4 New Year’s Money Resolutions You’ll Break Within a Month (And 4 You’ll Keep)
Written by
Andrew Lisa
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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If you’re vowing to get in financial shape in 2024, the odds are stacked against you.
The Ohio State University Fisher School of Business says only 9% of people wind up keeping their New Year’s resolutions. The good news for the doomed 91% is that most will die a quick death — 23% of people give up on their resolutions in under a week, and 43% tap out before the end of January.
But you can tweak those percentages in your favor by choosing a resolution that has a shot of making it through the first month — and if you can get to February, you’ll have the momentum needed to see it through and change your financial life.
One You’ll Break: To Save More Money
According to Hope Ware, founder of the personal finance site Under the Median, one of the most common but least effective resolutions is to save more money.
“It’s not specific enough,” she said. “Even if you manage to tuck away a few dollars, you will quickly return to your previous patterns, spending it all.”
In 1988, Ware and her husband were broke, in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.
“We resolved to save money,” she said. “Six months later, we spent every penny we had saved, making an error that we now call the ‘big green pile of cash’ mistake. That money sitting in our account was begging to be spent, because it didn’t have a specific job to do. It should have had a sign on it reading, ‘car replacement’ or ‘Christmas gifts’ or ‘down payment.'”
Realizing their mistake, they narrowed down their money goals, assigning a specific purpose to each dollar and tracking their progress.
“Even on a low income, four years later, we put 20% down on our first home and paid that mortgage off in just five years,” she said.
One You’ll Keep: To Save X Amount By X Date for X Reason
As Ware explained, she learned a difficult but important lesson about resolving to save.
“When creating a money-related resolution, be very specific,” she said. “You aren’t just saving money. You are saving $2,500 for a family vacation to the Smoky Mountains in September of 2024. When it is time-related and you know the target you’re aiming at, you’ll stick to that resolution and reach your goal far more often.”
One You’ll Break: A Financial Crash Diet
Just like resolutions to lose weight, radical financial diets that aim for drastic results in a short period almost never stand the test of time.
“Extreme changes in budgeting or trying to adopt major frugality are almost always recipes for disaster in that first month,” said Carter Seuthe, CEO of Credit Summit Debt Consolidation.
“I see a lot of resolutions that involve buckling down on saving money or paying off debt, which are both great financial goals,” he explained. “But if you go into them too hard or too fast, it can be overwhelming and demoralizing and ultimately result in falling off your budget altogether. Instead, I would recommend putting together a budget that allows you to prioritize saving or paying off debt but still allows flexibility for having fun and discretionary spending. This is more likely to be something you can stick with long term.”
One You’ll Keep: To Gradually Get in Financial Shape
Also like losing weight, making healthy lifestyle adjustments with long-term endurance is the key to whipping your finances into shape.
“If you have bad financial habits, incremental improvements are more attainable than cold turkey cuts,” said Melanie Musson, a finance expert with Clearsurance. “Instead of saying, ‘I won’t buy anything from Amazon,’ you should resolve to give yourself 24 hours between putting something in your Amazon cart and buying it. That will help you eliminate impulse buying but not remove all convenience.”
The same goes for setting unrealistic long-term savings goals.
“Some people can easily save $1,000, but they probably worked up to that point,” said Musson. “It’s nearly impossible to go from saving nothing to saving a large amount. Save a manageable amount and then save more each month after that.”
One You’ll Break: Resolving To Go It Alone
You’re unlikely to keep any resolution made independently from your other household members without first aligning goals, plans and strategies with the group.
“Without openly discussing priorities and trade-offs with partners or family, it’s easy for solo resolutions to crumble against combined habits and short-term thinking,” said financial consultant Yiannis Zourmpanos, chartered certified accountant, fellow member of ACCA Global and senior contributor at deals and coupon site Bountii. “Lack of agreement on what’s truly important, like saving for the kids versus dining out, leaves room for ambiguity that undermines the best of goals.”
One You’ll Keep: A Resolution Backed by Support From Your Circle
Coordinating with your partner and family is a good start, but you’ll boost your chances further by sharing your goals with your friends, co-workers and everyone else in your circle. Their support and encouragement during the difficult days that are sure to come can mean the difference between long-term success and early failure.
“Not sharing resolutions with a trusted circle is risky,” said Zourmpanos. “Financial goals tend to slip when no one notices effort or is prompted to accountability. Opting for secrecy removes the social reinforcement most of us need to convert intentions into habits over the long haul.”
One You’ll Break: To Eliminate Something You Love From Your Budget
People tend to overspend on the things that bring them pleasure, so those things naturally find themselves on the chopping block come January. But resolutions that suck the joy out of life are resolutions that don’t make it to February.
“Misguided money resolutions are ones that change a habit or behavior too drastically and without a plan,” said financial educator Andrea Belzer. “For example, if you spend $200 a month on coffee and you set a goal to spend $25, you will struggle to meet that. It is too big of a change at once.”
One You’ll Keep: To Adjust Your Habits With Your Favorite Indulgences
When you spot a guilty pleasure that’s gobbling up too much of your budget, it’s good to cut back — but do it gradually and reasonably.
“Because money goals include your behavior, you have to start small,” said Belzer. “As you do that, you need to create plans on how you are going to change the habit. In our coffee example, you should identify why you spend the $200. Is it your stress reliever? Is it because you oversleep? Once you identify this, then you can create plans to allow you to change the habit, thus reaching your goal.”
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