by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
Instead of aiming for perfection, Finder.com offers 12 money management ideas to help you set realistic goals you can achieve in a year.
How’d your 2025 resolutions go?
Instead of aiming for perfection, Finder.com offers 12 money management ideas to help you set realistic goals you can achieve in a year.
12 realistic New Year’s resolutions for 2026
1. Review your budget (or make a budget)
If you don’t have a solid budget, you may not know how much you’re spending on everyday items or paying for living expenses — let alone how much you could actually be saving.
2. Set up automatic savings
3. Set fast-food spending caps
Saying you won’t spend any money on fast food probably isn’t realistic and just sets you up for failure. Instead of making the resolution to cut it out completely, just set a spending cap.
4. Pay down credit card debt
Not a very fun one, but a great financial resolution is to work on paying off expensive credit card debt.
There are debt consolidation options, balance transfer cards, or you can simply make extra payments on your cards each month.
To help you pay off your credit card debt, you could also make the resolution to stop using them. This includes automatic bill payments tied to them. No more charges means you’re not growing your balance and adding to the problem.
5. Do the “no-spend” month
A no-spend month challenge is just what it sounds like — for one month, you don’t spend any extra money on nonessentials. This means no going out to eat, no home decor, no hobby supplies, and so on. You can use a no-spend month as a budget reset or a way to fast-track your savings goals.
6. Increase retirement contributions
7. Check on your emergency fund
You can make a New Year’s resolution to grow your emergency fund or start one.
An emergency fund should be large enough to cover three to six months of expenses — do you have enough for that? Make a plan to boost that fund for the unexpected.
8. Plan a vacation
A little more on the fun side of things, you can make a resolution to plan and save for a vacation months ahead of time. For many people, booking the vacation first can be the best way to motivate themselves to save for it.
9. Compare your insurance providers
Have you had the same insurance providers for a few years? They might offer you “loyalty” discounts after a while, but until you compare other providers, you won’t know if you’re paying too much. Rates fluctuate constantly, and it’s common to see your rates increase around your policy renewal time.
If you can, resolving to donate items or money is a great idea, and you have plenty of options.
To compare charities, we checked out CharityWatch.org, an independent site that ranks charities based on how they spend their funds and whether they have excessive assets sitting in reserve. Charities with A ratings include Friends of Animals, PetSmart Charities, Wildlife Conservation Society, National Urban League, CancerCare, and Toys for Tots.
Additionally, you can check if your donated cash or property can be deducted from your adjusted gross income.
11. Open a certificate of deposit to lock in rates
With the Fed cutting rates recently, savings rates are expected to follow suit. But with a CD, your rate is fixed for the term, so you can lock in a high rate now.
12. Start saving for next Christmas now
It’s easy to run up credit card debt to buy gifts, decor, or cover holiday meals, but it can cost you. Having a high-interest credit card can mean paying way more than the holidays you bargained for if you don’t pay it off quickly. Save yourself the headache of borrowing money for the next holiday season and start saving now!
Good luck in 2026!
It’s common to let a New Year’s resolution fall by the wayside. But as the old saying goes, you only really fail when you stop trying. So keep making those resolutions to save more money, go to the gym, book the vacation, check on your retirement — one of these years, they’re bound to stick!
This story was produced by Finder.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Source: Black Enterprise
