New Year’s Resolutions: Your Guide to Getting Back on Track

By February, 80% of people who made New Year’s resolutions have abandoned them. Why? Some people try to take on too much at once, or force a change that they’re not ready to make.

For many others, the issue is probably that change is really, really hard. And that’s especially true when it comes to making changes involving money—saving more of it, and spending less, are this year’s most popular resolutions.

New year, old you? Assess your New Year’s resolutions

Whether your resolution was to save more money, start investing, or get out of debt, you can take pride in the fact that you identified a financial weakness and set out to address it.

So, take stock. If you are working toward specific dollar figures (“I want to save up $1,000 in an emergency fund,” for example) check your account balances and see what progress you’ve made.

If you find that you’re failing to meet your new goal, it can be a blow to your confidence. But you can correct your course.

Here are three suggestions.

Getting back on track

• Reset your goals. One common problem with goals and resolutions is that they may not be specific enough. If you hope to “save more” this year, that can mean anything—instead, pick a concrete amount, such as $1,000, and work toward that.
• Reach out. Most things are better with friends. If you’re struggling, try reaching out to a friend or loved one to buddy-up on tackling your resolutions. Hold your partner accountable for reaching their goals, and hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.
• Take smaller steps. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “biting off more than you can chew,” and that may be what’s causing you to fail to meet your goals. Try conquering smaller challenges, as a part of your overall resolution. For example, if you’re trying to save $1,000 in a savings account this year, and having trouble meeting your weekly or monthly goal, try to save on a daily basis. That would mean you only need to sock away around $3 a day to reach your goal.

New Year’s resolutions are baby steps in the right direction. Subscribe to the Stash newsletter for more tips, tricks, and insights that will help you stay on the path toward a brighter financial future.