Stretch Your Dollar: Smart Personal Finance Habits

A dollar is not stretching like it used to. Managing your personal finances is critical if you plan to buy a car, a home, or apply for business funding. As we are looking at tax season in the rearview mirror, you likely have data at the ready. Now is the best time to review your spending from last year and analyze where you can save money, service your debt, and achieve your financial goals.

Analyzing personal finances is not the beastly task it appears to be. It is as easy as printing out your spending from last year, assigning categories to your earning and spending, and then analyzing the categories for patterns. The patterns will tell you a lot about your financial behavior. From this analysis, you can make plans to continue or change the way you earn, spend, and save.

Equipping you with the tools needed to make better spending decisions is important to us. Our clients are people first and foremost, and although business finance is our general focus, we are here to help you succeed on a personal level, too.  If you want to make better spending decisions, reduce debt, and save for life goals, you can apply some of the very same habits we teach small business owners.

• Use what you have.

Your online banking portal likely has great built-in software to help you analyze your spending at no additional cost. Otherwise, with tools such as Google Sheets and Excel, you can quickly organize and arrange your spending data to show you a picture of your spending habits. Simply export your monthly banking statements to a spreadsheet file.

How much do you spend on eating out? What did you spend on fuel and auto repair last year? Did you put as much money in savings as you planned?

All of these questions and many more can be answered in minutes with a few free tools.

• Access free resources.

Wyoming Extension offers free, self-paced courses on financial topics. Find out more at https://www.uwyo.edu/uwe/programs/money/courses.html.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers a robust learning library with a variety of financial topics at no cost. Learn more at https://wyomingsbdc.org/recordings/ and locate the Accounting, Finances, & Taxes tab.

• Make timely payments and reduce credit card balances.

Timely payments are the number one way to keep your credit clean. If a negative mark impacts your credit, be sure to remediate it as soon as possible. A target number for credit card usage is 30% of your available credit. If you have a $1,000 credit card, your balance should stay below $330.

• Limit New Credit Applications.

Unless you have a clear intention to make a purchase, or open a new credit line, limit unnecessary credit applications. Each time you apply for new credit, it can temporarily lower your score.

• Check Your Credit Report Regularly.

To ensure there are no errors or fraudulent activities, access a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus each year. This is key to keeping your credit history clean and free from errors and identity theft.

Your home finances are a tool to meet your personal and professional goals. Financial habits are built on small changes or adaptations. There are many ways change can occur: sometimes we are forced to make a change, and a plan is developed out of sheer need. Other times, we realize a change will be helpful and we embark on a plan to embrace the change. No matter the way, being positive about the process is helpful. Looking ahead can help you stay focused on your goals and the rewards.

The Wyoming SBDC Network operates within an environment of small business resources. If you are trying to prepare for business ownership or lending, the network can assist you with identifying your needs and aligning you with the resources that may best fit your priorities. The no-cost program can support you in many ways: personal budget preparation, business ideation, financial projections, market research, and much more.

Entrepreneurs and business owners who access services enjoy the benefits of no-cost advising, group learning events, both online and in-person, and perpetual access to the team of expert advisors across the state. With an ever-changing business landscape, it is quite honestly the best value for your time.

You can meet with your Regional Director in person at the regional office, a community location such as the library, or your business. Accessing services is as easy as making a call or registering online. You will receive a response from an advisor to set up an appointment. The initial appointment is typically a discovery call to gather some preliminary information on your goals. This sets the stage for follow-up meetings.

Devan Costa-Cargill, Regional Director

Devan is an entrepreneur and teacher. Devan launched her consulting career in the public-school system, specifically Special Education. For the past 10 years, she operated her own small business, providing consultation and enrichment to families and early educators. Her work with the SBDC began in April 2021, advising small business startups through the first important steps of their journey. Outside of work, Devan loves camping and attending her children’s many sporting events. She enjoys a strong cup of coffee to start the day and a thick steak to celebrate a successful week.

The Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network is a partnership between the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council and the U.S. Small Business Administration offering business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business.