Five Rules to Help You Break the New Years Resolution Bust

New Years has come and gone and this week we will be celebrating the actual arrival of spring (at least on the calendar.)

It’s a good time to reassess. How are your New Years money resolutions doing?

If you’re like most people, many might have gone by the wayside. But a surprising 60% of people achieve their resolutions in the first two months of the year- as long as it was the #1 resolution on their list.

Keys to maintaining your goals (from the experts at University of Washington):

To be successful with your own resolutions, Marlatt, who has studied the subject for more than 20 years, suggests:
€¢ Have a strong initial commitment to make a change.
€¢ Have coping strategies to deal with problems that will come up.
€¢ Keep track of your progress. The more monitoring you do and feedback you get, the better you will do.

It’s not too late to start down the road of savings. Maybe your goal was to make an emergency fund. Or maybe it was to finally open up that stock trading account. Or maybe it was to start saving a downpayment to buy a house.

All are great goals. Don’t let them overwhelm you.

Rule #1: Start small.

Many people get overwhelmed that they need to save $5,000 for the new car or $10,000 for the house downpayment. It can seem unreachable. Start by putting just $100 a month into a savings account. The smaller amount likely won’t be as painful. You’d be surprised at how quickly even $100 a month can add up. And don’t let others tell you that $100 isn’t “enough.” It is.

Rule #2: Don’t get fancy.

Open up a savings account at your local bank. If you can, have a portion of your paycheck directly deposited there. If you can’t do that, as soon as your paycheck is put into your checking account, move over the money. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Was your piggybank in the first grade really that great? No. But it sure was FUN.

Rule #3: Confront your fears.

I’ve heard from people many times, “I don’t know how to invest in the stock market” or “it’s too complicated” or “I could lose money.”

Yes, yes, and yes.

But don’t let it overcome you. Check out a service like Sharebuilder.com that will allow you to invest for as little as $4 a month. It takes about 10 minutes to sign up for an account. Afraid you won’t know what stocks to buy? Buy an ETF that covers the entire S&P 500 like the Spyder ETF (SPY). Simply put your $100 a month into that. Or buy what you know. Do you go to Starbucks every day? Become an owner. Everyone is scared in the beginning of investing. Don’t let it hold you back.

Rule #4: Sign up for your 401k

At least 25% of employees don’t sign up for their 401k plans. If your employer pays a matching amount, it is free money you are leaving behind even if it doesn’t seem like much. You do not need to sign up for your 401k at the beginning of the year. Most employers have enrollment periods that are once a year, but for employees who are starting a new account, many times it will be once a quarter. The easiest thing you can do is have money taken out of your account pre-tax. Trust me. You won’t notice that it is missing. Start small.

Rule #5: Write it down.

Just because New Years was three months ago, does not mean it’s too late to start working towards your New Years goals. It’s never too late to start saving. Write down your goal on a piece of paper. Writing it down makes it seem more real (and obtainable.)

Again, don’t let it overwhelm you. Give yourself rewards for reaching goals. After you save the first, say, $500, treat yourself to something you love- a movie, fresh flowers, a ride in a horse drawn carriage through Central Park.

Half the fun of saving, is the satisfaction of actually getting there.

And you can.

It’s not too late. It’s never too late.