Financial Resolutions for the New Year

Are you financially ready?

There's something about the New Year that brings out the child in all of us. There’s something about that excitement of being on the threshold of something new, a fresh beginning, another chance to get it right. This is going to be the year. The year I give up smoking. The year I get myself organized. The year to put an end to my procrastinating. This will be the year I'm going to get my finances in order.
Here are several small, realistic financial resolutions to consider.

1. Save 1% of your income. Saving 10% may be difficult, but if you’re saving nothing at all, 1% is a realistic improvement. Make it automatic so it comes right off your paycheck and deposits into your savings or money market account at the credit union.

2. Stop using your credit cards. By taking on no new debt, you’ve taken the first step to getting out of debt entirely.

3. Send all your spare change to the credit card companies at the end of the month, in addition to your regular payments.

4. Buy a notebook and start keeping records of all your spending. Just knowing that you’ll have to account for every penny will force you to think before spending on something you might be able to do without. Experts say we spend 20% more than we think we do. This is a good start to figuring out where the leaks are.

5. Start using a computer program to track your finances. Though it may take a bit of time to learn, you’ll find yourself better off for it.

So many of our resolutions are financial but you may have other goals that you’d like to accomplish in the New Year. Here are some ideas from First Source that will make those resolutions last, so that when next December comes around, you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment knowing you set out to start something, and have actually completed it.

FOCUS. This is the key to success in every undertaking. There may be an itemized list of things you want to change (exercise more, eat nutritiously, pay off debts, spend more time with family, and start investing for retirement) but if you try for everything you'll end up with the same list next year. However, if you focus on the one aspect that is most important to you, even if it means forgetting, temporarily, about other resolutions you would have liked to consider, your chance for success in that one area is much higher than if you attempted to take on more.

PLAN. Think of the obstacles you may face, and plan to overcome them. If you're trying to lose weight and know that evenings are the hardest time to stay away from your favorite ice cream, think of a replacement and stock up on it.

DO WHAT IT TAKES. Read up on what it is you're working on, purchase anything you may need, and speak to family members to get their support. By next year, you'll be on to another resolution, having followed through and put this one behind you.
Just don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to take on more than one or two. You can always come back and pick something else for next year.
Are these earth-shattering ideas? No. That’s what makes them realistic. Because they are so small and so specific, you’ll find them different than most resolutions: you’ll actually stick to them for a full 12 months.