My financial resolutions

When it comes to money matters, here are my financial resolutions for 2008. Enjoy -- and please feel free to share your own, either here or via e-mail to abaldwin@charlotteobserver.com.

1. I will try to save more money. I'm not sure how I'll do this. I'm not a spendthrift. I don't spend money for fun at the mall. It's rare that I have a $4 cappucino from Starbucks. I don't drive an expensive car. I gave up my personal trainer in 2007 when I had to start paying for day care. But I am sure I can cut somewhere.

2. Well, I know one way I could save money. I will look into changing my cell phone calling plan and/or better track my minutes. We had a couple triple-digit cell phone bills last year -- all mine. My bad. My husband is not happy. I can't blame him.

3. I will plan a vacation that does not involve traveling to exotic places like Brunswick, Neb. In 2007, my husband and I spent a lot of time and money on obligatory travel -- a family wedding tour (seriously, we had t-shirts made to mark them all), a baptism and a family trip to the Smoky Mountains. It would be nice to plan a trip we selfishly want to take entirely for and by ourselves! We just better act quick. One cousin just got engaged at Christmas.

4. I will not lose my checkbook. That's right, your friendly, helpful personal finance columnist lost her checkbook late last year. I recently figured out where -- a hotel in Lakeland, Fla., location of the year's final family wedding. (That hotel, by the way, won't send me my checkbook without payment. They wanted to send it COD. COD! I didn't know that's still an option. Oh well, I guess that's the service you get when you pay more than $100 a night for mediocre lodging. Head of housekeeping says she will mail it if I pay her back. I better get it or else I will have to post negative feedback on every travel Web site I can think of and lodge a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.)

5. Lastly, I will file my taxes before March 1. That was my goal last year and I made it. I liked not waiting until the last minute. And I will adjust my withholding so that less is taken from each paycheck, something that has been on my chore list for about a year.

Now let me hear your financial resolutions.

Comments

[None]

For cutting down your cell phone minutes, there's an easy way: www.sprint.com/sero . Three plans to choose from. All you need is an employee's email address (which you can get by going into a Sprint store and getting a business card, or searching on Google). My husband and I switched from Verizon about 3 weeks ago and we're saving $100 a month on 3 lines. And the service has been excellent so far. Read all the details at http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=563252 .

[parlor pig]

Although I helped start the LOTTERY game in North Carolina , I am going to stop playing as many scratch offs as I do now; I know they have uped many small prizes but I still dont like the feel of the game; The Lottery commision is going to up all small prizes and I think they will and learned their lesson . The Game itself is not doing what I thought it would and is being boycotted and slowed by the great job loss across the land here.

[glutius maxiumus]

I got rid of satelite dish , cell phones and anything Im wasting money on; I will not eat out as often until the weekend and be very selective in my eataries. I will only drive when I need to and walk the rest of the time to fuck over the OIL companies; I will only buy two for one or specials at HARRIS TEETER and others ; I will buy Burlington clothes and TJMAX things . I will make things when I have the know how. I will stop using deoderant , no lets scratch that , I have no freinds as it is.

[Ken Levy]

The reason people find it hard to save is they spend and try to save what is left. If you want to save money, you must pay yourself first, and spend what is left over. It may be hard at first, but that is the only way to do it.

[Missy]

I will stop having my nails done, I will not drive around on the weekends and waste gas. I will stop renting movies and going to the movies. I will start shopping at cheaper stores and I will save more money each month.