How to Make a May Personal Finance Calendar

Managing your personal finances is an ongoing process that requires discipline. Most people are successful at making sure the bills get paid and often saving a little on a regular basis. However, managing your finances effectively is more than just handling the daily or monthly tasks. Here is a monthly calendar for May that can serve as a guide to addressing some of these other issues.

May Financial To-Dos

Protect your financial identity and electronic activities.

• Check your credit report to guard your financial identity. You can get a free credit report online.
• Consider changing important passwords on a regular basis and keep password information secure.
• Destroy hard drives before disposing of old computers, laptops, or smart phones.
• Make sure the virus protection and firewalls on your computers are up to date.
• Back up important computer files to a cloud account you can access from anywhere or on a hard drive in a secure location away from your physical computer.
• Shred documents that contain important personal information instead of just putting them in the trash.

Review your borrowing.

• The sensible use of debt can be part of any sound financial strategy. However, too much or the wrong kinds of debt can make life miserable.
• Prioritize your borrowing to obtain things with long term value (education, home, and true necessities) rather than borrowing for things with only fleeting value (vacations, expensive jewelry or clothes that are seldom worn).
• Be sure to understand the terms of all your loans, including due dates, payment requirements and interest rates.
• Review the terms of your mortgage. Refinancing may enable you to reduce your payments or pay off your mortgage sooner.
• If you are accumulating credit card debt, quit or reduce using the card and find ways to pay off expensive credit card debt.

The suggestions on this calendar may not match your personal financial schedule. However, it can serve as a reminder to make sure you address important issues.

If you’re interested in speaking to someone at a Sunflower Bank or First National 1870 location near you to discuss your personal finances, visit our Branch Locator page or Wealth Management Team page, to find the right financial partner to address your financial needs.

This article contains general information only. Sunflower Bank and First National 1870 are not, by means of this article, rendering accounting, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. We suggest you consult your personal tax or legal advisor before making tax or legal-related investment decisions.