When I think of Spring, I think airy, bright, warm, and fresh. It's the perfect time to give your home a little sprucing up. But if you're not careful, Spring sprucing and cleaning can quickly become expensive.

With March being women's month, it's the perfect time to talk about the importance of educating women about finances. Although our society has come a long way in achieving gender equality, the financial world still tends to be primarily a man's game, and it's time that changed!

With March being women's month, it's the perfect time to talk about the importance of educating women about finances. Although our society has come a long way in achieving gender equality, the financial world still tends to be primarily a man's game, and it's time that changed!

It's that time of year again; W2s are rolling in, tax professionals are gearing up, and your mind is already swirling with ways to spend your tax refund check. Before getting too excited and seeing dollar signs, check out this BALANCE blog post.

In today’s economy, it is essential that you do what you can to save money. Many people are afraid of sacrificing the things they enjoy in order to keep more cash in their pockets. Fortunately, there are many ways that you can save money without having to give up the lifestyle you enjoy. Here is a look at some easy ways to save money without sacrifice.

Airfare to air fryers. Thai food to tie clips. Memorabilia to memory foam. You can purchase just about anything these days with a buy now, pay later (BNPL) plan. In 2022 alone, consumers in the US bought around $250 billion in goods using BNPLs. The allure of making a small initial payment and splitting the remaining obligation into a series of automatic withdrawals is undeniable. The question remains: Is this a smart way to gain spending flexibility or a tool rife for accumulating bad debt?

The Why
You know it’s coming. Without fail, it happens every year in late December and spills over well into January. Call it the Raging River of Resolutions or the Betterment Blitz. Whatever name you use, you surely know the feeling of being bombarded with self-empowerment content and ads for ways to make the upcoming year better than the one before.

If you look around the internet, you’ll find many quotes about dreams and goals and what it takes to get there. You don’t have to search hard to find boatloads of people who think they’ve drilled down to the one secret ingredient to achieving all your ambitions in life, whether that key element is passion, determination, planning, or something else.

Did you make any new year's resolutions for 2024? Have you done a good job of sticking to them thus far? If you haven't set any goals for the new year or are struggling to live out the action steps to achieve the goals you set, I encourage you to make a vision board and write your goals down.

The start of a new year is sort of like a fresh slate, prompting lots of people to set New Year's resolutions. Some of the most common resolutions are eating healthier, becoming more physically active, saving money, improving personal relationships, learning a new hobby or skill, reading more, etc. 

However, others avoid making resolutions altogether because they never stick to them or get the results they're looking for. You know, the folks who say things like "I always break my resolutions" and "I always give up by mid-January."

One reason New Year's resolutions are so difficult to keep is that they require you to change. Change is hard, and people tend to resist it because it involves a lot of work, willpower, and motivation to do things differently than you have in the past. It's a lot easier just to keep things as they are, especially if you don't have a plan of action with detailed steps on how you're going to make a change.

Whether you call your personal goals New Year's resolutions or not, there is a better way to achieve them: creating good habits. When your actions become a habit, you don't have to remember when, where, why, or how to do them. They just get done because they become part of your daily routine.

Remember, habits- good or bad- result from small decisions we make over time. Our lives today (e.g., finances, health, career achievements) reflect our past habits. To make personal changes, focus on creating habits and routines. Decide now who you want to be next year and prove it to yourself every day by creating lasting habits that make positive changes in your life.