While others much a resolution to go to the gym more often, I plan on spending less. The past few months have been crazy for my finances because of the holiday gifting and trying to take advantage of Discover's ridiculous 10% Apple Pay deal. It'll be really nice to have more stable and predictable spending trends for a while.

While I like dreaming about winning the $400 Million Powerball jackpot as much as anyone else, there are more beneficial things you can spend your time thinking about. So things to look at:

401k contributions (if your employer matches, do that as a minimum. It's free money)
IRA contributions (You have until April 15 to donate for 2015)
HSA contributions (if applicable)
Look at your spending (Use Mint or Personal Capital (We'll both get $20 if you connect a brokeage/401k/IRA using that link)) and budget (maybe lower spending)
Possibly look at credit cards that may possibly benefit you more (based on your goals)
Look at your bank accounts. Do they have fees or can you get better interest rates (1% is common, e.g. Barclays)?
Setup Autopay on your bills (less stress)
Relook at loans and make a plan to pay it off
Setup your emergency fund if you don't have one already

I admit that I probably spend more time thinking about my personal finances than I should. But oddly, I find it enjoyable and really fancy offering help/advice to others about the subject.

Some good reads? I enjoy browsing some Reddit subs (Financial Independence and Churning) and other popular blogs (MMM and FrequentMiler). Beware: Reading about FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) can lead to an slight obsession. Want a basic finance read? Here's mine!

Matthew TW Huang’s Substack

Finances: Beginning of the Year