Happy New Year! I can still say that, right, even though it’s the third of the month?

My 2008 New Year’s Resolution is to Get Out of Debt…and here are 13 ways I’m going to save (or make) money in order to put a big dent in my debt:

1. Ensure I’m bringing my lunch to work every day (and politely enforcing this decision on my husband)–I’ve actually been doing a lot better, but I need to KEEP doing it and not succumb to my old lazy habits.
2. Check the programming on my thermostat…overnight and weekdays it’s set at 66 degrees and during the evening on weekdays and all day on weekends it’s set at 70 degrees…but I think it doesn’t drop down at night until midnight, so I could probably drop it at like 10pm.
3. Call my credit card and ask them to lower my APR…even though I pay more than the minimum due and always on time, they like to sneak it up when I’m not looking.
4. Try to do all my running around at once, instead of going to the store Monday, then again on Wednesday, then Friday and Saturday….saves gas and time, too.
5. Stick to the shopping list! I usually do pretty well on this, and when I do buy outside of the shopping list, it’s usually things I forgot to put on the list in the first place. But I need to be better about it.
6. Be more firm on the “Need versus Want” battle…that’s a hard one to overcome sometimes, especially when there’s TWO of us both wanting something when we really don’t need it.
7. Replace more light-bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. I usually wait until a bulb burns out before I replace it, but I might just go ahead and replace them sooner…at least on the last few lights that we use often. I don’t know what I’m going to do with those light fixtures with their ridiculous decorator bulbs with the itty-bitty bases…haven’t seen fluorescents for those yet. Maybe eventually just replace the light fixtures altogether…not a big fan of them in the first place. But then we’re back to #6….do I really NEED to replace the light fixtures?…or do I just WANT to?
8. Get some bookings and sell my jewelry! I’ve still got a ton and just have been having a heckuva time getting back into the swing of things since having Cooper. While the jewelry essentially sells itself, it’s not going to unless I get it in front of people.
9. Sell real estate on my blog, as mentioned yesterday.
10. Turn off the water while I’m brushing my teeth. I got into the very wasteful habit of leaving it on and now I need to curb that habit to conserve water and hopefully lower my water bill a little.
11. Spread out my haircuts…every 12 weeks instead of every 8 weeks.
12. On a related note, opt for a more subtle color for my highlights so that I can go longer in-between applications, especially since my stylist is wonderful and great and got a promotion a few months back and now costs more.
13. Go through my belongings…sell discarded items and clothing on eBay, donate what doesn’t sell and keep the receipt for next tax season.

Got any other ideas on how to save money or create a few more dollars? Let me know…I’d love to hear them!

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