How to create positive habits for 2024 in 66 days

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Unlocking a healthier, happier you involves cultivating positive habits. Here’s a step by step guide on how to create a positive habit:

1: Identify your goal – pinpoint a clear, achievable goal, be it daily exercise, mindfulness, or a healthier diet. For instance, commit to a 15-minute morning meditation.

2: Start small – avoid overwhelm by breaking your goal into manageable tasks. If reading more is the aim, begin with just ten pages a day.

3: Establish a routine – consistency is crucial. Embed your chosen habit into your daily routine, like having a glass of water before every meal.

4: Use triggers – associate your new habit with an existing routine or trigger. For example, link regular exercise with your morning coffee routine.

5: Track your progress – use journals or apps to track progress, celebrating small victories. Share milestones on social media for added accountability.

Things to avoid – steer clear of unrealistic goals and negative self-talk. Focus on positive affirmations to maintain motivation.

How long does it take? Research suggests an average of 66 days to form a habit. Individual timelines vary, so stay patient, consistent, and witness the transformative power of positive habits in your life.

How to build financial resilience

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I recently took a deep dive into my finances. I’d been putting it off for far too long. Getting started was hard – looking at my day-to-day spending, thinking about my short and my long-term goals – and the process was laborious at times. But by the time I’d finished I felt emotionally cleansed – like the way you feel when you’ve just purged the messiest draw in the house and now you can find things and it shuts! Now I feel inwardly confident because I have a more realistic picture of what’s going on with my finances – I’m clear about my options and I have a plan.

Why is financial wellbeing important?

It’s like having a safety net for your money.

Life’s full of unexpected twists and being financially resilient helps you to navigate through tough times with less stress.

It’s about having enough savings, managing debts and planning for the future. Whether you’re just starting or already managing your money, the steps below will help you understand financial security and move towards achieving it.

  1. Reflect on 2023 goals

Take a moment to think about the goals you set last year. Did you plan to save money, spend less or start an emergency fund? Reflecting on your progress is helpful but remember it’s not about being perfect, it’s about understanding where you stand financially. Celebrate those successes too! If you didn’t set any goals last year, make sure you set some for 2024 once you’ve worked your way through the steps below.

  1. Assess your current financial health

Check your bank statements, credit card bills and financial records for the past three months. What were your spending habits? Are there any surprises? Don’t scrimp on this, if you need to go back six months to get an accurate picture, do it. Understanding how the money flows in and out will help you make better decisions.

  1. Create a realistic monthly budget

Budgeting might sound complicated but it’s simpler than it seems. Create a realistic monthly budget by listing your income (usually your salary) and categorising your expenses (gym, phone, electricity for example). What’s necessary, and what’s a splurge? Identify areas where you can save a bit more – these small changes can add up over time. If you can’t save right now, that’s okay too.

  1. Build an emergency fund

Emergency funds act like a safety net for your finances. Aim to save three to six months’ worth of living expenses to help cover you if something unexpected happens. You can also explore saving and investing options based on your comfort level and goals. Spread your investments – think about pensions, ISAs, or maybe even stocks. The aim is to make your money work for you, or at the very least not lose value.

  1. Understand your debt

Facing debt can be tough but tackling it head-on is liberating. Get a clear picture of your debt – how much do you owe, where and to who. Prioritise high-interest debts and create a plan to pay them off. You could also think about consolidating your debt or talk to your creditors to find out if there are other payment options available. Starting early leads to financial freedom sooner.

For more information visit Debt Advice Foundation

Navigating the path to financial security

Financial resilience is an ongoing journey. It’s about understanding your goals, managing your money wisely and adapting when you need to. For me the hardest part was going through my old statements to get an accurate picture of my spending habits – it will be different for everyone, but I can promise you, you’ll be glad you did it!

If you’d like more information visit MoneyHelper or the government’s Mid-life MOT website for more tailored information.

Investing in future you

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With the cost of living really starting to bite, money can feel tight just now. Between the National Insurance rise, energy bills soaring and petrol prices reaching record highs, anything we can do to help get a better grip on our money matters is welcome. Although it’s not a magic bullet, making a budget can be a great way to get a clear picture of your finances – you can see where your money’s going, and hopefully where you can save some.

Whether you’re paying off debt, saving for a deposit, or just trying to put some money away for a much-needed holiday, budgets can help you stay on track. I found using the 50-30-20 budget rule was a really simple way to keep on top of my finances.

The idea is you spend:

  • 50% on essential needs like rent/mortgage payments, bills, food and transport.
  • 30% on wants – all those good (but optional) things like eating out, shopping, your Spotify and Netflix subscriptions etc.
  • 20% on savings or paying off debt. This could be putting money into a savings account, investment or even a pension fund, or paying off anything from personal loans to credit cards.

So if your take home pay is £1,500 a month after tax, you’d have:

  • £750 for needs,
  • £450 for wants, and
  • £300 for savings or debts.

When I decided to try this budget the idea of building up savings seemed more attractive than paying off debt. But on his excellent MoneySavingExpert website, Martin Lewis recommends looking at the interest rates on any outstanding debt first. It’s often better to pay this off before starting to build up savings – it can even save you money in the longer term.

Reframing saving

I tried to reframe the act of saving in my mind as investing in future me.

I tried to reframe the act of saving in my mind as investing in future me. So rather than taking money away from myself just now, I’m actually giving money to my future self. Or to be more specific, investing in the things I want to do in the future – like that long-awaited holiday abroad (hopefully…).

20% might seem like a lot to save, especially when times are tight and with lots of competing priorities, so why not make it a figure you work toward over time? When creating my budget I tried to save what I could afford before working up to 20%. After paying off my credit card, I found putting money straight into my savings as soon as I got paid worked best, as waiting until the end of the month to see what I had left usually meant staring at an empty bank account.

In reality
The 50-30-20 budget might mean you’re no longer dedicating as much cash to all those wants. And with rising costs you might find it is difficult to make the budget work straight away, but it can be something to aspire to. Even just making a budget can really help give you a clearer picture of what you’re spending your money on and where you can afford to cut back.

If you’re struggling with money or have any financial worries, the MoneyHelper website is a terrific resource to help with all things financial – from debt and household bills, to benefits and pensions, they’ve got it covered.

To borrow sentiment from a Chinese proverb – the best time to make a budget was a couple of years ago, the second best time is now.

Giving back

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“Everyone can experience the joy and blessing of generosity; because everyone has something to give.”
Jan Grace, Author.

Over the past 18 months we’ve seen some of the amazing things people have given. Whether it’s their time, effort, energy or expertise to help others, the compassion shown has been inspiring. As well as this, lots of us have donated to causes we care deeply about, from the NHS to animal shelters, environmental causes or charities tackling social issues – giving back or trying to help those less fortunate is something we should all strive to do.

What‘s in it for me?
Volunteering is often, rightly, viewed as a way to give back, be it to a community, group of people or a cause. But not only are there benefits for the people and causes receiving help, lots of volunteers talk about the positive effects volunteering has for them.

Volunteers from Volunteer Scotland talk about the feeling of pride, achievement, gratitude and sense of wellbeing they get from volunteering. And not only that, volunteering can give you the opportunity to learn new skills, make you feel part of a community and build new friendships – getting out the house to socialise while doing some good is definitely something many of us want to do after the year we’ve had. All of these things can also help improve your mental health – it really is win-win!

What can I do?
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Do It, and the Government website are great places to start your search for voluntary work. You can also keep an eye on local Facebook groups and community noticeboards for opportunities. If you want to volunteer regularly it’s important to find something that interests you, as it’s more likely to keep you invested. Maybe you want to donate some money to charity? It’s worth exploring whether your employer offers give as you earn donations or payroll giving, as this way donations are made directly from your salary, in a tax efficient way, to your chosen charity.

It doesn’t just need to be your time or money you volunteer either. You could have a wardrobe clear out and donate your pre-loved clothes to charity, or how about combining a workout with doing some good? GoodGym bring together physical exercise with helping out in local communities by organising local runs to volunteer at food banks, shift earth for community groups, plant trees in local parks, and loads of other amazing projects.

There are loads of great causes to get involved with, so let us know if you volunteer for anything.