Frugality in 2009: My New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I’m coming out of vacation mode just briefly, because it’s an exciting day. I’ve always thought that New Year’s Day was one of the nicest days of the year- a fresh, blank slate, endless possibilities ahead of you, etc etc. Plus, all the shops are closed and it’s usually cold outside, so it’s a perfect day for lounging around the house in your pajamas! Seeing as how it’s New Year’s Day, I thought I’d put pen to paper (figuratively speaking) and share my New Year’s Resolutions, personal, financial and blog related.

My first personal resolution for 2009 is to stop biting my fingernails (again). I have a horrible habit of biting my fingernails and picking at my cuticles when I’m under stress and pressure and I don’t like it! It’s not a good example for my children (one of whom has already picked up on my bad habit), it doesn’t look professional and it hurts. I don’t necessarily want to have long, professionally groomed nails- short, serviceable, and most importantly un-chewed is the look I’m going for.

My second personal goal is to (finally) create an ‘If I drop dead tomorrow, here is everything you need to know’ notebook: a listing of all our financial, medical, legal and everything else records.

I have three financial resolutions for 2009. The first is to not acquire any new debt in 2009. This is going to be a big challenge, because I’m still earning a fraction of my salary while I’m in school. So we’re going to have to really concentrate on living as frugally as possible in order to pay our current bills as long as I’m a student, doing my internship and writing my thesis.

The second financial resolution is to save a €1000 emergency fund. Any money that comes into our house other than our paychecks and childcare reimbursements (and by this I mean blogging income, health care reimbursements, refunds, gifts etc) is going to go to the emergency fund. If we meet this goal (and I have already tucked away a bit more than €250 in the past week), then any extra money is going to be deposited in a retirement account. I’d like to have €500 in that fund by December 31, 2009.

The third financial goal is to start giving my kids an allowance, and to help them learn how to save 10%. I’m going to give them €.25 per year, so €1.50 for my 6 year old, and €1 for the 4 year old. I’m also going to set up the three box system: 1 box for now, 1 box for short term savings, and one box for long term savings that will go into the bank.

Given the wild growth Almost Frugal has experienced over the first year (I began blogging on December 27, 2007) I would like to thank my amazing readers, who have encouraged me, helped me, challenged me and been responsible for my success along the way. Thank you! And my 2009 resolution for Almost Frugal is to increase my readership to 2500 RSS subscribers and 30,000 page views per month. I know we can do it- we’ve come so far already!

What are your resolutions for 2009?