It’s the start of a brand new year, time to reflect on the past year and to set new goals for 2023!
Life is ever moving faster so there has never been a better time to start to slow things down.
At the beginning of the year it is good to make goals for the upcoming year. Decide which big projects you are going to tackle, what you want to add to goals for work or parenting, or anything else that seems like something you should be working on. Don’t call them “resolutions” because it’s more than that. It’s setting achievable, actionable goals and deadlines for the year. You could perhaps plan to finish the garden, fence the front yard, or add indigenous in your garden.
Why not think of ideas for slowing things down throughout this year? Here are some tips to help you slow down, and save some money this month, and beyond!
SAVE ON FOOD COST
The start of the year is a great time to eat up and clean out. This means eating all the extra food you have in your kitchen like the tins of baked beans, frozen veggies and extra meat in your freezer. You will save money and spring clean your kitchen. Go for meals with cheap ingredients that don’t use a lot of electricity.
There are so many ways to stay within your budget and catch up on those credit cards.
DON’T BUY LUNCH
Leftovers are your friend. Why not make a habit of taking the leftovers from tonight’s dinner to work the tomorrow? This eliminates possibility of food going down in the fridge because let’s face it: Sometimes we just don’t want to eat the same dinner two days in a row. It’s like they say: Failing to plan is planning to fail, and we’re making our plans count this year!
AVOID THE SALES
January is the month of sales! The question you need to ask yourself is this: “Do I need it, or do I want it?” Unless you’re buying grocery items or household products that have been discounted and that you need on a day-to-day basis, keep looking straight ahead and avoid those sales!
RESIST YOUR CREDIT CARDS
Even though it may be tempting to use your credit cards over this time, try to fight the urge. That will only create a ripple effect of repayments for the rest of the year.
TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT OR CARPOOL
If you generally enjoy the luxury of driving your car in to work every day, perhaps you could consider taking public transport. If you’d rather not take public transport, perhaps you could carpool with some of your colleagues. This could possibly cut your travel costs in half.
Remember, what the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year. You can do this!