4 Financial Resolutions for the New Year

Posted by MoneyThinker in featured, goals | 0 comments

So, it’s the day before New Year’s Eve. Tomorrow night, people will watch the ball drop. Or, if you’re from my area, you may go watch the pickle drop in Dillsburg. Yes, it’s quite punny, if you ask me. Anyway, its almost time for 2012 to come upon us, even though all those crazy people thought the world would end before that.

One big thing that I’ve been asked several times is what my New Year’s Resolutions are. My list includes health resolutions, career resolutions, and of course, financial ones. Here are four financial resolutions that I’m making that I think everyone should make in this coming New Year.

1. I will stick to my budget. I finished this year poorly. Why? Because I totally blew my budget in September when I went hiking, and it caused the rest of the year to be a spiral. Am I struggling? Eh, kind of. But this is something that everyone should resolve to do this coming year. Sticking to your budget is important to your full financial success.

2. I will get out of debt. Okay, in my case, I’ll start digging my way out. I’ve shared on here that I have next to no credit card debt, but I am in some deep debt from school. The New Year is a great time to work on a plan to get rid of your debt forever. Don’t make yourself struggle financially in order to do so, but consider planning to pay it down some. There is no reason to have debt weighing down your life, so act on it now, even if you have to get a financial planner to help you out.

3. I will reevaluate my retirement plan. I’m such a hypocrite sometimes. For as much as I tell you all to make sure that you have a stable retirement plan worked out, mine is almost non-existent. I’m not alone though; most people who are younger than 30 have nothing saved toward retirement unless it’s part of their benefits at work. Are you like me in that way? Then consider trying to start a 401k or IRA with a couple hundred dollars and watch it grow.

4. I will not give up or get discouraged when I don’t do these things right away. Ever get so frustrated with a goal that you just said “forget it”? This is the number one reason that people abandon their New Year’s resolutions after a couple of weeks. They get frustrated because they mess up once. And I say they, when I should be including myself in that generalization. We naturally want to give up if we’ve fallen short of a goal, but we definitely shouldn’t. I plan on continuing to push forward, even though I may mess up. No matter what your resolutions are, financial or not, you should resolve to do this, too. Don’t quit! Persistence results in victory…. at least, it will eventually!

So, be safe during this New Year’s weekend, have fun, and celebrate! And when you wake up in 2012, start your year right, by spending smart and saving smart!