5 Financial New Year’s Resolutions to Keep

When it comes to our finances, it’s easy to spend money and put off saving those extra dollars until last minute. Though you may be a little low on cash since you’ve just finished all your Christmas shopping, there are ways you can stick to your goals, save more money and keep your financial new year’s resolutions. Not sure what some reasonable goals might look like in your life? Try these 5 simple tips when it comes to saving money and you will be starting out on the right foot for 2012.

1. Budget
In order to be on top of your finances, it’s so important that you have a budget. A budget will help keep you organized and have a plan as to where all your money will go. Budgets should include the amounts that go to bills, your savings, as well as leisure and other spending.

2. The 10% Rule
If you’d like to have a good nest egg one day, you will want to make sure you’re saving at least 10% of your paycheck if you’re not already. Though 10% doesn’t seem like a lot of money, it will add up quickly and be a reasonable amount to save each time you get paid.

3. Discipline
In order to avoid unnecessary spending, it’s important to have discipline and avoid spending more money than you’re making.

4. Reasonable
To make sure you’re spending wisely, it’s a good idea to ask yourself whether you’d like the item or you need it. Since asking this question can help you avoid unnecessary spending, it can also help you be reasonable as to what you really need.

5. Save more
When it comes to spending money, it isn’t uncommon for everything to seem like it goes bad or wrong all at once. From having our car break down to needing the dishwasher fixed, it’s important to save your money so that when you run into multiple problems that cost money, you have the money you need.

It’s also a good idea to learn how to save more money and become more frugal. Learn how to find helpful coupons, find good sales and even consider buying things used to help cut costs. Once you become frugal, it’ll be hard to go back to spending so freely.

As you can see, there are some great things you can start doing at the start of the New Year. Though goals take discipline and motivation, all you have to do is remind yourself how bad bringing on debt is and how nice it would be to be able to retire one day.

Emily is a financial blogger and a contributing writer for Payday Loans, a company which helps people receive funds ahead of time when they need it most.