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December 31, 2008

CWSotW: help to keep your financial New Year's resolutions

piggybank For this Consumer Web Site of the Week, we want to know: how are you going to stick to your financial New Year's Resolutions this year?

Sometimes it's good to tell other people about your goals, so that they can help keep you honest by asking about them --- or helping you avoid temptation.

For example, if you want to spend less money eating out, your friends might help you by suggesting other activities than meeting for dinner.

Or you might consider a wider audience: some people start personal finance blogs to post their progress toward reducing debt, saving for something important or just changing their personal habits.

If you're too shy to tell your compatriots how much you owe, you could blog or participate in an online community anonymously or with a handle and get some support from strangers. One option is NetWorthIQ, where you can see where you stand and publicly --- but anonymously --- post your net worth.

You could also ...

... use a site like SmartyPig.com, which is backed by an FDIC-insured bank, to publicly post a goal and make regular payments to it. Friends and family could even contribute to your goals by depositing cash.

Keep in mind, however, that smartypig does charge fees for some transactions.

(photo: stock.xchng)

 

Posted by Liz Kay at 7:06 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Banks, Budgeting, Consumer Web Site of the Week
        

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