It’s that time of year! Time to put your best foot forward and resolve to be more fiscally responsible in 2014. If you’re resolving to save money, you’re not the only one. We asked what your New Years money resolutions are, and these are the responses we got.
“My New Year’s money resolution is to set aside a small amount of money from each paycheck to put into my savings account. Setting goals that are too big usually don’t last. A small amount such as $25 or $30 each pay period will help grow my savings account significantly by the end of the year. Another resolution I’ll have is to collect my loose coins regularly and trade them in for dollars. I have probably hundreds of dollars in coins lying around in pockets, jars and purses.” – Madeline Boughton, Traveling Madeline
“One of my money resolutions for 2014 is to get my retirement investing strategy set once and for all. Up until now, I’ve basically just contributed whatever I felt I could on an annual basis. I’ve researched it a bit already, but early next year I’m going to find out exactly where I’m at, create my best estimate for how much I will need for my retirement, and come up with a specific goal for how much I need to contribute each year. I also plan on shifting my investments to ones with lower expense ratios, as that can significantly improve the overall return on a portfolio.” – David Bakke, Money Crashers
“For 2014, my resolution is to reduce any company expenses because there could always be a downturn in the economy, resulting in sales dropping, and thus causing any debt payments to become exceedingly more difficult.” – Ian Aronovich, GovernmentAuctions.org
Although we start the year with the best of intentions, we don’t always stick to those resolutions. Only 8% of Americans actually succeed in sticking to their resolutions. So, what can you do to improve your chances at keeping your money resolutions? We asked the folks at Keycode.com to give us their best tips.
- Call them targets. Don’t call them goals.
- Make a hierarchy of targets and all the ways that you can move slowly toward your ultimate goal.
- Write your targets down.
- Set a financial target that will be high enough to give you proper incentive and keep you motivated but isn’t so high that it prevents you from accomplishing your goal amount.
- Whatever you do, though, don’t put a time limit on WHEN you have to achieve your financial goals. The dollar amount itself is the target, NOT how long it takes you to get there. This is extremely important. So don’t dismiss it as irrelevant or minimal.
- Make it a priority to revisit your budget on a monthly basis.
- People should aim to put some of their check into savings each and every month. However, they should do this right when they are getting paid so that they are not having to worry about using the money that is left over at the end of the pay period to add into savings.
- Don’t give up.
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