Popular personal finance New Year's Resolutions

January 6, 5:07 PMBaltimore Financial ExaminerTom Taylor, CPA/PFS

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According to USA.gov, three of the top five most popular New Year's Resolutions are personal finance related.  In case you were wondering, mine and my family's is to get more organized, but I digress.  Such prominence on a resolution list is not uncommon but in tough economic times it's action that is required this year, not just wishful thinking.

After, "lose weight", which we all benefit from, the second and third most popular resolutions are "manage debt" and "save money."  Fourth is "get a better job" and fifth is "get fit. " Not a bad list.

While "get a better job" may be tough to do in a stalling economy and not as likely as some of the others, it does signal a sign of hope and a willingness of people to improve their lives.  What is more likely and could lead to a better job is "get a better education" and that appears 7th on the list.  In tough economic times, enrollment at colleges and universities usually increases because the labor market is shrinking...classic supply and demand.

I find it interesting that manage debt and save money are two and three and even in the right order.  By managing or paying off debt you automatically start saving more which in turn gives you more money to pay off even more debt.

So where do you get started.  I've had a great tool on my links section for some time (look to the right of this blog)...see it...QUICKEN ONLINE.  It's the scaled down version of the most popular personal finance tool Quicken, but it does have all the essentials and it will let you get a handle on just what and where you are spending your money in no time at all.  You can set goals and most importantly, link to all your bank, credit, debit and investment accounts for effortless categorizing of expenses.  THE BEST NEWS IS THAT IT IS COMPLETELY 100% FREE!!!

Tom Taylor, CPA is a fee-only Financial Planner and Certified Public Accountant and can be contacted at Thoma Capital Management in Towson, MD.  He is a member of NAPFA and the MACPA.