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When it comes to money, setting New Year’s resolutions for yourself is easy, but committing to and following through with those resolutions is a completely different story. This is why it is important to set realistic and achievable financial goals for yourself. There is hardly a quicker way to shove those New Year’s resolutions aside than to realize that they are unattainable or that you have set the bar so high that only Warren Buffett himself could achieve them. That being said, here are a few ideas for money-saving New Year’s resolutions that are set to reasonable levels and thus promote continued progress throughout the year.

Resolving to make an extra payment or two toward your mortgage can be a great way to start the year. By making an extra payment each year, not only are you reducing the time and amount it will take you to pay off your home, but you will be reducing the amount of interest those greedy banks receive. Since most mortgage interest rates are well below those of credit cards, it is important that you review any other debt with higher interest rates that may need to be dealt with first, before putting extra money toward your mortgage.

Picking up extra income can be a wonderful financial resolution. In a suffering economy, the peace of mind and supplemental income that comes with a second job or side business can be a great buffer against the stresses of economic strife. Even an extra hundred dollars a month can be a great way to reach other financial goals like paying down debt, making an extra mortgage payment or starting an emergency fund.

If you don’t have one already, starting an emergency fund can be a good New Year’s resolution. You never know what tomorrow might hold when it comes to your finances, but with an emergency fund, you can face the unknown with a bit more confidence. While some financial gurus call for you to have $500 in the bank, you may want to stash a bit more than that. $500 won’t get you far these days, especially if you lose your job. Even one or two months of your average income can go fast, so build up a fund you’re comfortable with. Bear in mind that if you have outstanding credit card debt, you might want to deal with that first to eliminate those costly interest payments.

It’s never too early to start planning for retirement – and these days it’s hard to count on anyone but yourself to do it. Setting aside money for the future, whether in an IRA, 401k, 403b, or even just a savings or checking account can start you on the path to a financially secure retirement.

It is amazing just how many of us hold investments that we know little about. Nothing illustrates our lack of financial education better than the recent mortgage meltdown where many homeowners had no real understanding of the mortgages to which they had committed. Many of us associate understanding our investments and financial situation with knowing what stocks we own or how much we’ve contributed to our 401k. Those are great first steps, but to commit further, we should understand topics such as where that money is invested, how much our credit costs us each year, how our Social Security benefits are calculated, and other similar financial information.

Learning to save sounds easy, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Becoming accustomed to money-saving techniques can be a lengthy and involved process, especially for those of us who haven’t had much experience with it. Using coupons, looking for store discounts and sales, tracking our expenses, and utilizing a budget are skills many of us have learned to do without until recently. A fresh year provides the perfect excuse to buckle down and become familiar with the saving process.

Starting off the year with a budget is an easy resolution that can be completed while watching television or soaking in the tub. Your budget doesn’t have to be in a fancy spreadsheet with graphs and charts. A simple, hand-written list of expenses and incomes can get you started, and can be expanded later if needed. The hard part of this resolution is committing yourself to watching, modifying, and adhering to your budget over the course of the year. Consider putting your budget in an easy to see place like your refrigerator or computer desktop so that it will be a constant reminder of your financial goals and your commitment to those goals.

It’s coming up to that time of year again – the time of New Year’s Resolutions where we all think it’s time to change ourselves, and of course because the date’s changed to a new year we’ll definitely be able to do just that. In reality, New Year’s Resolutions rarely last. We have the motivation to keep them for all of a month, max, and then we’re over it. Like, so over it that we splurge and eat a whole chocolate cake when really we’re meant to be getting fitter (true story).

But 2015 will obviously be different right? Right. Know why? Because you’re going to do things differently this year. Instead of going for a giant goal you’ll never stick to (*cough* I’ll be fitter for Christmas 2015 *cough*), you’re going to pick little goals that should add up to something bigger. It’s well known that small habits lead to big changes, so pick a few little changes you’d like to take on for the new year.

A great example of this kind of New Year’s Resolution is doing one pushup a day. That’s much more doable than going to the gym 3 times a week. You’ll find yourself wanting to do more than one pushup occasionally, and those days of motivation will probably lead to better workouts than 3 forced days at the gym would. And after sticking to this goal for a month, you’ll be much fitter than doing nothing at all.

So what New Year’s Resolutions can you take on to help you save money? Well lucky for you, I have some awesome tips on money saving that I’ve made into 10 neat little New Year’s Resolutions – pick as many or as few as you want, but keep in mind that the easier you make it for yourself, the more likely you are to stick to them and to let your small change snowball into a larger one.

Or your weekly coffee. However often you go to a cafe, stop. Or at least cut down. Let’s just assume you do get a coffee from Starbucks or Costa every morning on the way to work. Let’s average the price at £2.20(although this is already quite a lowball, you’ll get the idea). If you gave this up for a year, you could potentially be saving £528! And if you gave up just one coffee a week, you’d be saving £105.60, which is still nothing to be sniffed at.

Although you’ll be spending a lot to get the machine and the coffee pods as a one off, over the long-term making a coffee this way each morning and putting it in a flask to take to work could give you some serious savings.

So instead of thinking ‘I have to go without a coffee everyday!’ you can still have that morning coffee – but you’ll still be saving money.

This is one of my tips on saving money that should be completely obvious to you. Getting a takeaway isexpensive (and bad for you… if you didn’t know), so try to replace them with home cooked meals. If you’re used to have a takeaway weekly, try moving to having one every 2 weeks, or even once a month.

If you have a weekly takeaway that comes to around £20, you’ll save £240 a year by cutting out just one a month. You’d save a massive £720 by cutting them back to just one a month in total! Crazy.

I know a good takeaway sometimes feels like your highlight of the week, so if you don’t want to give it up at all, why not just get a supermarket takeaway? Supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer and ASDA have their own takeaway type food ranges if you want something you don’t have to make from scratch. They’re usually cheaper than getting a usual takeaway, and slightly better for your waistline.

Another one of these tips on saving money that’s equally suited on a list for getting healthier! Two benefits in one is something I love. More value there.

If you have a daily chocolate bar, you could be spending around £365 a year on them. How ridiculous does that sound? If you don’t think you could cut them out altogether (because let’s face it, that’s a huge habit to break), try to cut down to one every 2 days. Then drop it to one every 3 days. You might be able to get it to one a week before you even realise what a big change you’ve made. The savings will slowly add up, and your body will thank you for it.

For this, I’m talking anything as small as a pack of gum that you spot by the checkout, to as big as a new game or dress you decide you absolutely must have thanks to an online sale. This is a money saving tip which you can tailor to however you want it to be. Maybe you want it to only apply on big purchases? If that’s right, then you could say you’ll stop yourself from impulse buying at least once a month, and make a note on your phone whenever you do manage to stop yourself.

It’s very difficult for you to enforce yourself with this money saving tip though. Mainly because an impulse buy literally means you probably won’t notice or stop yourself when you make it. You can try though!

If you’re paying back the very minimum you have to on all debts, 2015 might be the year for you to take a step back and look at how you can get rid of them a little bit quicker. Although it doesn’t sound like much, even paying off an extra £5 or £10 a month can start to make a big difference for you.

Honestly, if you’re already putting money into savings, it could be better spent putting less in and plugging it into whatever debts you have. Start with your credit card debts, because those are the ones where the interest rates could hit you hardest. Then start to think about the rest. Stick to this and hopefully you can have a debt-free 2016!

Ok, so not all of my tips on saving money will work for everything. This New Year’s Resolution can onlyrealistically be taken on if you live close enough to your workplace to be able to walk or cycle to it, so if you have an hour commute to work each day I’m sorry, but you’re pretty much stuck with it.

If you have the opportunity to walk or cycle to work then the benefits are (almost) endless. You’ll get healthier, skip the traffic, save money on petrol (and potentially tax and upkeep of a car if you sell yours!), and if you cycle to work you could be eligible for a tax free bike with even more savings from the Cycle To Work Scheme. Cycling and walking to work are so much more relaxing too – you have time to really think, you don’t have to worry about the traffic and you get fresh air everyday.

Read Also : How to Sell Old Stuff Online to Make Easy Money with it?

If you’re not already using a cashback site, this is one of my biggest money saving tips for any time of the year. It literally costs you nothing, and you get money back on purchases. What’s not to love? C if you’re unsure on how to get started. But just know that it’s a really easy way to grab some savings the shops aren’t telling you about already. This last year I’ve personally pocketed over £100 from using a cashback site, which I used to buy Christmas presents! You can make an account and start saving on Trendy-Money right now.

If cashback doesn’t sound like your kind of thing (erm, why not?) then how about making a New Year’s Resolution to use more voucher codes? Most of the time, when you make a purchase online, there’s a voucher code out there to give you some money off. If you don’t take 10 seconds out of your day to search for one, you could be wasting a ridiculous amount! Vouchers At Checkout is a great place to start – they list the hottest vouchers that they manually test to ensure they work so you’ll always find a working deal.

Soon you won’t even have to bother Googling for voucher and discount codes; Vouchers At Checkout are going to release an extension which pops up and lets you know if there’s a voucher available for the site you’re on before you checkout! So you’ll never miss out again.

You want to get fitter, I get that, but it’s not happening at the gym. It’s so out of your way, you really don’t have the time to get there and back as well as work out. It’s fine, this isn’t admitting defeat, you’re notgoing to be podgy forever. I don’t just have tips on saving money you know, I also have tips on how to make good substitutes!

Just do your regular workout at home. Wait, hear me out. I know you don’t have all that fancy gym equipment, but you really don’t need it. There are plenty of Youtube tutorials on how to do some great home exercises, and if you really felt like you were missing out on something a set of weights is all you’d need.

And if you really want to be brave, you could always go for a jog…

Just saying ‘make more money’ is easy. Actually doing it is the difficult bit. But think about this realistically, even an extra £50 a month would be welcomed right? So take on a second job if you have the time, or put some of your talents to good use.

You could start selling commissions if you’re a great artist. If you love to bake, offer to sell cheap baked goods to friends, family or work colleagues. You could even advertise online to make personalised pieces for Birthdays and the like. If you think you’re good with words you could start up your own blog and see where that leads you (but it’s probably best not to start it for the soul purpose of making money, those kind of blogs rarely go very far). You could even offer yourself up as a freelance writer for companies.

There really is something for every talent out there – check out fiverr if you don’t believe me (and that’s also an awesome place to sell your talents). But if you don’t mind something more temporary, one of my best short-term tips on saving money is to sell the things you don’t want on ebay or gumtree. You’ll make a bit of cash on the side and declutter your home. Win-win!

This money saving tip is feared and avoided by more people than those who ignored my daily chocolate New Year’s Resolution. And that’s saying something. As Daisy from PrettyGreenTea points out, ‘Do not save what is left after spending, spend what is left after saving.’ This incredible quote from Warren Buffet is exactly what you should be doing, but if you don’t have a budget you’ll never know what you’re saving!

Building a budget isn’t difficult, and it can keep you on track for the entire year. You don’t even have to make a fancy spreadsheet, just get out a piece of paper and note down your major outgoings and incomings. Think rent, bills, planned expenses (car tax, MOT, insurance policies etc), food, treats etc etc.

Once you do that, you can see where you’re missing out on saving money, and where you can cut back your expenses. Pin it to your fridge so you see it everyday and actually stick to it.

See Also : 8 New Year’s Resolutions That Will Save You Money

This is something you can do slowly, month by month, and at least start in 2015. It’ll give you peace of mind that if anything unfortunate did happen, you’d be able to support yourself.