Do you get excited about making New Year’s resolutions or make fun of the whole idea? Whether you honor the tradition of creating a fresh start with a new calendar year or prefer to mock annual go-getters, adopting new habits to save money could be a game-changer for your finances.
So, instead of wasting time debating the pros and cons of resolutions with your friends on social media, just get started improving your personal finances with these eight money-saving ideas.
[See: 10 Financial New Year’s Resolutions.]
1. Keep learning about personal finance. No one is born a savvy money manager. Make a resolution to continue your education by reading or listening to personal finance books, audiobooks or podcasts this year.
Here are a few great resources for tips, tools and motivation to save more and boost your finances:
— “Pogue’s Basics: Money: Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) About Beating the System” by David Pogue
— “Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
— “The Truth About Money” by Ric Edelman
2. Go on a spending fast. Challenge your financial habits by completing a 30-day spending fast. This is a set period of time when you only spend on necessities, such as groceries, housing, utilities, insurance, medical needs and transportation.
Resisting the temptation to treat yourself shines a light on how often you make impulse purchases you can do without, even if you can afford them. Ideally, the money you don’t spend on extras should be used to build up your emergency fund or retirement savings.
[See: 12 Ways to Be a More Mindful Spender.]
3. Never shop for entertainment. Never go to the mall or click around your favorite online stores unless you need something. It’s just too tempting, and you’re likely to find something terrific on sale that you just can’t live without.
When you have time to kick up your heels, find activities that won’t hurt your wallet. Watch a movie at home, have friends over for dinner, take a walk, read a great book or play cards or board games.
4. Eat out less often. Even if you can afford to eat out frequently, in general, cooking at home is less expensive and can be healthier. When you make your own food, you control the ingredients and portion sizes. And, of course, you won’t be lured into paying the inflated cost of wine and cocktails at a restaurant.
A crock pot is one of the greatest kitchen tools of all time. Dump in your ingredients, turn it on and when you’re tired and hungry at the end of the day, dinner (and perhaps lunch for tomorrow) is waiting.
Make a resolution to avoid overpriced coffee shops, bring healthy lunches to work and eat out less often. You’ll be surprised by how much money you can free up to save or invest instead.
5. Get rid of items you don’t use. If you have items, such as clothes, shoes, sporting goods, furniture, housewares or anything in storage, that you didn’t use — or even think about — in the past year or two, it’s probably time to get rid of them. When you have too much stuff or feel disorganized, the solution isn’t to organize it, but to purge your closets and cabinets, so you don’t have to manage it.
Sell valuable items on sites like Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Swappa or decluttr. Donate the rest to a charitable organization and keep the receipt, so you can claim the value as a tax deduction.
6. Stop paying for unused subscriptions. Speaking of getting rid of unwanted items, don’t forget about unused subscriptions, such as gym memberships, country club memberships, magazines, cloud services or gaming accounts that you’re not using.
If you want to get in shape, pay for something you might find more inspiring, such as enrolling in a martial arts class or taking surfing lessons.
[See: 10 Money Leaks to Shut Down Now.]
7. Take a personal money day. You probably have some financial tasks on your to-do list. Maybe you’ve been meaning to open a retirement account, switch to a better bank or shop your auto insurance. Work and family can get in the way of taking care of your finances, even when you have the best intentions.
Make a resolution to take a personal money day within the next 30 days. It’s a full day you block out to do nothing but focus on your finances.
Sure, using a weekend or a vacation day for something you really don’t enjoy is a sacrifice. But if you don’t make a resolution to do something different this year, you won’t get different results.
8. Review your credit reports. Your credit health is a fundamental part of your finances. But according to a 2013 TransUnion study, the majority of Americans say they have never checked their credit (33 percent) or have not reviewed it in the past year (25 percent).
Monitoring your credit is an important part of building credit and enjoying the benefits, like getting lower interest rates on loans and credit cards and paying less for insurance. Doing an annual credit checkup is free at annualcreditreport.com.
None of these ideas may completely change your life on their own, but in combination, they could help even the biggest resolution naysayers save thousands and achieve more financial success in the new year.
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8 New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Thousands of Dollars originally appeared on usnews.com
