How to Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions (And Save Money)
- Most popular resolution is to get fit
- Setting goals to help stick to resolutions
- Ways that they can save you money
If, like most people, you’re thinking of making a resolution for New Year, Latest Deals have some great ways to keep to your resolutions, and save money at the same time.
By far the most popular resolution this year is to get fitter or healthier, with 49% of people setting this resolution for themselves.
Here are the top five most popular resolutions for 2018:
- Get fitter or healthier- 49%
- Save money- 23%
- Take up a new hobby- 7%
- Spend more time with friends and family- 7%
- Smoke less or stop smoking- 4%
Apart from the obvious ‘saving money’ resolution, the others are not related to being thrifty, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save money whilst sticking to them.
Get Fitter or Healthier
This is one resolution that can usually prove to be costly through expensive gym memberships or fitness classes.
But there are loads of ways that you can lose weight but not lose money in the process.
Instead of buying a gym membership, get a free trial from a gym, there are loads online for a variety of gyms, so you can get a few free taster sessions before deciding if it’s the right gym for you.
But if you do get a gym membership, make sure you know your rights on how to cancel it.
If you want to get in shape without spending any money, then there’s free gyms in parks across the country, which include basic versions of the equipment you’ll find in conventional gyms.
Alternatively, if you don’t fancy exercising out in the cold, there are loads of YouTube channels specialised for different workouts, like Zumba, yoga, or body weight exercises.
To help stick to this resolution set a weight you want to reach, or a fitness goal to achieve, but make sure it is realistic.
Giving yourself a target, instead of a vague ‘wanting to do your best’ goal will allow you to see progress and see how far you have to go.
Save Money
Money saving is also an incredibly popular resolution, as many people overspend during the festive period.
Competition queen Di Coke shared with us her tips on comping and how to save money in the New Year, so savers should check out what she has to say.
To help keep this resolution bargain hunters, similar to those who want to lose weight, should set a realistic goal.
Instead of just aiming to ‘save money’, have a target in mind, such as ‘save £100 a week’, which will give you a clearer focus, and help you to work out what needs to be done to reach this goal.
Being able to adjust your resolution can also help.
If you realise you cannot achieve that goal you have set, make it more attainable, instead of scrapping it altogether.
Take up a new hobby
Starting a new hobby, like getting fit or healthy, is another resolution that appears to be costly, but can actually be a great way to save money, or even make money.
If you want to take up a crafting hobby, such as cross stitch, knitting, or jewellery making, you can sell what you’ve made on sites like Etsy or Amazon marketplace.
Although it’ll cost you to get started you can then make a profit out of your new hobby.
To help stick to it make sure you find something that you like and is exciting.
If you don’t like the hobby you start, find something else instead of scrapping the resolution, pick up something else you like, which will help you to keep motivated to pursue it.
Spend more time with friends and family
There’s loads of ways to spend time with friends of family without spending money- going to the park, playing card games, or going to a free museum.
To help keep this resolution plan how to work it around your current schedule, for example, planning to see friends or family in your lunch break at work.
This is a key component of a resolution plan, it is a balance of making a change, but not so big that is unrealistic and unattainable, so that you’ll lose focus and give up.
Stop smoking or cut down on smoking
This resolution will help you save money without much extra help.
The NHS offer a range of services that can help you to quit, all of which are free, eg; a Smokefree Helpline, stop smoking sessions, and stop smoking nicotine treatments.
To help stick to this resolution it can help to write it down somewhere so you can monitor your progress.
By recording your goal, you make a conscious commitment that this is what you want to achieve, and once it is written down, put in it places that will be easily seen to remind you to stick to it.
If you make your goal to stop altogether, rather than cut down, it is important to not beat yourself up about it if you don’t stop.
One slip up doesn’t mean that you should stop trying to quit.
Try and learn from the situation to make sure that you don’t make the same mistake again, and don’t let it get in the way of your long term goal.
To get more money saving tips in the New Year, follow Latest Deals news page.