Credit Card Brains

Financial literacy has been a hot topic around my financial blogging friends lately. In fact, it’s so en vogue right now that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake even made an announcement that the average American needs to do more at an early age to “navigate an increasingly complex financial marketplace.” People, that’s you.

So this Friday, use your lunch break to do something about it and better your financial situation. Since we all know how big I am on small steps, I’m challenging you to do one of three tiny little things today.

Here are your options for the first ever “Budgeting Babe’s Fabulous Financial Challenge.”

1) (Easiest) Learn one new fact about personal finance today and share it with someone else. This may mean running over to Borders to pick up “Personal Finance For Dummies,” or it may mean browsing one of your favorite blogs or news sites and spending a few minutes reading up on how to better your financial situation. Whatever you find out, make sure you share it with someone else today.

2. (Not hard!) Increase your retirement contribution by one percent. If you have an online account, do it now. I swear you won’t even notice it. I make an effort to increase my contribution by one percentage point a few times per year. I started out contributing three percent, and now I’m up to nine percent. Do it today, I dare you

3. (For those with savings accounts): Move $25 from your checking into your savings account (more if you’d like) today. Just for absolutely no reason. It’s not a significant amount and most of you won’t miss it. If you’re banking online, it shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes. You’ll feel good about it, and it may start you making random contributions more often, which is a good habit to have.

So there, I’ve thrown down the financial gauntlet on this lovely, sunny Friday afternoon. What are you going to do about it? Shy away? Say, “Oh, that’s a nice idea but it’s not for me?” Tsk, tsk. Suck it up today and do something to lift yourself up and those around you. You’ll be glad you did.

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… OK, now that you’ve done something cool and savvy, report back to us on what you did. I can’t wait to hear!