Let’s stay on my vendetta on New Year’s Financial Resolutions and their ability to make us miserable, cause guilt, angst and indigestion.
How long do your financial resolutions last is a very good question? I can think of a few resolutions that I hear folks say (that have a money angle to them) and how long I have typically seen these last:
- Going to join the gym and get back in shape. This is a good resolution, however, folks usually end up going to the gym until about March (3 months), but forget to cancel their membership (or worse they buy a 1 year membership and then forget to cancel it next year at this time). Always remember to clean up after failed resolutions!
- I am going to bring my lunch to work and save money, I have seen this one last about 2 weeks, until someone’s birthday or work just gets annoying enough that someone decides they deserve a lunch out with their friends.
- A sub resolution is to not buy coffee at work, that lasts about a week, unless the person has bought their own coffee maker.
- The Latte Lemma where you won’t buy a Starbuck’s Mocha Almond Vanilla Swirl, light, with sweetener and a massive ginger cookie, I have seen this last as long as 7 weeks, but not much longer. I am not sure if Starbucks and Tim Horton’s put some kind of addictive agents in their coffee (no wait that’s caffeine), but folks who like their Java aren’t likely to quit it (especially not to save money).
- I will pay my bills on time, um, the folks I know who have to make this resolution usually can’t keep this one up for more than 4 months. It’s funny the folks who pay their bills on time normally don’t make this resolution, I suppose it’s  the same reason people who are in shape don’t make resolutions about getting back in shape?!?
- I will write down every thing I pay for to keep track of my spending, this is another one that is really hard to keep up, but I have seen folks keep it up for 3 months, but no more than that. Folks who do this, are a specific type of person (i.e. the type who think accounting is exciting), those who strive to achieve this goal, are doomed to fail.
As you can see resolutions are much like vows of chastity for teenagers, great ideas, but not likely to work out in the end, but good luck anyhow (remember my post yesterday on My Resolutions for 2012).
Ha ha, I actually made a lot of headway in these areas last year, I do work from home though so it’s a little easier! But as you know working from home often means working from the coffee shop! I tend to make lunch and eat outside if I do that and I only drink water, green tea or black coffee which are all cheaper and good for health.
I’m following one of my resolutions right now, low carb eating. Last night I dreamed about eating cupcakes and giant strawberries, and I woke up to the harsh reality of eggs and bacon, again! I think we make resolutions to convince ourselves that we can break bad habits, but few of us succeed. I think money related resolutions are easier to keep than fitness/weight loss ones, simply because they are easier to adhere to. Good luck everyone with your New Year Resolutions!