New Year Resolution

Where is your money going?

Is getting out of debt one of your goals this year? Or maybe you resolved to lose weight – again… Well, if that is the case, you sure are not the only one. Weight loss and paying off debt are resolutions most people make at the beginning of each year. And then, less than a month later, they get back to old habits and forget to pursue their goals.

If that sounds like you in previous years, maybe you can make a difference in 2016. And here is an idea about getting out of debt: track your spending. I know you think it is tedious and boring, I know it takes time to do, and I know you think you are tracking everything on your credit card statement. The good news is that you already have a centralized place to get the info you need. The bad news is that the credit card statement is not a good tracker for you.

Still, budgeting and lowering your spending are still the best solutions for getting your debt reduced, and later eliminated, tracking expenses is the only way to go. But to make it easier, you have the option of only tracking what you spend eating out. Even though most people don’t realize, that is one of the larger monthly bills – and one that can be lowered quite easily, if you are determined. If you are one of those people who must have Starbucks every day, maybe you should look at your monthly total. You may have a sticker shock! Motivate yourself to cut down by saving the money for a bigger ticket item that you really want – that way you own the item out right, and don’t pay for it with a credit card.

Working just to pay bills is no fun at all! And it definitely is no motivation! So if you want to keep your budget under control, make it a goal to have fun traveling while paying upfront, or own something you like that you pay in cash for, or have an experience you enjoy that is paid for with cash, not credit card.

Sounds like a lot of work? Well so is worrying about where the money is going to come from to pay the credit cards off. And so is dodging calls from bill collectors. So maybe you can resolve to dedicate this year to tracking expenses, and reducing them. It’s only short-term hard work.