How to celebrate Financial Literacy Month

What's your money IQ? Financial Literacy Month challenges you to give that some thought, and learn something new.

If you're just curious about finances, or want to feel more confident about managing your money, right now is a great time to take that first step. Financial Literacy Month—also called Financial Capability Month—is all about leveling up your money awareness.

What is Financial Literacy Month?

Financial Literacy Month is a celebration of financial awareness. It takes place every April. Financial education and empowerment are major themes—when you know more about money, you can do more with it.

Congress first introduced the idea of devoting a month to financial literacy in 2004. Since then, the federal government has passed resolutions declaring April National Financial Literacy Month. Under the Obama administration, it became known as Financial Capability Month. 

Financial Literacy Month addresses knowledge gaps people might have about money. While more schools now require that students take personal finance classes, there's still plenty of room for improvement for most of us. 

Related: Take our financial literacy quiz

How Financial Literacy Can Improve Your Life

Being financially literate could improve your life. When you're more knowledgeable about money, it can be easier to:

• Reduce money stress

• Make a budget and stick to it

• Break out of the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle

• Pay down credit card debt or other debts

• Set realistic savings goals

• Work toward something big like a down payment on a home or early retirement

Making even one small change can kick-start a positive domino effect. For example, Financial Literacy Month fires you up to make a budget for the first time. That budget keeps you from overspending. Because you're spending less, you're not as reliant on credit cards. 

Now you have less high-interest debt, and more money to save.

Here’s another scenario. You take $200 and stash it for emergencies. A few months later, your tire blows out. But guess what? You have enough in your rainy-day fund to cover it because you've been saving. You can pay the bill without breaking a sweat or throwing your budget off. 

Financial Literacy Month may only happen once a year, but it's meant to encourage you to build good money habits that can last a lifetime. 

Financial Literacy Month 2024: What's New This Year

It's common for government agencies to promote specific topics they're focusing on for the year. Here’s what we found:

• The Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to check their credit reports

• The Consumer Federation of America is encouraging people to save. 

• The State of Washington provides educational resources you can use to teach students about personal finance.

• The National Credit Union Association helps families save for college.

And no rule says you can't choose a theme of your own for Financial Literacy Month. You could pick one or two personal finance topics to focus on. For example, you might try:

• Budgeting and expense tracking

• Credit and debt

• Saving and goal-setting

Breaking financial literacy down into bite-sized chunks can make learning about money less intimidating. And sticking with just one or two things at a time can make it easier for the information to stick. 

You might find local Financial Literacy Month events where you live. For example, a local library or community college might offer free financial education workshops or guest lectures on financial topics. These types of events can be a fun way to supplement what you learn about money on your own. 

How to celebrate Financial Literacy Month

Celebrating Financial Literacy Month starts with figuring out what you want to focus on. Here are a few ideas you might try.

• Check your credit. Credit scores measure how you use credit. If you have credit cards or a loan, you have a credit score. Checking your scores regularly can keep you tuned in to how you're doing financially.

• Set some debt goals. If you have debt, you probably want to pay it off, but maybe you don't know how to do it easily. Setting a specific goal (like paying down $5,000 in the next 12 months) can give you a starting point. Once you have a goal, you can reverse-engineer a plan for reaching it.

• Keep a spending log. Do you know where your money goes? If you don't keep track of every penny, challenge yourself to try it for Financial Literacy Month. Tracking expenses can help you get a better handle on how you spend, and make it easier to budget. Or, try using an easy money management app.

• Review your budget (or make one). Budgeting is a smart financial habit that puts you in control of your money. If you don't have a budget, learn how to make a budget and save more money. And if you do have a budget, go over your spending and ask yourself, "What could I cut out to spend less?"

• Get help if you need it. If you're having a hard time making a realistic budget or you need help creating a debt payoff plan, you might try credit counseling. A credit counselor can look at your financial situation and offer tips to help you get ahead or get debt under control.

Related: DIY your way out of debt with 5 tried-and-true debt payoff methods