6 New Years Resolutions You Can Afford to Keep

Ahh, New Year’s resolutions – made with the best of intentions in January, mostly forgotten by February. How can you avoid breaking your resolutions this year, and turn your good intentions into a long term, life changing win for you and your family? A few of the tips we’ve found include starting small, telling your friends and family and mapping out a realistic plan. We rather like this list of tips by Hazel Lodevico-To’o.

When you sit down to create your plan for successful resolution keeping, where should you start? We’ve taken a look back through the last year of our blog and pulled out a few that are great resources for resolution makers. Let’s take a look at a handful of the most common New Year’s resolutions and how you can tackle them without straining your finances.

1. Lose weight and/or get in shape.

Photo by Ernst Vikne, Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Looking to shed a few pounds without also shedding a lot of cash? You don’t need fancy equipment, expensive gym memberships or diet plans with a monthly fee. Find motivation with articles that focus on getting healthy on a budget:

• Frugal Fitness: Get Into Your Skinny Jeans by Christmas
• How Showrooming Saved Me Over $150 on a Treadmill
• 5 Ways You Can Eat Healthy For Less
• Get Ready For The 5 Coolest 5Ks This Summer

2. Save money.

Photo by ljcybergal, Flickr. Some rights reserved.

This is a pretty vague resolution, and being vague is one way to set yourself up to fail. However, if you say that you’re going to save money on gas, groceries and bills, then you have an actionable point from which to start making plans. Check out this list for ideas:

• Get More Back at the Pump: The 5 Best Credit Cards for Gas
• Saving At The Supermarket: The Best Credit Cards for Groceries
• Grocery Shopping on a Budget: How to Maximize Your Savings
• How To Lower Your Electric Bill Without Unplugging Anything
• Fuel for Thought: What’s The Best Way to Save on Gas?
• Cell Phone Discounts: Updated List of Secret Savings

3. Travel more.

Photo by szeke, Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Dreaming of Paris in the Spring? Oktoberfest in Munich? Chinese New Year in Hong Kong? Making it happen isn’t so hard as you think. Brad certainly makes budget travel look easy. If you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, check out these posts for inspiration:

• How I Got a $40,000 Trip to Australia & New Zealand Almost for Free!
• 8 Reasons To Get an American Express Platinum Card and Never Use It!
• Who Wants 2 Free Park Hyatt Nights? (And Four More Reasons the Hyatt Visa is Worth Getting)
• Tips for Planning Your Road Trip on a Budget
• Fear the Middle Seat: 5 Tips for Free Airline Seat Upgrades
• New Law In Your Favor: Cancel Any Airline Ticket Within 24 Hours Without Penalty!
• Travel Rewards: Which Credit Cards Are Best?
• Airline Baggage Fees: Are Free Bags Really The Best Deal?
• 12 Tips for Navigating Your Way to Affordable Car Rentals
• How You Can Pick Up an Easy 200,000 Miles for American Airlines

4. Get a better education.

If school is on your agenda for 2013, then how to pay for it almost certainly is on your mind as well. There are lots of ways you can make school more affordable with a little creativity. Here are a few posts from our archives on the subject:

• 40+ Stores Offering Student Discounts
• Back To School Savings Guide: How to Save Money This Semester
• Surviving College on a Budget: Tips from Students to Students
• Textbook Deals Online: Getting the Most Book for Your Buck

5. Get organized.

A place for everything, and everything in its place – such a nice idea, isn’t it? If you’re more Peg Bundy than Martha Stewart, this idea can be rather daunting. Start reading up on these simple and affordable ways to organize your life and home and you’ll find yourself making the time:

• How to Track All of Your Miles and Loyalty Programs in One Place
• How To: Organize Your Home on a Budget

6. Do More, Spend Less

Our editor-in-chief, Brad Wilson, has written a whole book devoted to the idea that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to live like you’re rich. Due out in mid-January, Do More, Spend Less goes into detail on how you can travel in style on the cheap, how to pay less for your cell phone, how to game credit card rewards and much, much more. Buy it, read it, do it!

• Official Site: Do More, Spend Less by Brad Wilson

Happy new year, and best of luck with whatever resolutions you’ve made. We’re looking forward to a fabulous 2013 and hope you are too!

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About the Author: Rebecca Lehmann

Rebecca is BradsDeals' resident data geek, keeping the team up-to-date on the latest shopping trends from a data perspective. She loves finding online deals on shoes, knitting supplies, and anything that lets her spoil her nieces rotten.