HOUSTON – We know we’re all a little wary of starting a new year after the two we’ve just had. And the thought of doing something different – anything that could potentially rock the boat of sort-of equilibrium you may have achieved – is beyond even thinking. Or is it?
We say, just do it. Skip the fear, the inner strife and just do the things you’ve been meaning to do, wanting to do and frankly, waiting to do to make your life better.
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After all, if these two years of pandemic life have taught us anything, it’s that these things worth doing should be done because time is precious, the people we love are precious and we all want a better life for them, our communities, and ourselves going forward into the new year.
Here are a few ways to get things started right.
1. Start a family or personal budget
This doesn’t have to be the daunting task you think it is. There are online templates that work with Word or Google Docs that are basically fill-in-the-blank.
All you have to do is take a turn through your bank statements and credit card accounts and fill in your bills and savings. You could find a few things you forgot you were paying for -- and get a better idea of where all of your money is going each month. The process could also show you where you could save a little more or pay off a little more debt. Here is one template we’ve tried out and found reasonably easy to work with. Here are others you might want to consider based on your preferences. The graphic-driven ones are kind of cool if you’re a visual learner.
2. Automate your savings
There are plenty of great places out there that help you with your savings.
Watch the “Houston Life” clip below to find out why credit unions might be a good place to drop your savings. You might want to take a look at WalletHub’s list of best credit unions in Texas and compare rates and perks.
However, whether credit union or bank, the important thing when you open your account or revisit it is to make sure you automate your monthly, weekly or annual savings. We suggest setting the bar high for yourself and setting the amount to be drawn shortly after your pay hits your bank account. You can always go back and modify your savings if you absolutely need the cash. However, chances are -- if you’re realistic when setting the amount -- that you will change behaviors because you’ll be watching the balance amount in your bank account -- not what quickly got pulled away into your savings.
3. Automate your giving
It’s good to give. Whether you support charitable causes or religious organizations, setting up your giving in an automated fashion at the beginning of the year can help provide sustained support for groups throughout the year and help you avoid overextending at the end of the year when many people give. Most established organizations accept subscription-type giving with weekly or monthly or annual contributions. Look this up on websites associated with the group you want to support and get the automated giving going in a few minutes.
4. Start exercising
Winter in the Houston area is a great time to start exercising, but of course, always be sure to consult with a medical professional before starting. The weather is cooler and you can see without spending a ton whether you’re going to stick with that resolution to run a 5K or bike across Texas or whatever you want to do.
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When the weather starts to warm up and you’re actually continuing to exercise, you can say with confidence that a treadmill or elliptical machine or Peloton or gym membership is a good investment because you have -- though short -- a track record to begin justifying the expense and space needed in your home for more serious equipment.
5. Schedule your doctor’s appointments
Getting and staying healthy is a goal for a lot of people, but their actual health is often overlooked.
Take a full account of how you feel at the beginning of 2022. Write down any ailments you have or have experienced in the past few months and set up appointments accordingly. We suggest scheduling your appointments throughout the year. People do tend to jam all of their appointments into one month and then end up tapped out on taking care of themselves for the year, so avoid that by scheduling your appointments over several months.
If you’re not having any particular ailments, get the routine appointments in by visiting your primary care doctor, dentist and optometrist.
6. Eat better
We tell this to you after you just finished that enormous tin of Christmas caramel corn, right? It’s hard to take this one on when so many of us have been eating badly since probably October. We don’t presume to tell you what will work, but you may want to try skipping dessert for a while or reaching for salads at lunchtime to get this jumpstarted for the new year. Small changes over time can make a big impact.
7. Get your declutter on
Go through your closets, cabinets and get rid of the things you don’t use, don’t fit or you don’t like. If you’re not sure where to start, read our story on a Sugar Land mom who tried minimalism and how it changed her life through the pandemic. You might be inspired by her efforts to declutter more than ever before.
A great place to start your decluttering is to start in utilitarian spaces like your bathrooms or kitchen. Get rid of items that are expired, especially. Good places to start are your freezer, spice cabinet, refrigerator and bathroom cabinets. You can move toward more personal items as you get great at decluttering, but work those muscles at your own pace.
8. Clean out your car
Let’s face it, people who live in the Houston area live out of our cars, but it’s easy to forget about our cars the second they’re parked. Take a look through and start removing the things that belong in your house. Give the interior and trunk a good declutter. When you’re done, grab your vacuum (or line up to support a local business) to sweep out your ride and wipe off all those creviced surfaces.
After the gunk cleaning is done, set yourself up for success in maintaining that clean by adding a garbage container inside your vehicle -- we recommend something that’s lined with plastic -- to grab up all those takeout items, tissues or other little pieces that tend to junk up a car’s interior fast. We also love baby wipes and disinfectant wipes to grab inside your vehicle for dust and little messes that can happen on the go. There’s nothing worse than a bubble tea mess that’s baked in the Houston sun for a year-and-a-half. You’ll be thanking us next year for that tip when your car interior isn’t multi-colored.
9. Outfit your car with emergency supplies
We know -- we’re constantly telling you to get ready for emergencies. Hurricanes. February freezes. All the things for your home. But what about your vehicles? We all have seen people pulled over on the side of the road, but this year, it could be your turn.
Get your cars ready now. Grab an old, but substantial blanket, some Fix-a-Flat, an air inflator, a tool to break a window in an emergency, reflectors, and a set of jumper cables for EACH of your vehicles. You may also want to pack an extra set of clothes for everyone in your family.
10. Bank your spare change
The nation’s coin supply is still a little wacky amid the pandemic, so it might be a good idea to grab up all that change (from that decluttering I just mentioned) and bank it now. You might be surprised how much you will find through your home. Put it toward your savings or your debt mentioned above.
11. Use gift cards
Grab those gift cards and USE them now before you forget about them. You can use them at the retailer or, if it’s something you don’t buy or a place you don’t frequent, here’s an excellent rundown of websites to which you can sell your gift cards. You will likely lose some of the value when you sell, but the cash will be in your pocket, instead of a small plastic weight in your wallet throughout the next year.
12. Pick travel dates for vacation, the upcoming holidays
Life can be unpredictable, but you can start early in the year to sketch out when you want to travel for this year. If possible, talk to family and friends early about when you want to go on vacation or visit. With things sketched out early, you can work travel sites to get the best deals on airfare, transport and lodging when you’re ready to pin it all down.
13. Get a new toothbrush
It’s such a small, meaningful thing. Just do it for yourself.
If you’re looking to refresh other little things in your bathroom, consider new bath and makeup sponges, too.
14. Start a list for gift giving
We all give gifts to family members and friends, and for some folks, if not all, it’s a process that can stump the best of us. We have a solution.
Write down each person whom you regularly give gifts to in a draft email or Word file or spreadsheet and start compiling ideas. When you’re out and about and you say, “I KNOW (insert person here) would love that,” open your file (make it easy to find on your phone) and write it down. This trick sets you up for a stress-free holiday season or birthday gift next year. You’ll be thanking us for that one right about Dec. 21, 2022.
15. Start a list for to-dos around your home
Do a brain dump. Go through each room in your home and write down everything that bothers you about it. Every. Single. Thing. From the burned out lightbulb to the piece of peeling molding at the corner of your bathroom vanity, these things are annoying and we think about them repeatedly. Put it all down on a list to give your brain a rest. When you can, start going through each room methodically to get fixes for each one of them. If you’re a renter, ask maintenance for help for a couple things a month. If you’re a homeowner, tackle a few at a time based on your budget.
16. Start a list for home/auto upkeep
If you have a home to maintain, starting a list with trusted people who help maintain it all -- in one place -- is essential. On your list, include contacts and addresses for plumbing work, heating and air-conditioning repair, general maintenance, tree, garden and lawn maintenance, electrician work, pest control, carpet cleaning, auto mechanic and inspection, and your home and auto insurance.
It really isn’t fun to be an adult reading that, does it? But it feels like you’re winning adulthood when you can call all of this information up in two seconds. Grab that power in 2022 and feel mighty.
17. Manage your passwords
Passwords. Ugh. They’re the worst, right? This one still makes us a little crazed. But there’s help.
Here are some free and paid options to make managing your passwords a little easier. The idea is that you use a software utility to manage your passwords -- and let’s let the folks over at CNET explain it a little better than we can: “A password manager is essentially an encrypted digital vault that stores secure password login information you use to access apps and accounts on your mobile device, websites and other services. In addition to keeping your identity, credentials and sensitive data safe, the best password managers also have a password generator to create strong, unique passwords and ensure you aren’t using the same password in multiple places (password generation really comes in clutch when you can’t come up with yet another unique password on the fly for the latest must-have iOS app). With all the recent news of security breaches and identity theft, having a unique password for each location can go a long way to ensuring that if one site gets hacked, your stolen password can’t be used on other sites. You’re basically using multiple passwords to create your own security features. Plus, with a manager, you don’t have to remember the various pieces of login information, such as shipping addresses and credit card information. With just one master password, or in some cases a PIN or your fingerprint, you can autofill a form or password field. Some also feature online storage and an encrypted vault for storing documents.”
Read CNET’s full breakdown of what it considers the best password managers.
We’re putting this on our to-do list right now.
18. Get rid of memberships/subscriptions you don’t use
Remember that bit about saving money in 2022? This could be one of the biggest thing to help you attack that goal right away. Do you need all of those subscriptions? For prepared meals, for makeup, for clothes, for razors, for streaming services, for, well, just about anything...wait -- how much are you spending? Do you know?
Could you cut back on one or all? Just try it. You might find that you don’t need all of those services after all and they were seriously cutting in on your bottom line. That $15 a month can really add up. Stop the cycle and see if it really hurts. It might not. (And never fear, you can always jump right back on the subscription horse because those services really want your business.)
19. Organize your holiday decorations before putting them away
Before you crush that tree into the same box you’ve had since 2000 and nearly smash all of your beloved decorations into the box that you KNOW they fit into, take a minute and think about things.
You don’t have to keep everything. Be empowered to really look at these items beyond the glow of the holiday and really study them. If they were on the shelf at your favorite store, would you buy it all over again? If yes, keep it. If not, give it away or send it to the trash.
Also, consider how you’re packing everything. You don’t have to use the same boxes. Repeat: YOU DON’T HAVE TO USE THE SAME BOXES. Does your storage need an upgrade so you’re not crushing the items that remain beloved? Here’s an excellent tutorial on storing items to care for your things as they’re tucked away for another year. We also love this video on frugal options for storage. Mind blown with those Solo cups, y’all.
20. Replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Some folks do this twice a year. We probably should do this more often, but the new year is a great time to start. While you’re up there trying to make sure the batteries are replaced in your detectors, test out the buttons to make sure everything is still working. Here’s some great additional information from the Texas Department of Insurance. Who knew cobwebs could be so detrimental?
21. Write down your career successes of 2021, your career goals for 2022
Human beings have a way of remembering the bad and forgetting the good. Be intentional about celebrating the good as you look back at 2021 and focus ahead on 2022, particularly with your career.
Even if you left your job or were let go or had something change in what may traditionally be viewed in a negative way, there are ways to celebrate all you have done or decided (or had decided for you) to see the silver linings in your professional life.
Write everything down that you can remember and maybe jog through your emails that celebrate or mention you in a positive way. Update your LinkedIn profile and celebrate everything you have accomplished and write down a few goals for the year ahead in as measurable a way possible.
22. Do one thing you wanted to do all year last year -- or your life
We’re not saying you should buy yourself a pony, but maybe you should. This author’s mother bought herself a pony in 2020 after a lifetime of wanting one and has never been happier. It all started with saving to build a barn and then a holding pen and then putting together the cash for the pony sale and transport home. It didn’t happen overnight.
If you can’t accomplish what you want to do right away, be intentional about setting up a plan in 2022 to accomplish it. Life is precious and so short. Be kind to yourself and do something you’ve always wanted to do -- bonus points if it makes the lives of others better.
Be well and Happy New Year from all of us at KPRC 2.
We appreciate your opinion. What do you suggest for starting 2022 off successfully? Let us know in the comments.