Every year I make new year’s resolutions. I like to reflect on the last year and think of the accomplishments I made, things I could improve on, and new goals I want to set. A new year reminds me of starting a fresh, clean slate where I can accomplish literally anything. If you’re looking for tips and tricks to sticking to your new year’s resolutions all year long, check out my blog post, 6 Tips to Keep Your New Years Resolutions All Year Long.

In this blog post, I’ve looked at the most popular new years resolutions and found tools and resources to help you stick to your resolutions all year long! I’ve also created two free accountability tracker printables so you can keep yourself accountable for your new year’s resolutions and daily habits! Download them here!

Save Money

This is one of my new year’s resolutions every year. I guess that doesn’t really make it a new years resolution if I make it every year and have continued to stick to it for years but that’s okay! Saving money can be hard, especially if you are on a tight budget and don’t have a lot of money to save. Sticking to a budget is one way to save money and see where you spend your money. I keep all of my expenses in a spreadsheet so I can keep track of where exactly my money is going. If you’re interested in using my spreadsheet, just leave a comment and I will post it!

The easiest way to start budgeting is using the 50/30/20 rule. 50% are your needs (rent, groceries, car payments, etc), 30% are your wants (eating out, shopping, vacation, etc), and 20% goes to savings (rainy day fund, 401k, Roth IRA, etc). Now this percentage doesn’t work for everyone but it is a great starting point to creating a budget.

When it comes to personal finance resources and apps, here are some of my favorites:

• For Budgeting: Mint and Every Dollar. Both are great apps that let you attach all of your bank accounts and credit cards and track your spending.
• For Investing: Ellevest, Robinhood, and Acorns. Ellevest is great if you have a specific financial goal you are trying to achieve but you are not sure how to invest your money. Robinhood is perfect if you want to trade stocks at a low cost without going through a Financial Advisor or carry a minimum balance. Acorns rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests that money in funds and companies that meet your financial goals.
• For Saving: Your local credit union. Did you know that credit unions are not for profits and return end of year dividends to their members? Since they do not answer to shareholders, credit unions often have better rates than banks. To find a credit union near you visit Make Your Money Matter!
• For Learning More About Personal Finance: Learnvest. Learnvest has all kinds of personal finance information from budgeting tips, career advice, and more!

Be More Active

This is one resolution I make every year and then for some reason after Halloween, I stop working out. Probably because of all the holiday sweets and craziness of the holidays. One thing that always gets me in the mood to exercise is new workout clothes. Here are some of my favorite workout clothes, shoes, and accessories!

For me, music also plays a huge role in being more active. If I forget to bring my headphones to the gym, I might as well not even go because I get bored so easily and don’t push myself with upbeat music. Since I got Spotify, it has been a total game changer to my workouts. I also recommend investing in a smartwatch so you can track your steps throughout the day. I use my phone but it doesn’t really give me an accurate number because I don’t always have my phone with me. Here are some of my favorite headphones and smartwatches.

If you’re also just starting to workout and aren’t sure where to start, you’re not alone!! There are so many resources, it can be really overwhelming! Here are some of my favorite workout resources…

• For All Things Nutrition and Exercise: Bodybuilding.com. This place has workouts, meal plans, video tutorials, literally everything!
• For Workout Apps: Sweat: Kayla Itsines Fitness and Class Pass Go. Sweat gives you a specific workout plan with pictures of all the exercises and costs as little as $10 a month. Class Pass Go is perfect if you want to listen to an instructor guide you through a workout, plus it’s totally free! You can find both of them in your App Store.
• For Women Specific Workout Plans: Bikini Body and BodyBoss. Bikini Body was created by Kayla Itsines and is a 12-week guided workout program. I have personally tried this workout plan and let me tell you, the exercises might seem simple but be ready to sweat! I haven’t personally tried BodyBoss but have heard great things about this 12-week program.

Did you know you can also stay active even if you have a sedentary desk job? I have a yoga ball desk chair that helps you strengthen your core, not to mention it’s fun to bounce on. Some other desk accessories to help you stay active throughout the day are a standing desk, desk elliptical trainer, desk exercise bike, or even a treadmill desk!

Be sure to invest in a scale if you are trying to either lose weight or be more active so you can track your progress. This scale from Amazon is a best seller and has an app that it syncs with so you can see your BMI and progress. Did I mention it’s under $25?!

Read More

This is one resolution I also make every year. I really do love reading but somehow I always find myself catching up on Real Housewives episodes instead of reading. This year I discovered audiobooks and even though I’m not ‘reading’, I have read more books this year than ever. I love that you can listen to a book while you’re doing mindless tasks like cleaning, driving, and cooking. Right now you can sign up for a free 30 day trial of Audible, which has the worlds largest selection of digital audiobooks. If you have a Kindle or tablet, you can also sign up for Kindle Unlimited to have unlimited access to over 1 million ebooks!

But, if you’re like me a prefer to read physical books over ebooks, here are some books that are on my Amazon list. They are all best sellers and come highly recommended! And if you couldn’t tell, I am a huge sucker for self help books!

Travel More

This year alone I flew to St. Louis, New York City, San Diego, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach, and a few places in between. I love to travel and explore new places and I hope to continue traveling in 2019. If one of your new year’s resolutions for 2019 is to travel more, here are some tips!

• Be sure to get your passport! It’s better to have in just in case rather than having to get it last minute or having to pay extra to expedite it.
• Save money by opening a new bank account, specifically for vacation and travel. I like to set a weekly automatic transfer to the account and I hide it from my online banking. This way, it’s out of sight and out of mind!
• Use a travel rewards credit card. I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred and it is the only non-store credit card I use. I have earned over $2,000 in free travel rewards plus there are no foreign transaction fees when you use it. Right now if you apply and are approved, you can earn 50,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months. That translates to $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase.*
• Use Hotels.com or Airbnb when looking at accommodations. Hotels.com is the only hotel booking site I use because they always have the best price and when you book 10 nights you get a night free! Airbnb is also great for larger groups and bigger cities. We stayed in an Airbnb when we went to Paris and stayed a block away from a 5 star hotel that was 4x the price of our flat!
• Check out all of my blog posts about Travel! I love to travel and hope to create more content about all of my travels!

Here are also some of my favorite things to travel with. My most essential travel item has to be an insulated water bottle. You can fill it up at the airport and while you’re out at restaurants so you don’t have to pay for overpriced water at the airport or hotel.

*I am not a financial advisor and I do not recommend opening credit card accounts unless you can pay the balance. The opinion of this credit card is of my own.

Eat Healthy

This one for me is always the most challenging. I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth and can’t say no to dessert. I have tried many diets, you can read about those here, but still find myself going back to sugar. When I go grocery shopping, I typically buy healthy snacks to much on while I am working or on the go but I do need to get better about eating healthy meals. Here are some of my go to healthy and natural snacks that I buy on a regular basis.

For me, meal prepping has to be one of the biggest contributions to eating healthy. If you have everything prepared in advance, you aren’t going out to eat as much or skipping meals because you don’t want to cook. It can be time consuming but once you’re done you feel so relieved that you have everything prepped for the next week! Here are some of my go-to resources for meal prepping and cooking healthy meals.

Put Yourself First

Sometimes we can let ourselves go when we are constantly putting other before us. It’s important to take care of yourself first otherwise you will burn out and won’t be able to take care of anyone. Taking time for yourself can be as simple as going out on a walk to decompress, get your nails painted, or even reading a book. Some ways I like to decompress are by doing a short meditation using the Calm app, baking, putting lavender in my diffuser, and putting on face masks.