It’s a whole new year which means a whole new journey of 12 months is ahead of us. With that being said a lot of people set their New Year’s resolutions that they tend to forget about in about a month or two.

I myself, I did not even have a New Year’s resolution until about three days prior to.  I don’t like setting resolutions because I don’t like letting myself down. Which is more of a reason to set a resolution, I know. But I wanted to set one that would benefit me in the long run & that would also inspire me to continue with it. Obviously, the most popular one is health. And while I am focusing on that I decided to take further action.

When many people think of health they think of their weight or their muscle mass, but they tend to forget about their mental health. I think the one thing that takes a toll on me the most would be stress. Stress can come from everything but the most popular thing is financial stress. I think everyone at some point as dealt with that type of stress.

My resolution for this year is to spend wisely and to save as much as possible. I have started this resolution out by writing down everything that I purchased as well as keeping a list on everything that I think I need but I don’t. So far this month I have bought three unnecessary things. A Redbull, a box of Capri Suns that we didn’t need, and a sweet tea from McDonalds.  It’s so easy for me to remember those items because that is money that I didn’t need to spend. We are six days in to this month and I already feel like I am doing a great job at saving and doing less spending.

I am so guilty of going into a gas station and spending so much money as well as grabbing something at a drive-through because it’s convenient. I also will randomly get cravings for certain types of food and go get it. But, with this resolution in mind all the time I have found myself preparing the things that I crave as well as skipping the gas station all together.

If you’re looking to save money or to stop doing the unnecessary spending start writing it all down. I have a notepad in my phone that is an ongoing list of things that we have purchased. On this list I have groceries and gas, other than that there is nothing. Then I have my list of unnecessary spending which are the three items I listed above. And lastly I have a list of things that I contemplated getting but did not that way I can see the money saved. I even go as far as putting the prices by ALL items.

I eventually want to get to the point that when I want to buy something unnecessary months down the road I feel guilty about it. Because when the guilt sets in that means that my New Year’s resolution is working. I want to have enough money someday to be able to pay for my children’s college regardless of where they go. And that starts now, 2017 the year of saving.