{"id":3162,"date":"2020-02-29T01:51:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T09:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.simplifimoney.com\/blog\/?p=251"},"modified":"2024-11-18T10:22:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T18:22:00","slug":"5-tips-to-keep-your-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/5-tips-to-keep-your-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips to Help You Actually Keep Your Financial Resolutions in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We recently surveyed<\/a> people to better understand what drives their resolution-making and how likely they are to see a goal through to the finale. One of the most common goals that people highlighted for 2020 is to spend less and save more. This makes sense: our finances can be an emotionally-charged topic and our relationship with money is likely to change throughout our lives. Nearly half of survey respondents highlighted money as one of their top three sources of stress, and a quarter of Gen Xers called it out as their number one source of stress. Hear more about this topic from me on Money Life Podcast with Chuck Jaffe. <\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps money is such a hard thing to pin down because there are so many contributing factors — and not all of them are in our control. We may know when our paychecks will come and when rent is due, but there are plenty of question marks when looking ahead, such as unforeseen medical expenses, home and auto repairs, and family and friend related expenses (wedding season send shock waves through anyone else\u2019s bank account?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also can cause interpersonal strain \u2014 more than a third (35%) of respondents said money is the top thing they fight about with their partner, and it\u2019s the number one reason for arguments among millennial couples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s clearly important to get our finances under control \u2014 for the sake of our sanity and relationships. But our likelihood to drop resolutions before we actually make progress is a major barrier. A habit takes an average of 66 days to stick<\/a>, but most people drop resolutions within six weeks (42 days) of the new year. Here are five tips that can help you finally stick to your goals this year \u2014 or pick up where you left off if you\u2019re one of the 62% of people who have already veered off path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Be specific and realistic<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spending less and saving more are great goals in theory, but vague in practice. Start by asking yourself why you\u2019re setting a goal to begin with. Do you want to save up for an upcoming trip? Or are you looking to settle down and need to put together a down payment for a home? Knowing what you\u2019re aiming for and when you hope to meet your goal can help you get more clear about how much you need to save each month and how much you have left to spend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Track your progress<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to do it all at once. Reaching financial goals is typically a long game, so set benchmarks to help you make progress over time. Keep tabs on how you\u2019re doing each week, month or quarter. Once you reach the first benchmark, check in on what worked and what you could have done better so you can reach the second benchmark even quicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Put your money and time where your goals are<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Set aside time each week (or month) to track progress against the benchmarks you\u2019ve set for yourself. And if you need some additional support, consider paying for an app or class to help guide your effort. About two-thirds of our survey respondents said they have spent money in an effort to keep their resolutions, and 84% are willing to use an app if they knew it had helped others. Creating incentives can also be a good way to keep up the momentum \u2014 so look for opportunities to reward yourself for a job well done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Say it out loud.<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tell someone you respect about your goals \u2014 and any concerns you have in trying to meet them. They can help keep you on track by checking in on your progress \u2014 and may even lend a hand with some friendly competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Don\u2019t worry if you stray off course<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Failing to keep a resolution can feel like a crushing defeat — especially if you\u2019ve already written it down or socialized your goal with people in your life. But don\u2019t let a setback stop you from picking back up where you left off. If you overspend one month, start again, with a specific and (potentially more) realistic goal that you can meet the following month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut yourself some slack this year, and use the tips above including trying out a personal finance app<\/a> to help you stay on track.  By the end of the year you may just surprise yourself — and have enough left over to treat yourself to a celebration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These survey results show what drives our financial resolutions, why we keep them, and why so many of us don\u2019t. Will you see your goals through?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":3022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"5 Tips to Keep Your Financial Resolutions in 2020 | Quicken","_seopress_titles_desc":"These survey results show what drives our financial resolutions, why we keep them, and why so many of us don\u2019t. Will you see your goals through?","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budgeting-savings"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/SimplifiResolutions2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3162"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5528,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3162\/revisions\/5528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quicken.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}