Celebrating your financial wins (big or small) can help maintain your momentum forward and make the journey a lot more fun. 

Paying off credit card debt or saving for a down payment can be made more fun if you build in little treats for yourself along the way.

Having a plan for how to react to impulsive spending can help reduce any negative consequences that may come from it. It can also enable you to identify your spending patterns and triggers, empowering you to make better decisions going forward. 

By playing the points game effectively, you can get incredible value for redeeming your credit card points. However, it’s worth noting that these “free” trips are usually not exactly free. If you aren’t able to pay your balance off in full, your “free trip” could cost you a lot in interest fees. Before applying for a new card, see if a travel rewards card actually makes sense for you.

Before deciding if you should (or can afford to) save for college, it’s important to get clear on your current financial standing. Saving for a future goal, like college, is fantastic, but if prioritizing that goal jeopardizes your own financial stability, you may want to focus on building a solid foundation for yourself first.

Having a baby is expensive. Like REALLY expensive. Using your FSA or HSA to purchase eligible pregnancy and baby items with pre-tax money is a good way to save a little money.

Getting a tax refund is a great problem to have. However, deciding what to do with it can feel overwhelming. Should you do something responsible with it? Or is this your opportunity to splurge on something exciting?

Once you realize that you went a little overboard with spending, the way you react afterward, or how you recover from it, can help minimize any negative impact and help you learn to better navigate future spending impulses.

When you have multiple credit cards or other debts, it can be confusing knowing which one to focus on, or if you should try to make progress on all of them simultaneously. With an understanding of the most common strategies, you can pick a plan that’s right for you.

Taxes are complicated. A common misconception is that whatever your tax bracket your income falls into, is the tax rate for ALL of your income.

Learn what portion of your income is taxed, and at what rates, to better understand and plan for the year.

Instead of focusing on what outcomes you want in the new year, focus on what behavior changes you want to implement.

Are you pre-spending your bonus? Spending it immediately? Or saving it for future spending? Creating a framework for how to use a bonus can reduce impulsive shopping, using the bonus as a catalyst to advance your financial life.

By creating a Holiday Spending Plan ahead of time, you can feel more confident that you are spending on the things that matter most to you, and that you aren’t spending more than you can afford.

If you have minimal medical expenses, a HDHP may cost you significantly less than a traditional plan, while still protecting you from financial ruin in the case of a major medical event.

Is the new SAVE student loan program a good option for you?

After years of repeated student loan pauses, federal student loan payments are, unfortunately, back. Make a plan to incorporate them into your spending.

There are many ways to manage money with your partner. By understanding what both you and your partner are looking for, you can create a system that best serves everyone’s needs.

While you are never going to anticipate every expense, taking some time to map out MOST of them will help you be much more prepared when they inevitably come.

Our spending tends to go up as our incomes do. Make a plan to ensure that your savings or investing also grows with your income.

A Target Date Fund helps ensure that you are diversified in a way that is appropriate for your age (or for how far off retirement is).

By switching to a debit card for your daily expenses, you separate out your daily life costs and your debt repayments. Seeing the immediate impact on your checking account balance makes it easier to avoid overspending.