Every December 31, before the champagne and Dick Clark get underway, millions of revelers set New Year’s resolutions, hoping the next 365 days will leave them richer, thinner, and overall happier. By February 1, many of the lofty goals—get out of debt, go to the gym six days a week, find that dream job—are cast aside, which some psychologists (notably those at the UK’s University of Hertfordshire) consider to be an inevitable outcome: U of H psychologist Richard Wiseman’s analysis of 700 participants showed that 78 percent failed at their resolutions, as reported by the Guardian.
There are ways, however, of making plans and sticking to them. Wiseman’s team held a similar study among people who held smaller goals, which yielded a success rate of 35 percent. Those who created step-by-step paths towards their goals, wrote them down, spoke of them to friends and family, and developed a small rewards system were 50 percent more likely to see them through.
Consider the five resolutions below the sort of manageable small-scale goals to line up for 2012. I know this is the time of year many talk about IRAs, living wills, life insurance, and investments. That’s not my bailiwick. I’m guessing it’s not what you’re looking for either—especially if, like our cover singer Luca Pisaroni, you often go without food for your art. (Been there; done that.)
Pick one, pick all five, and make it a date to keep all year. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall behind or incur a misstep or two. By making a resolution at all, you’re taking charge of the year ahead of you. Take pride in that and use it to fuel the coming year.
Get on the Same Page
Remember checkbooks? Remember how people used to balance them? That’s how they used to keep on top of their finances before e-banking, credit cards, and PayPal made the checkbook something that only comes out once a month for rent (if that). The art of sitting down on a Sunday afternoon to fill in your transaction log may have gone the way of the castrato, but it shouldn’t take down your awareness of your weekly spending.
The key, of course, is finding a method that works (I hated balancing my checkbook even before I started handling my finances online). If you’re a DIYer and have the patience to stay on top of this yourself, it’s as simple as creating an Excel spreadsheet and tracking your purchases, their costs, categories, and dates of purchase—which also comes in handy if you itemize your deductions on your taxes.
Alternately, and also free, is Mint.com, a service that will synch up all of your bank and credit card accounts and monitor everything from ATM fees to bill due dates and, based on your cash flow, give you an idea of how much you should be spending each month on categories like groceries, coffee shops, restaurants, and clothing stores. It takes some pruning at first—you may have to “teach” the website that your $760 check each month is rent or that the $29 weekly credit card charge is your MetroCard—but in the end, a service like Mint’s can serve as a rather intelligent digital accountant.
Get Specific with Your Debt
When you join Weight Watchers, you’re given as a first weight loss goal to take off 10 percent of your total mass. They do that for a reason: Setting a goal like shedding 50 pounds may be your ultimate aim, but it’s a bit more daunting than, say, shedding 17 pounds and then working from there. That’s one of the main reasons that Weight Watchers is such a successful program.
Taking up a similar philosophy with your credit card debt or student loans may not leave you debt free at the end of the year, but it will help you keep from financially yo-yo-ing (if you’ve ever put so much toward your credit card bill that you then have to use your credit card to make up for your checking account’s deficiency, you know what I mean). Your student loans may be regulated, like your credit cards, with a monthly minimum, but plan your year out so that you can put in even more, whether it’s 20 percent of the total debt or a flat fee like $100 each month. Being proactive with your debt rather than being reactive with it—in the way you may with other bills that come in and are paid off in full—will give you a greater control over your spending on the whole.
Shop Around
While we’re talking about credit cards, take the new year as an excuse to look at your card company, your APR with them, and the benefits they offer. If you’re traveling more and you don’t have a card that offers miles, try to find one with reasonable fees and interest rates. If you’re hooked on a specific store like Amazon.com or Best Buy, look into their store-endorsed card options to maximize your spending with them. Many offer added incentives for balance transfers, but look for the long-term perks so that you aren’t continually switching cards (a potential ding to your credit score).
Keep that motivation up, however, to re-examine your other plans. Are you getting the most from your mobile phone contract? Is that $112-a-month gym membership pulling its weight, or would you get just as much out of a $30-a-month plan at a less glitzy outpost? Do you actually watch enough TV to warrant a cable plan or are you getting most of your viewing in with Hulu and Netflix? Go over your month-by-month expenses with a fine-toothed comb and treat them like a set of employee evaluations. You’ll definitely want to keep some unchanged and intact—but for others, it may be time for some new blood.
Minimize Clutter
Look over your bookshelves, media racks, and closets: Have you worn that audition dress in the last year? Do you still make use of that Oliver Sacks text or Jonathan Franzen page-turner? Did you ever notice that you have two copies of Bryn Terfel’s Schubert lieder CD?
Stuff builds up, but take the time to remember to prune it down. Many discs can go into your iTunes (and on a backup drive, of course) and never be pulled out again. To my horror, I recently discovered that I actually unwittingly owned two copies of Jan Swafford’s Brahms biography, which means at one point I essentially tossed $21 to the curb. And I recently cleared through my closet to reveal some dresses that now fit me like tents. It’s easy to focus on what you need, whether it’s a new pair of running shoes, required reading material for classes, or a few extra recordings of Don Giovanni for study purposes. But look at what you already have as you add on more of what you need.
As I mentioned in last April’s column, websites like
Powells.com, Amazon.com, and SecondSpin.com will buy back many of your books, movies, and CDs for some extra pocket change. New Yorkers can bring clothes to Beacon’s Closet (with various locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn) for a modest chunk of change, and a website like Yelp.com can help you find local outposts outside of Gotham. If you have any items that are 20 years or older, Etsy’s vintage marketplace is also a website worth bookmarking. No sale? Donate it and get a tax receipt at Goodwill or Salvation Army. The more stuff you have, the more it costs to maintain it. Save yourself that hassle.
Cushion a Potential Fall
Easterners will remember earlier this August running around from drugstore to drugstore in search of D batteries, no matter what cost, as Hurricane Irene made its way up the coastline. Maintaining emergency resources isn’t just about having some savings built up for natural or fiscal disasters—though that is a major component and not one to be overlooked. Every year it rains and snows, every year you will most likely experience at least one blackout in the summer, every year you will catch at least one bug.
Rather than dealing with it in the heady heat of the moment, look ahead. Keep an emergency preparedness pack in your closet with some jugs of water, a flashlight and fresh batteries, and a first-aid kit for starters. Scan your medicine cabinets and see that you’re fully stocked up on your aspirin, ibuprofen, or sinus medications of choice. Not buying at the last minute means you’ll be calmer, can scout out better deals, and will be less likely to add extra drugstore items to your cart. I marvel at what I buy at Duane Reade when I’m feverish and congested and “just” going in for Sudafed.
