Welcome to our very first Blog Hop for 2015!

This month we want to help you start the year off with a fresh start featuring articles, how-to’s and resources that have helped each consultant, blogger and business owner on the hop in their own lives and businesses. Get ready to be inspired for a fabulous year ahead of you as you move along through the blog hop.

You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Deb Brown at Touch Your Client’s Heart on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you make sure to see and learn from all of the articles featured here today.

Start Flexing Your Financial Muscles to Make Your Dreams Come True

It’s the New Year and you may have goals related to your appearance and business, but what about financial fitness? When you strengthen your “core” you’re improving your center of balance, and your money is the main center of movement for your lifestyle. If it’s in balance, everything flows from dream stage to the “I can do it” stage.

So how can you start flexing? Try these exercises:

You may not be great at them at first, but just remember how you felt in your favorite exercise class the first time you tried it – a bit slow, out of synch, not sure what came next. Now you love it, and you’ll love these too because they feel good and get you what you want most: a lifestyle that serves you.

1. Keep your credit score as high as possible. 

First get your credit score for free (CreditKarma.com, Quizzle.com, CreditSesame.com). Then, take little steps over the next 12 months to increase your score. This is a new exercise, so take it slow. You can do one small thing each month to improve your score: pay extra on a debt;  earn a little extra income; or, check your official credit report for errors. Just like training your muscles, your task is to nudge that score higher over the course of a year. Patience and diligence will pay off and your higher score will reap big rewards in respect and savings when you enter into a new financial agreement.

2. Live under your means. 

Yes, I mean spend less than you earn.  I know it’s hard when everything you buy feels like something you need – so don’t go cold turkey! Instead, each month look around and see if there’s one thing that can be replaced with something cheaper. Have you tried the library lately? They’ve moved beyond print. You can borrow the DVDs for  Game of Thrones, or download an audio book. Some people are saving $1,000 per year by disconnecting cable TV and replacing it with services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. You may be able to get cheaper car insurance or move your phone service to a “friends and family” plan. You might find out that you love using your pressure cooker to make amazing soups from leftovers, or that you love having a vegetable container garden.

There are a number of ways to save that actually enrich your life, giving you a bigger benefit, and making you feel the opposite of poor. To find your biggest budget leaks, I recommend tracking your spending for a month.  I offer a tracker when you sign up for my newsletter.

3. Having savings for times of need. 

Again, take it slow. Just like you won’t get fit in a day, you won’t have a big savings account in a day. It’s all about moving a little money over on a regular schedule. If you receive a paycheck, you can have it deposited automatically. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can schedule a monthly transfer from checking to savings. Out of sight is out of mind. It’s just like hiding the snacks in the back of the cupboard.

I don’t want to to scare you, but without a savings, you are one step from financial disaster when the next unexpected expenses occurs. Having a savings account is a lifestyle and it’s one you want to work your way into.

Turn these steps into regular exercise and you’ll have healthy finances to support your dreams.

The next stop is  Kim McDaniels at iBiz Design Duchess on Natalie Bradley’s Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again next month!

1. Natalie Bradley at Natalie Bradley Consulting
2. Cari Vollmer at PassionIntoProfit.com
3. Wendy Bottrell at Lifestyle Transformation
4. Janet Slack at Solopreneur.Biz
5. Vicki Heise at Live Your Healthy Life 
6. Rochelle Togo-Figa at Speaking Breakthrough Strategist 
7. Lisa Ivaldi at InsightClarityGrowth.com
8. Robin Hardy at Integrity Virtual Services
9. Sandra Gardner at Tall Red Poppy // Marketing, Magic, & Design Sanctuary
10. Deb Brown at Touch Your Client’s Heart
11. Jill Russo Foster at JillRussoFoster.com <<– you are here!
12. Kim McDaniels at iBiz Design Duchess
13. Sharon Lewis at Questiam Leadership Development
14. Chérie Ronning at Chérie Ronning, Consultant-Mentor-Speaker

 Jill’s Financial Tracker and NearlyFreeTravel

To Receive Jill’s Financial Tracker and her bi-weekly newsletter (only 26 issues a year) AND register for her free Travel Class in February, follow the link below:

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