It’s about this time of year that we start thinking back on all the ambitious New Year’s Resolutions from many months ago and realize we’re on track to fail all of them. You could give up and try again next year, or you could buckle down and knock out a resolution or two before another new year rolls around with its own resolutions. Here are seven popular New Year’s Resolutions you still have time to finish before the ball drops!
1. Give back/Volunteer
The holiday season is the perfect time to give back to the community, that is, after all, the spirit of the season. Every year as a child, my family would put together shoeboxes (or plastic boxes) filled with things like toothbrushes, small toys, and school supplies that the church collected as part of Operation Christmas Child. This organization sends boxes to kids in underprivileged countries. This idea is pretty cheap and is great for kids too because it’s fun for them while teaching them a good life lesson. (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/) If you don’t wish to support a religious charity there are many other organizations excepting toy donations for children. A local soup kitchen is a great place to volunteer during the winter (or anytime), or if you’re too busy you could bring in donations to a food pantry to help someone less fortunate have a Christmas dinner with their family. If you’re not feeling in the holiday spirit, it’s never the wrong time to make a donation to your favorite charity.
2. Get Organized
This may seem like a daunting task, but it’s probably one you can power through in a weekend if you stay focused. If you can’t find the motivation, or don’t know where to start, try Pinterest for some cute, easy ideas to inspire you; just don’t get distracted. Follow this with a trip to Target to pick up some file folders, a desk organizer, or anything else to help get, and keep, things tidy. Once home, play some music, maybe pour a glass of wine, put on a pair of comfy pants, and get down to business. Try making piles of stuff to either keep or get rid of or of what papers should be kept together. Do whatever works for you, but don’t give up until you’ve got everything organized, and created a system to help stay organized next year too!
Here are a few tools to get you started:
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2172511/guidecraft-folding-desk-organizer.jsp
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CWMHMLI?psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TTGBZ00?psc=1
3. Exercise
This New Year’s resolution doesn’t have to include decking out the money to pay for a gym membership; there are lots of simple but effective exercises you can do at home. Squats, sit-up, planks, etc. all require no equipment but offer a great workout! If you’re looking for something more challenging, find a cheap set of weights and look up exercises to do with them; there’s probably more than you think. If you need the extra push, try ordering a work out DVD set to show you exactly what to do and maybe make it a little more fun. Some of these are pretty phony and just trying to get your money but you can find some good ones. Try the infamous Insanity Challenge (https://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do) or try one of the other, easier workout DVDs offered by the company. A lot of these programs are designed to give you the best workout in a short span of time so they’re great even for super busy people.
4. Clean Out your Closet
This is another task that seems a lot bigger than it really is, in fact, you might even be able to knock out this resolution the same day you work on getting organized; or maybe cleaning out your closet is what you meant by getting organized. The easiest way to do this is by making three piles: a keep pile, a donate pile and a throw away pile. If, by the time you go through everything, you still have too much in the keep pile, go back through it and narrow it down even more. Drop the clothes off in one of the local charity collection bins or church thrift shops, or if you would like to get a tax deduction take them to a Salvation Army or Goodwill with an itemized list which they will stamp and give you a receipt for. Then they resell it for cheap prices for people who can’t afford to buy it new or are who looking to make the world a more sustainable place.
5. Learn to cook
This is probably a big one for people just out of college because it’s the first time since moving away from mom’s cooking or a campus dining hall that you’ve even been able to afford anything but Ramen, and it’s understandable to be confused. The good news is, no matter what your age or situation is, learning to cook at least a few basic meals shouldn’t prove to be too overwhelming of a task. The internet is filled with easy recipes that don’t have a lot of crazy ingredients, words, or tools. Try something like pasta, maybe lasagna or macaroni and cheese, or maybe even start out with making your own pizza (you can buy dough at any grocery store and just add toppings). Whatever you do, follow the directions and if all else fails… call mom.
Here are a few quick and easy recipes:
Macaroni and Cheese: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/19427/moms-baked-macaroni-and-cheese/?internalSource=recipe%20hub&referringId=453&referringContentType=recipe%20hub&clickId=cardslot%2080
Easy Shake and bake Chicken: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8944/easy-shake-and-bake-chicken/?internalSource=recipe%20hub&referringId=453&referringContentType=recipe%20hub&clickId=cardslot%2048
6. Start Saving Money
Sure, your resolution may have been to save money all year, but that doesn’t now isn’t still a good time to start. This is the time of year for buying gifts, so even more conscious spending can, in the long run, promote saving. The first step to saving money is have a plan to save, if you make a plan now, you’ll have perfect timing to put it to use for this year. Plan a budget using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet so you will know how to stay on track with each of your expenditures and still have money to put away into savings. Separate categories for things like food, clothing, utilities (heating/AC, internet, phone, etc.), spending money and other major expenses as well as a savings category. The great thing about using a spreadsheet for this is you can set it up to change automatically when you change certain numbers, so you can play around with it a little bit to figure out what will work. Opening up a savings account is also a great idea, as well as having a coin jar to empty loose change into. This may seem trivial but you may be surprised to see just how much coins add up. This coin jar will even count your coins for you as you put them in: http://www.target.com/p/sharper-image-coin-jar/-/A-51317704
7. Recycle More
I love this New Year’s Resolution because it’s not about improving personally but about doing a good thing because it’s the right thing to do. Over the years good recycling habits have become easier and easier to stick with because of the increasing importance of it. Now, almost everywhere has a recycling bin next to a garbage can so it’s convenient to recycle when you’re out and about. Single stream recycling is also becoming more common, which means you can put all your recyclables in one container instead of sorting them which is super easy! Although knowing you are doing good for the planet is reward enough for recycling, you can add to the reward by bringing some of your returnable cans and bottles to a supermarket bottle return or beverage distributer and get five cents back, just check the can to see what you can return in your state. You can also check for organizations in your community that will take your bottles and return them as fundraising for their program.
