New Years Resolution- Improve your “Financial Fitness”

If you are like most people, you have made some sort of New Year’s resolution. Most people will resolve to eat better, exercise more and quit smoking. Although each of these has substantial benefits to your physical fitness, being financially fit can do wonders for your emotional health. Listed below are just a few suggestions to help you start the New Year with a better outlook for your financial health. • Contact service providers such as the telephone company, your cable provider, your garbage disposal company and even your car insurance company to see if there is a possibility of negotiating a reduced charge for the services you are receiving. Some companies are willing to negotiate your service fee rather than risk losing you as a customer. If you are not successful in reducing your service fee, you may want to consider shopping around for better prices. • Re-evaluate your current spending habits. o Do you rent movies from a video store on a regular basis? If so, consider using a movie mail service which can cost less per month than the price you would pay for 2 movies at the video store. o Do you eat out 2, 3 or even 4 times per month? If so, consider cutting back to one meal out per month. Then create a special dinner night once a week that includes each member of your family preparing a dish. This would be a great time to watch a movie with the family or play a board game. o Do you shop for your groceries without a list? If so, try creating a family dinner menu on a calendar and making a list of all the items you may need for the week. Of course you want to include “special items” such as microwave popcorn, snack chips or a package of cookies but try to purchase store brands or use coupons whenever possible. Using a list for your weekly grocery needs will help to eliminate unnecessary purchases that add up to “big bucks” at the checkout counter. o Do you use the “small load” setting on your washing machine on a regular basis? If so, try to maximize your load by washing more clothes less frequently. This not only saves money (especially at the Laundromat) but it saves time as well. And who couldn’t use more time! o Do you buy your lunch more than once a week? If so, try brown bagging your lunch and bring your own snacks to avoid the expensive vending machine. Make a little extra with your dinner meal and take leftovers for lunch the next day. You may be surprised at how jealous your co-workers will be of your home cooked meals. Who knows, you may inspire others to do the same. • Open a savings account. In order to pay all of your expenses every month, you need to stick to a budget. Does this happen to you? After pay day, you pay your bills and “wow”, you have extra money in your checking account. Well, maybe, maybe not. That leftover money is probably needed to pay other bills later in the month. If you have trouble with spending “leftover” money on non-budgeted items, consider opening a savings account and transfer the money until it is needed later in the month. Absence of the leftover money in your checking account may help you reduce unnecessary spending. These are just a few things you can do to save money and increase your financial fitness level. If you set your mind to it, you too can become financially fit in 2009.