5.) Check Your Credit Report For Free

Credit card fraud and ID theft are issues that won’t be going away anytime soon. In 2016, global credit card fraud totalled $22.8 billion in losses and data breaches affected upwards of 3 billion people.

Have you checked your credit report recently? Your credit report is like the Internet browsing history for your finances. It will highlight any credit pulls, new accounts or suspicious activity that might be happening under under your ID in regards to financial accounts.

Thankfully there are safe and secure free services that allow you to check your credit score and credit report.

Credit Sesame – Free Credit Score & Report For Americans

Credit Sesame gives Americans free access to their credit score and reports. Safe, secure, easy to use and full of other value and benefits. Sign up today for this free service.

No catch or hard pulls on your credit just a great tool to stay on top of your financial health and monitor your credit as you progress through your financial journey. Plus Credit Sesame members get free identity theft protection (up to $50,000 insured).

Borrowell – Free Credit Score & Report For Canadians

Borrowell gives Canadians free access to your credit score and credit reports – there’s no catch or hard pull on your credit. It’s a great tool to stay on top of your credit score, which in turn will affect your overall financial health and credit opportunities available to you as you move forward.

Borrowell is simple, secure and free for Canadians. It takes 2 minutes to register your account and from there, you’ll be able to monitor and track any monthly changes in your credit score and report.

Related Post : Understanding Your Credit Score And How To Check It For Free

6.) Build A Plan Of Attack For Your Debt

If you have an outstanding credit card debt, student loans, vehicle loans or even your mortgage, review that debt.

What’s the principal owing? How much interest are you paying each month? Is there any flexibility in your budget to increase your payment? How about making 1 extra mortgage payment a year?

Play around with the Money Zine Debt Reduction Calculator to see the impact of increasing your payments. Even an extra $50 or $100 helps expedite those debt repayment timelines.

Check out great resources like SoFi and Credible for refinancing opportunities on student loans, personal loans and mortgages. These can save you tens of thousands of dollars and have helped hundreds of thousands of everyday people do that.

Related Post : Student Loan Repayment: 7 Steps I Took To Get On The Right Path

7.) Make A List Of Income Stream Ideas To Make More Money

Finding opportunities to save money and better spend around a budget is one thing. But growing your income is the whole other side of the equation.

Based on your skills, experiences and interests, make a list of ideas on how you can make more money.

Whether it’s an extra $50 a week or potentially a six-figure business idea that could replace your 9-5 in the future, just start brainstorming.

What are the opportunities in your city? Is there anything you’re doing now that you can look to scale and grow? If you had an extra 10 hours a week to make more money, what would you enjoy doing? Consider ideas around how to make money from your phone, how to make money online from home and other ideas that fit your current lifestyle.