Every year we make resolutions whether it be to lose weight, exercise or to write that novel and, let’s face it, most of them are forgotten by Valentine’s day.

This year make a promise to make a few financial resolutions that you need to keep.

1. Never leave a bill, statement or invoice unopened

Even if it is a regular charge like your wifi provider. I have a sad example – a friend of mine had his wifi hacked into, he ignored the unopened envelopes since the charge was always the same then found out he owed over £32,000 (glup!!!)  and is probably being sued.  This is an extreme example but stuff like this does happen.

2. Rejig your budget

Every January our cost of basic travel in the UK goes up.  This year there will be a 7% fare rise on London Underground and buses.  If you live on a tight budget and don’t factor this in you will definitely be in the red by the end of January.

3. Start saving

Even if you are on a super tight budget, you can probably spare £5 per month.  Put a direct debit in place with a savings bank to take the money out on the same day that your pay goes in and you mostly likely won’t miss it.  If you can afford to save more please do so but NOT at the sacrifice of paying off your debts- that should definitely come first.

4. Plan your meals

When you don’t have a plan, is when the takeaway or meal in a box beckons. It  is an easy but expensive way to eat.  I shop at my local market every weekend and from that I make a plan of what we are going to eat.

Planning your food for the week makes life so much easier as you know what you are going to make and what you have on hand. You can adjust what you are going to make by how much time you will have and what activities you doing.  When I have sewing class, I make soup in the slow cooker so there will be food when I get in.

Getting the hang of knowing how much to cook will also save you money and reduce food waste. The website and app Love Food, Hate Waste is a brilliant tool for planning how much food you need to prepare for the number of diners. It also has a meal planning tool and shopping list. When you plan to cook, you eat better, more seasonally and most of all you save a lot of money.

Hopefully these resolutions will be relatively painless to stick to.  I promise once you start meal planning you will wonder why you haven’t done it all along and to have a bit of money saved is very satisfying.  Happy 2012!

What are your financial resolutions for 2012?