A Frugal and Happy New Year

New Year's Day is traditionally the day to take a more or less nostalgic look at the last year and look forward to the new year stretching before us with renewed commitment and ambition. We ask ourselves "Did I do what I 'should' have last year?" Often our answers are mixed - we did but we didn't do as much or as well or as thoroughly as we could have. Then we make a resolution to do it better in the coming year.

Many times the resolutions we make are nebulous or unrealistic or ultimately out of our control. It's hard to find a yardstick to measure "happier", "more relaxed" or "more open to others". We can't know if the economy will cooperate if we make a resolution to make more money in the new year. We can't know if our health will cooperate if we make a resolution to exercise more, sleep more or lose weight in the new year.

But we CAN resolve to get out of debt, to decrease dependence on credit and credit cards, to make better and more frugal choices.

Now is a good time to use a very realistic frugal measuring stick and see just what happened last year, and how we can make that knowledge work for us in the new year. We must assume certain things to prepare or to even hope for tomorrow so we will assume that life will go on; that we will have jobs; that the future is as bright as we have hoped for.

Great and noble thoughts, all. But pen and paper (or the calculator on your computer) will set the groundwork for a better tomorrow.

You can't get there unless you get started...

Do you face the new year more or less in debt than you were this time last year?

1. Do you have less (or no) credit card debt now?
2. Did you pay down the mortgage more than was required?
3. Did you pay off another bill early during the year?
4. Did you decide against a purchase until/unless you can pay cash?

Have your savings/investments increased since last year?

1. Do you to add to them regularly?
2. Do you have money saved back to cover annual or semi annual taxes and/or insurance payments?
3. Do you have an emergency fund?

I realize that not all of those questions will apply to everyone, but one or two surely will. Answer whatever you can. Taking stock is the first step to changing any situation for the better. Resolve, commitment, or plain old stubbornness will finish the job.

Ready to make your New Year's Resolution now? Think through these:

* Resolve to pay extra on outstanding bills, even if it's only five dollars at a time. Every little bit does help.
* Resolve to take advantage of super sales only if they will save you real money.
* Resolve to never touch your savings accounts unless it's an actual emergency... or if you're transferring the money to a fund that will increase the interest income.
* Resolve to think twice (or three or four times) before buying anything, "major" purchase or not.
* Resolve to eat out less and enjoy it more; buy fewer books and support your library; "need" fewer clothes and keep what you have in good condition.
* Resolve to appreciate and use the freebies you see every day to enrich yourself. Sunsets, smiling children and good neighbors are good places to start. Make your own list.

Happy New Year. You CAN make it so.