THE New Year is the perfect time for consumers to appraise their current financial situation and make goals for where they want to be at the end of 2018.

According to Tersia van Rooyen, manager responsible for consumer education at South Africa’s largest credit bureau, TransUnion. She said that it was important that consumers start to work now to achieve their financial goals for this year.

“At the beginning of every year, consumers tend to make financial resolutions which they fully intend to keep – particularly as the bills from the festive season start coming in and consumers are also faced with the heavy annual start-of-year expenses including back-to-school costs.”

However, making resolutions is one thing. Sticking to them is another as a recent Google Consumer Survey commissioned by TransUnion in the United States showed. The survey of over 1 500 Americans revealed that that twice as many (40.2 percent) did not reach their financial goal in 2013 compared to those who did (19.5 percent).

“There is no reason to believe that South Africans are any different,” van Rooyen added.

Nevertheless, a good proportion of those surveyed (37.8 percent), said they planned to commit to at least one financial resolution in 2014.

Nearly a third (32.1 percent) said they planned to save more money; more than a quarter (27.29 percent) said they planned to pay down existing debt; and more than a quarter (27.7 percent) said they planned to spend less money on unnecessary expenses.

Sticking to these resolutions and achieving the goals will require determination, planning and hard work.

Easy-to-follow tips to help consumers get financially fit in 2018:

1. Check your credit reports frequently: The first step to robust credit health is to recognise which bad financial habits, such as late payments, you may have and how they are represented on your credit report. Regular check-ups may also help you guard against identity theft. You are entitled to one free credit report from every credit bureau every year. To get your free credit report from TransUnion, simply either phone the TransUnion call centre on 0861 482 482 and ask for it; or visit www.mytransunion.co.za.

2. Know your score: Understand what affects your credit score and take the necessary steps to reaching healthier credit. The higher your score, the better rate you are likely to receive.

3. Create a monthly spending plan and stick to it: Determine your current spending habits and set a monthly budget to determine just how much disposable income you have so you can manage it wisely.

4. File a dispute. It is your right to question information on your credit report that you don’t recognise or that may not accurately reflect your credit history. If you would like to dispute your TransUnion credit report, call the TransUnion call centre on 0861 886 466 to lodge your dispute or you can log your dispute online at www.mytransunnion.co.za

5. Guard against identity theft: To help minimise your risk against it, sign up for a credit monitoring service that will quickly alert you to any changes in your report.