New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Money

New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Money from North Carolina Lifestyle Blogger Adventures of Frugal Mom

The second that the new year hits, you feel like you have a clean slate. You’ve left all of the bad habits and poor decisions of 2019 behind you, and now it’s your opportunity to start fresh. If you’re hoping to give your bank account a complete overhaul in 2020, here are the new year’s resolutions you should make. 

Take Care of Your Debt

It’s hard to build up your savings when your debt is dragging you down. So, the smartest move that you can make is working hard to take care of the obligation as soon as possible. 

The damage could be too big for you to pay off. You’d have to win the lottery or get an unbelievable raise to come close to whittling down the costs. In that case, you should see a licensed insolvency trustee to talk about filing for a consumer proposal. If you’re wondering what is a consumer proposal and how can it help you get out of debt, click the link. It could be the solution you’ve been looking for. 

New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Money from North Carolina Lifestyle Blogger Adventures of Frugal Mom

Start a Household Budget 

Even if you’re not in serious debt, starting a household budget is a great resolution that will help you track your finances better and save more. Take out a sheet of graph paper and write down your total monthly income. Subtract essential fixed expenses like your mortgage, property taxes and insurance. Then subtract the variable expenses — these can be modified. 

Here are some examples of variable expenses:

  • Groceries
  • Public transportation
  • Personal care items
  • Entertainment
  • Clothing
  • Sports and recreation
  • Ordering takeout food 
  • Going to restaurants

If you feel like money is tight right now, start by cutting variable costs. For instance, you could trim down your food spending. Experts say that an average family of four spends approximately $11, 948 on groceries and eating out in a year — that’s over $220 per week. You can make massive savings by ordering less takeout, skipping the restaurants, packing lunches for work/school, buying items in bulk and using coupons. 

Try out a Savings Challenge

Maybe setting up a household budget doesn’t sound very exciting. Why not put an interesting spin on the experience and try out a money-saving challenge? There’s nothing like the competitive spirit to keep you motivated to complete your resolution for the year. Try the 52-week money challenge or the spare change round-up where all of your leftover coins go into the savings jar. 

Get the whole house involved. Treat it like a game. Sacrificing a pizza dinner won’t feel as harsh to your kids when they realize it helps them get one step closer to the final goal. 

New Year’s Resolutions

You’re not the only one who wants to save more money and improve their personal finances. A 2017 survey found that Financial Goals was the second biggest resolution topic, sitting behind Physical Fitness/Nutrition. It beat out resolutions about travel, leisure, learning new skills, quitting bad habits and more.

If you’re looking for motivation and emotional support to get through your resolution, talk about it with your friends and family. They’ll encourage you to keep up with the program. They might be trying the same thing! Then, you can make your budgets and save your dollars together.

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