Skip to main content

New year, new financial resolutions? 5 tips for reaching your goals.

New Year’s resolutions can be hard to maintain, especially when money is involved. Whether you dream of being debt free, saving for retirement, paying off your vehicle or supercharging your credit score, it can be tough to stay on track. But you’re not alone and reaching your goals is far from impossible. Here are five simple ways to start the year off right and make your financial resolutions a reality.

1 Start with the right mindset

Saving more and spending less might sound simple at first, but is pretty vague when it comes to building a solid financial future.

Be as specific as possible and measure your progress

Instead of saying “I’ll try to save money this year”, get specific about it and commit to saving $100 per month by setting up automatic transfers to your savings account. Instead of telling yourself you’ll pay off your credit card, go a bit deeper and decide how to save money to make that happen. For example, by making $20 payments at the end of each week and switching to at-home coffee.

Whatever your goal, step back and figure out what simple, consistent and measurable steps you can take to get there. Then, make those actions part of your resolution.

Think small, achievable and meaningful

Stay realistic and make sure your goals fit your budget. Remember, you don’t need to start perfect, you just need to start.

Set clear deadlines and celebrate milestones

It’s easy to lose steam over 12 months. Break big goals into smaller pieces and schedule check-ins with yourself to monitor your progress. If your goal is to save $500 in six months, do you have at least $250 after three? Have you been saving at least $85 per month? Use a calendar or budget tracking app to stay focused and motivated. And don’t forget to celebrate milestones!

2 Track every dollar and build a budget

Understanding your spending habits is essential to finding out where you can save and make smarter financial choices. Print your bank and credit card statements for the last three months and analyze them as if you were a detective. You can also use a budgeting tool, like this one from the FCAC. The goal is to get a clear picture of your expenses and be able to categorize them as either essential (like rent, utilities and groceries) or non-essential (like dining out, subscriptions and impulse buys).

Once you have a clear picture of where your money goes each month, you can start building a budget and making small and smart changes that add up over time. Take stock of the money you have coming in and look for any signs of waste or overspending in non-essential categories. Subscriptions you don’t use? Paying for more cell phone data than you need? Buying extra snacks or unplanned items at the grocery store? Use this information to build a plan and scale back where you need to.

3 Set a savings goal and stick to it

Saving isn’t just about having money in the bank. It’s about reducing stress and giving yourself options. An emergency fund is a good place to start and build from. Making small adjustments to your spending habits and staying consistent is what’s most important. Remember: small wins add up. Saving just $5 a day adds up to $1,825 a year.

4 Get strategic about paying off debt

​​Making more than monthly minimum payments is key to getting out of debt. When building your budget, figure out how much money you can set aside for extra payments. Then, in addition to making your minimum payments, choose the debt-tackling strategy that works best for you.

The snowball method: for early wins and easier motivation

Put as much extra money as you can towards paying off your lowest balance. Once it’s gone, move on to the second lowest. Keep repeating this, using the money freed up from the previous smaller debts to pay off bigger and bigger balances.

The avalanche method: to save more on interest

Put as much extra money as you can towards paying off the debt with the highest interest rate. Once that debt is paid off, move towards the second highest, and so on.

How to choose?

Both methods work, but the one that will work best for you depends on your personality and circumstances. Progress will feel faster with the snowball method, but it may end up costing you more in the long run, especially if you have large high-interest balances. Meanwhile, the avalanche method is more likely to save you money on interest, but progress could feel slower.

5 Take charge of your credit score

Think of your credit score as your financial report card. It impacts everything from the loans you can be approved for and the interest rates you’ll be charged. Our Credit Keeper tool is a free, fast and secure way to check your credit score and you don’t need a Capital One credit card to use it.

Tip: Maintain a good credit score or improve a bad one by keeping your balances low. That means using less than 30% of your available credit limit and paying on time, every time.

It’s also best to avoid hard hits to your credit report. These happen when you try to gain access to credit, usually by applying. If you’re considering a new credit card, use pre-approval tools like Quick Check to find out which cards you’ll likely be approved for before you apply.

Remember, it’s never too late for a fresh start

The start of a new year is a great opportunity to reset and make meaningful changes to your financial health. Stay positive and remember you don’t have to do everything perfectly or at once. Each small step makes a difference and will get you closer to your healthiest financial year yet.


* If Quick Check pre-approves a card, you can be sure we’ll approve your application, except in limited circumstances. Some of the reasons we may not approve your application, among others, include:

a. There’s been a change in your credit file information, personal information or financial status from the time you receive your Quick Check results to the time you apply for one of our credit cards.

b. You’re not at least the age of majority in the province or territory you live in.

c. Your application is flagged for fraud prevention.

d. You have an existing Capital One account.

e. You’ve applied for a Capital One account in the last 30 days or had an account with us that was not in good standing in the last year. In good standing means not past due, over limit, fraudulent, restricted, or part of a consumer credit counselling program or bankruptcy.

In some cases, we may not be able to open an account for you even though your application was approved. This can happen if we’re unable to verify your identity, or you don’t provide the required security funds if you’re approved for a Secured Mastercard®.