New Years Resolutions.... Take thirty-something

Each year the majority of us vow to become thinner, smarter, better....essentially perfect. By February though, the new calendar year is so last month, the gym gets less crowded, and the boxes of candy hearts on store shelves weaken our wills. But anyone who has ever achieved anything knows that persistence is the key to reaching your goals, be it losing ten pounds or getting out of debt.

As a professional with a mound of student loans standing between me and financial freedom, I'm obsessed with frugality advice on financial blogs. (I also just came back from an amazing two week vacation with drink prices in the double digits, hence the hiatus.)

Like in this post, Irina gives tips for each month on how to avoid mindlessly blowing cash, like cutting back on eating out and booze. Keeping a spending diary to figure out what you overspend on is also a good idea. And you can never go wrong with a GroupOn.

Also if you're Netflixer, consider parting with your cable bill and investing in a Roku instead. My sig other introduced me to this wonderful little device over a year ago and you can basically watch anything you want anytime if you have internet access. Limited selections are free, but you can subscribe to live streaming services that run about 1/8 of the price of cable. (That means Hulu and Netflix.)