Worst new Years Resolutions for your Wallet
There can be many things you may decide to do this year that could take a heavy toll on your finances. The way to keep them from emptying your wallet is to put good common sense before embarking on money-wasting ego trips.1. Travel lite: One of the worst resolutions you can make is to expand your travel budget this year. Ask yourself if that expensive cruise or overpriced island-hopping trip is really necessary. You and your wallet can have just as much sun and fun at a more modest resort closer to home.2. No more credit cards: The ads promise all kinds of goodies to entice you to sign up for one more credit card. Don’t resolve to get a bunch of new cards. Sick with just one, where the fee is modest and you’re used to paying it in full every month. Pay up on time, because those wallet-busting interest rates keep going up and up on each month’s unpaid balance.3. You don’t need a bigger TV set: Why shell out several more thousand bucks when your current idiot box allows you to still comfortably watch the untalented talent shows, never-ending commercials and grossly overpaid pro athletes?4. No new gas guzzling car: If your current heap still gets you to work every day, why fall for the ads about new cars? With the crooked oil cartels always pushing gasoline prices up higher and higher, if you do need a new car, make it more gas efficient, smaller and greener. Environmentalists and your wallet will thank you.5. Your ego says decide to get a new house or apartment this year: Keep all those bucks in your wallet and be satisfied with your current space. When you consider moving to bigger living quarters, you should know that every expense increases in price, including taxes, heating, repairs and all that goes with high living.6. Cut back on going out to dinner, concerts and sports events: Eat modestly and much more cheaply at home more often. Does anyone go out to those $15 tickets per person movies any more? Wait a few months and rent DVDs of the same hit movies to watch comfortably at home for a buck or two. Think the same about bad decisions to attend concerts and pro sports, where tickets cost $50 or more per person. Forget the hassle of driving, parking and dealing with mobs. Just sit at home and watch them for free.7. You don’t need to join that sexy, overpriced gym: You may not have a steam room at home, but you can get plenty of exercise daily for free when you hike, bike or jog in that nice nearby park.The worst New Year's resolutions you can make that could severly damage your wallet are those that, with sensible thought, are usually totally unnecessary.
