Happy New Year! I am so excited about a glistening new year full of infinite possibilities. It's like the first page in a new notebook. I just get giddy with the idea of filling it with new ideas and goals.

Today though, I wanted to take a look back at the top financial tips and goals from 2016. So let's dive in.

1. You have to, have to, have to plan for the unexpected.

2016 was just the year of unexpected. Everything in my house broke, we had some major health costs arise and it was just an expensive year.

It is imperative to have a rainy day emergency fund. I know it's hard to build one up and keep it thriving when life throws one thing after another at you. But not having the money in place will only make things worse.

Here are a few ways to build that fund up FAST.

2. Just because you have an irregular income doesn't mean you can't budget

I now earn a full-time income from home now. Which is awesome. (If you want to learn more about how I do that I will have a course coming out in two weeks!)

But because I run my own business my income can be irregular. While we really only live off one income, we still have to have a plan for that money.

When we first started budgeting we had a very irregular income and it took some tweaking to get it right. But it can be done.

Here are my top tips for that.

3. Living on a budget can lead to burn out

There comes a point when you've spent so much time being frugal you just want to scream. You want to stand in the middle of your yard and scream your head off. But don't. Your neighbors will think you're crazy. Also, you will get past this moment of frustration.

Ask yourself some questions:

Why are you doing this? Why are you living the way you're living? Is it because you're in debt and don't want to be anymore? Is it so you can buy a house? Pay for college? Help those in need?

Here are my tips for when you're so tired of being frugal you could scream!

4. If there's a will there's a way

Last year we had to replace our roof. It needed to be done quickly and we didn't want to deplete our entire emergency fund to do it. So we had to go into barebones mode. It was so reminiscent of when we were first getting out of debt.

But when all was said and done we saved up an extra $6,000 in six months on TOP of our regular savings goals.

5. You have to communicate

My husband spent much of 2016 on the road. And I'll be honest, I used this as an excuse to get off budget. Having a spouse that travels can derail your budget plans if you don't communicate about money. It's worth it. Trust me. Hard but worth it.

What about you? What money lessons did 2016 teach you?

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