We’re eight days into the new year.
So, have you already broken any of your New Year’s resolutions? Or have you made any?
There’s still time for a “do-over.”
Here are some financial resolutions you can make, courtesy of Apprisen Financial Advocates, the parent company of our local Consumer Counseling Service of Northeastern Ohio. Many of them are things you’ve heard before, but it never hurts to hear them again.
There is a new one in here that caught my attention. No. 16 is: “If you subscribe to multiple coupon sites and can’t turn down a good deal, unsubscribe.”
There’s plenty of attention being given to those couponing shows on TV or folks who have turned couponing into a science. Many boast about how little they spend at the grocery store or that they get money back when they shop.
Jana Root, community outreach coordinator for Apprisen Financial Advocates, who came up with the list of 20 resolutions, said she’s seen some of the couponing shows.
“I’m amazed. It’s like an addiction that some people would go in and buy 60 toothbrushes and get them for free, but they have them stacked in their basement. I’m thinking that might be good if you were doing it to give away to charity,” Root said. “Don’t allow that addiction, that adrenaline, to motivate you to shop or buy something you don’t need or don’t use.”
I admire the extreme couponers and wish I had the energy to figure out that system. But it seems like it’s pretty labor intensive. I’ve been trying to get better about my coupon use. But first I have to remember to clip them and then remember that I’ve got them in my purse and hope they haven’t expired. I know I could do better, but I also make sure I’m still comparing prices on the shelves. Sometimes you’re paying more with the coupon than buying a different brand or the generic.
Root said she wrote that resolution based on her own experiences.
To be clear, Root is not dissing couponing. If you have the discipline to use couponing in a positive manner to save money on things you already would be buying, then it works well. Root uses coupons herself.
But Root said she also knows she’s an impulsive buyer, despite working for a financial counseling agency. There’s a danger for impulsive buyers who sign up for daily deals and specials to be sent to their email or received some other way.
“I’m guilty. I kept on getting these emails from [a cruise line] and it was the last day to buy, last day to buy. I was cold, I was cranky and I said, ‘I’m going on vacation.’ I did that. That’s what made me think about this [resolution],” she said. “If you’re getting these things in your emails and you have that tendency to purchase something that you normally wouldn’t purchase, then is it really a good deal?”
Root said she has a friend who gets coupons for a major department store for $20 off. The friend is then itching to go to the store, saying she’s saving $20.
“I tell her, ‘You’re not saving $20. You have to spend $50 and you don’t need what you’re buying.’
“Coupons are good if you use the merchandise. You really need to shop around when you’re going to buy something to find the deals. Get online and go to the coupon sites and actually look for the things you want. Don’t have [coupons] sent automatically to you,” Root said.
It can be tempting. Each morning, when I log onto my email, I have 10 to 20 messages from retailers telling me about specials. I usually delete them, or if I know I might be shopping there in the next week, I move the email to a special folder. I try to weed out the ones I will never or rarely use. But it could definitely be tempting. It’s like going to the mall to say you’re just browsing. Depending on your level of self-control, you might buy something you don’t need and it might be better to just avoid the temptation.
As for Root’s other New Year’s financial resolutions, the suggestion is try to at least incorporate five into your routine and add more if you’re successful:
1. Evaluate the cost of your current lifestyle.
2. Track every penny of your spending for two weeks.
3. Save your change.
4. Change one spending behavior a week and put the money you would have spent in your savings account.
5. Write down short-term, mid-term and long-term financial goals and put them in a place where you can see them every day.
6. Take care of your own financial responsibilities before taking on those of others.
7. Give yourself a weekly cash allowance for food and entertainment.
8. Teach your children the difference between wants and needs.
9. Plan your weekly food menu and shop accordingly with a list.
10. Don’t go out shopping without a specific purchase in mind.
11. Know the terms and conditions of every credit agreement before you sign them.
12. Be a savvy shopper, do your homework to find coupons and sales before you leave the house.
13. Refuse to pay bank fees. Go only to network ATMs and use a check register to record your account balance.
14. Know what is on your credit report. You are entitled to one free copy from each credit bureau once a year from www.annualcreditreport.com
15. Participate in your company’s 401(k) plan.
16. If you subscribe to multiple coupon sites and can’t turn down a good deal, unsubscribe.
17. Don’t co-sign on a loan if you are not prepared to pay for it.
18. Recycle clothing through consignment shops.
19. Create a plan to pay down debt.
20. Start today. If you need help, such as a free 90-minute counseling session with the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northeastern Ohio, call 800-355-2227.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty
