January is not only a great time to work on your physical health but also your financial wellbeing. I’m not the biggest fan of resolutions per se but I do love to set new goals at the beginning of the year. One of my goals for 2020 is to improve my budgeting skills and be more aware of my spending.

I spent a significant amount of money in 2019 from planning our wedding, taking a road trip, buying Christmas presents and moving to a new apartment. At times I felt like I had no budget in mind and just had expense after expense being charged to my account. Although I was the one making these purchases and knew I was able to pay them off right away, I still felt a lack of control over my finances. About halfway through the year, my husband, who is a financial advisor and portfolio manager, showed me the Personal Capital app and how he uses it. He informed me that this digital wealth manager tool is a great way to invest extra savings, get an overview of your net worth and create a budget based on your monthly income vs. your monthly expenses.

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After showing me the many useful functions of this tool, my husband helped me create an account of my own as well as a joint account for us to start with the money we received from our wedding. It was so interesting to see all of my money from my bank account to my investments in one place. I spent the rest of 2019 becoming more familiar with Personal Capital and now I am ready to set a more specific monthly spending target for 2020. This will allow me to continue saving for a house, a second dog and family vacations. These are all things my husband and I desire for our future and I know budgeting is vital to obtain them.

As the year goes on, I can analyze my spending by date, merchant or category to see how each month compares to my target goal. If my spending is under, I know I can save more that month or make a larger student loan payment. If my spending exceeds my budget, I will know that I need to evaluate and make changes for the months ahead to stay on track.

If improving your finances and sticking to a budget is one of your goals for the new year, I highly recommend trying out Personal Capital. This tool is completely FREE and a great resource for all things personal finance. Use can access this tool on your phone (app) or desktop by signing up HERE.

Financial freedom is the gateway to having a more enjoyable life. Having control over your finances and a sense of security is a great feeling and something we should all work towards. Here’s to making 2020 a year of growth, especially in our finances.

Thank you to Personal Capital for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.