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Money Moves – 2024 is off to an eventful start. For me personally I said goodbye to my dear grandmother who I adored deeply. I shouldn’t say goodbye, because I believe we can still communicate with the soul or energy of those we loved. But goodbye in the human form. This experience gave me a new found perspective on life and decided to move forward with some YOLO stuff. It also has re energized wealth building practices since she lived a long life and was smart enough to prepare for a long retirement.
From a market perspective the bull market continues to rage on. The economy us relatively strong, but of course those unknowns always lurk on the horizon, which makes us want to think strategically about portfolio diversification and asset allocation.
Give where we are and where I am personally, here are the top 3 money moves I am making in 2024:
Money Moves 1: Bumping up automation by 1%
The last couple of years have exposed us all to some pretty brutal inflation. Due to this, I felt the need to contribute less to investments in order to make all the growing bills. Although prices still “feel” a bit high, it does seem that things have finally cooled off. Unfortunately though prices after an inflation patch seem a bit sticky. They don’e feel like they fall that fast, they just kind of linger and maybe slowly come back to Earth. Or, if we were lucky enough to receive some form of raise in the new year, then the prices are feeling a bit more manageable. Or some combo of the two.
Regardless, I am finally feeling like I can bump those automated investments up a percentage. It may seem small, but over 30 years of contributing and investing this could make a sizable difference.
Money Moves 2: No More ___________
In 2024 I am going to give something up. Or a few things. These are things that may seem small, but sometimes the act itself creates an energy and intention inside me. For example, for me, no more of these modern Magic card boxes. A person should realize when they have enough of something. And then pair down to the essentials or those fewer items that are really special to us. We are also cancelling the Disney plus subscription. And, only buying gas from Costco using their 4% cash back on gas.
These seem small, and admittedly they are. This is not life altering money. But, it will add up and it gets me into the mindset of focusing on what is truly critical and important with our money.
Money Moves 3: $100 extra on the Mortgage
Each month in 2024, I am putting an extra $100-200 into paying off principal. This is another thing that seems small, but it saves like 5-7 years off mortgage repayment and reduces interest costs in the tens of thousands over time.
Small Steps and Actions
Sometimes things seem like small steps or actions, but the reality is that they compound over time. And I have found that these small actions lead me to think and implement more small actions. And when I look back over a year or several years I see huge changes. So what can you do in a small step to improve your life today and into the future? Is there anything you can do or cut back on that will have minimal impact on your life satisfaction, but make you stronger over time? Here are some additional ideas!
What are you going to do?
Share your small steps in 2024 that are making you Money Viking Strong! I would love to try some new ones.