With the midpoint of the year approaching fast, it's a great time to take stock of your financial progress, realign your spending with your goals and set your sights on where you want to end up by the end of the year. To help you pull off a financial review that leaves you with new insight and gets you organized for a great second half of the year, here are seven items to add to your midyear financial checklist.
1. Refresh Your Budget
First things first: Use the midyear mark as a chance to review and refresh your budget. It's possible that your financial circumstances and priorities have shifted since you last worked on your budget. If you've had a change in income, have new expenses to account for or are saving toward new goals, revise your budget to reflect your new financial situation.
Revisiting your budget also allows you to reflect on how your actual spending compares to your planned spending. That can help you realign your spending to your goals—or, if necessary, set more realistic spending limits. Look back over your spending to find places where you may be able to cut back, such as spending on dining out or online shopping.
2. Boost Your Emergency Savings
If you've dipped into your emergency fund, take inventory of your savings and make a plan to replenish those funds. Unexpected expenses and other financial crises are a fact of life. But having a flush emergency savings fund can help you feel protected and make it through in one piece.
Even if you haven't tapped into your savings recently, it may be a good idea to grow a larger fund. To check this item off your list, determine how large you want your financial safety net to be. Many experts suggest aiming for at least three to six months' worth of basic expenses in your fund.
Tally up your goal amount and then make a plan to get there. You could aim to reach your goal by the end of the year. For example, if you want to save $3,000 by January and you're starting in July, you could aim for $500 a month, or $250 each biweekly period. If that's too steep a goal, try cutting it in half and making that your end of year goal instead.
3. Check Your Credit
Do you know your credit score? You can check your credit report and score for free and without any impact to your credit. Not only does knowing where you stand give you a sense of how lenders are likely to view you as an applicant, but it's also a prudent move to look for any unrecognized credit activity, such as accounts or inquiries you don't recognize. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information on your credit report.
4. Increase Your Retirement Contributions
If you're currently investing for retirement through a workplace savings plan, such as a 401(k), or through an individual retirement account (IRA), consider upping your contributions. Even a small increase can make a big difference in how much retirement money you end up with, thanks to the power of compound interest.
Boosting your retirement contributions by just 1% can leave you with significantly more money in retirement, according to Fidelity Investments. How the numbers work out depends on how much you earn and how much time you have until retirement.
For example, a 35-year-old earning $60,000 a year could end up with over $85,000 more by retirement age by upping their contributions by just 1%, or around $12 a week. A 45-year-old earning $70,000 could up their contributions by the same percentage, paying around $14 more a week, and end up with almost $43,000 more in retirement.
You can use the midyear mark as an opportunity to evaluate what you're currently putting away and see if you can save more for retirement without stretching your budget too thin. And if you aren't already investing, learn about how to start saving for retirement now and create new goals for building wealth.
5. Shave Off Some Subscriptions
Are you paying for things you don't need? Do a quick audit to see if you can cut back on your monthly expenses. To get a clear view of everything you're paying, pull up your bank account or credit credit card statements. Note everything you're paying for on a recurring basis: streaming services, gym memberships, monthly subscription boxes, periodicals and anything else beyond necessities that you're being charged for each month. You may be surprised to see how much you're paying without even noticing. See if you can trim the list a bit by unsubscribing from anything you can do without.
6. Take Stock of Debt
If you're carrying credit card balances, loans or other types of debt, make a plan to pay it off ASAP. Start by taking inventory of your debt. Write down your balances, noting who you owe, the amount, the monthly payment and the interest rate.
Then, pick a strategy to pay it off. To save the most money, start by throwing extra money at your highest-interest debt, while still being sure to make at least the minimum payment on all other debts to avoid damage to your credit. You can also gain momentum by paying off your debts in order from smallest to largest.
Depending on your financial and credit specifics, you may be able to save money and pay off debt faster with a debt consolidation loan or balance transfer card.
7. Update Your Passwords
Cybercriminals and identity thieves are always on the prowl. Setting aside some time periodically to up your security can help you reduce vulnerability and stay defensive.
For starters, update your passwords to protect access to your accounts. Create strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts, and consider using a password manager to keep them organized.
While you're at it, consider running a free dark web scan to scan thousands of sites for stolen, sensitive information. Criminals buy and sell sensitive information on the dark web and use it to commit identity theft and fraud. If any of your information is compromised, you'll receive guidance on what steps you can take to up your credit defenses.
The Bottom Line
A midyear money checkup can help you stay on track with your goals, and it's also an opportunity to adjust if you've gone off course. On top of staying agile when it comes to your money, be sure you're taking a proactive approach to managing credit.
Sign up for free credit monitoring through Experian to get updates on changes to your report and score. You'll also have access to personalized credit advice through your member dashboard, where you'll get a big-picture view of your credit. For example, you'll be able to view trends in your credit score growth or decline, your credit utilization ratio and your total debt at a glance.