Friday is New Year’s Eve and there is still time to set some resolutions.
Over the course of the pandemic, living rooms became workplaces, gyms, and classrooms. Local experts weighed in on how people can set goals for 2022 and told KSBY the trick is setting realistic goals and leaning on your community.
Megan Carden, a local Wealth Advisor with Wacker Wealth Partners said, people are focused on keeping an emergency fund, "a lot of people are looking to manage their cash flow, so spending less, saving more and controlling their debt."
Many people worked and worked out from home because workplaces and gyms were closed.
Some places opened up again and the new year is a time where gyms see a lot of interest due to people’s renewed fitness goals.
But at 9round in Arroyo Grande, the owner said she didn't see an increase in clients around January 1st.
"No, we've had a bit of a drop, but that could be due to the variants," said Stephanie Zatzke.
Although working in two different industries, the advice Zatzke and Carden relayed sounded similar.
"I think it's really difficult because people don't know how much to save and they don't know how much their friends are saving," Carden explained.
"Realistic is key. But be realistic with your goals and share your goals. Write them down. Share them with your friend, with your family, whomever, because it helps you stay on track and helps you stay accountable to those goals that you've already set for," said Zatzke.
Zatzke suggested celebrating your triumphs and using that momentum to further yourself.
"I think the hardest part is just stepping in, asking questions. And the great thing about our system here, nine-round is we've broken that elephant down into bite-sized bits, so we're able to really build on the small successes that you have every time you come in," said Zatske.
For financial planning, Carden suggested the 50, 30, 20 strategy, where 50% of your income goes to necessities, 30% goes to wants, and 20% goes into savings.
Tackling debt is another popular New Year’s Resolution. Carden discussed how credit card debt can often be seen as high risk debt, as opposed to other debt including mortgages, which are often seen as good debt.
She advised, “Tackling the credit card debt in the highest interest rate first is really helpful. So if you have three credit cards, one for 20% another one, 18 and other ones 16 always make the minimum payment but definitely try to tackle a high interest."
Carden agreed with Zatzke in terms of breaking things down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
"Sometimes it's easier to try to tackle the lowest balance first. You know, it makes it easier if you have two credit cards to pay rather than three," said Carden.
