The new year often symbolizes a clean slate — a time to start over and start fresh, a time to reevaluate or prioritize your goals and overall lifestyle.

Jan. 1 represents the start of something new, and it presents a good opportunity to start thinking and planning ahead for the future, especially as it relates to your finances.

Most New Year’s resolutions and goals tend to be based on behaviors or habits, like exercising more or eating healthier. The same principle can apply to your financial health and wellness.

With the past 12 months in the rearview, you have access to a full year’s worth of information to further evaluate and assess your spending, saving, borrowing and investment habits. That data can then be leveraged to establish new resolutions related to your financial activities and goals in the year ahead.

Here are a few considerations to keep in mind as you outline your financial wellness resolutions for 2022:

Getting started: Save, save, save

Setting financial wellness resolutions may seem daunting at first, but it’s important to start somewhere.

One of the most important first steps on your financial wellness journey is establishing a habit of setting money aside for savings on a recurring basis. Even if it’s a small amount to start with, such as $5 or $10 per month, accruing those dollars early on will allow you to build up a nest egg for financial security and emergency expenses.

Once you’ve determined an amount that is realistic and achievable for you to continually set aside, make the process automatic if you can, similar to how taxes and health care cost contributions are deducted from your paycheck each pay period.

Automating this process will make things easier in the long run, but try not to “set it and forget it.” Review your financial portfolio regularly and make adjustments as your situation changes.

Review your financial portfolio

When looking at your full financial portfolio, there are factors to consider other than the amount you’re investing in savings, like your credit score and current debt load (also referred to as a debt-to-income ratio).

Think of your credit score as a report card: If you don’t know where you currently stand, it’s going to be challenging to identify if you’re doing well or if you can improve. The start of the new calendar year is a prime opportunity to see where your credit score stands. Many credit agencies offer the option to check your score for free once a year, or seek out support from a trusted financial expert.

Your debt-to-income ratio will be very specific and individualized to your situation and income. For millennials and recent college graduates, factor in any outstanding student loan expenses you may have. If you’re not sure what ratio you should be striving for, talk to your a financial professional at your financial institution to understand how much debt you can afford based on your income, including strategies to help correctly manage any current debt to get your savings back on track.

Budget or bust

Budgeting is another essential practice to set yourself up for financial success in the new year. First, outline your fixed expenses, like rent, mortgage payments, or other stable household expenditures and bills. Then, factor in your average extraneous expenses throughout the year for entertainment, clothing, dining and other activities. View those expenses in context with your current debts to determine whether you should create any short- or long-term goals that modify your spending behaviors.

Once you have a clearer understanding of your expenses, consider setting goals for any other planned or anticipated large purchases throughout the rest of the year. For example, if you know you’ll need to purchase a new car, a new water heater, will be taking a vacation or plan to start looking for a home, set financial goals for yourself.

Those are all expenses that, regardless of how exciting or sometimes necessary they may be, also require careful budgeting and planning.

When goal setting, it’s important to be specific and be able to measure your success — for example, “I need to save $500 in the next 12 months.” By setting a specific goal, you’ll have something to strive toward and can establish achievable milestones for yourself throughout the year. And saving $42 a month feels much more doable than $500.

Before finalizing your budgetary goals for the year, be sure to also have necessary conversations with any individuals you may share expenses with. Even if your finances are separate, having those financial “household conversations” early on will help establish clear priorities and responsibilities, and will reduce the potential for financial risks or issues later in the year.

Celeste A. Kier is senior vice president and director of marketing and customer experience at ESL Federal Credit Union

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jobs & Careers newsletter: Advice on financial strategies for 2022