10. Create (and Stick to) a Realistic Budget
If you have a little trouble keeping your spending in check, the best resolution is to start keeping a budget. With a tool like Mint, it's actually very easy to craft your budget and track each purchase you make, so you can stay responsible without having to do a ton of work. You can even set goals for those few things you want to save for, so you have motivation to stay on the wagon.
9. Get a Better Education
If you're starting to feel like your current education level isn't getting you where you want to go, maybe it's time to go back to school. Find the right program for you, building it into your budget, and keeping your current job in the meantime.
8. Make New Friends
If you haven't been branching out as much as you'd like, there are a few things you can do this year to get out there and make more friends
7. Keep Your Home Cleaner
Cleaning is one of the first chores we start to neglect when we start to get busy, but it doesn't need to be difficult.
6. Start Working Out
We've shared a ton of exercise tips over the years, but if you can't even get yourself to the gym in the first place, they won't do you much good. The more you can fit a workout into your daily routine, the more likely you are to stick with it.
5. Learn a New Skill
Whether its learning to code, learning to cook, or learning to play guitar, we all have one or two skills we've been itching to learn. Chances are, you can probably get a good head start in just a few days, and it isn't as daunting as you think it is.
4. Get that Promotion (or New Job)
Whether you're itching to move up the ladder or move to a new career path, there's no better time than now to make it happen.
3. Reboot Your Sleep Cycle
If 2011 found you exhausted more often than you were well-rested, its time to change the way you sleep. No matter what it is keeping you up, make it a priority to reboot your sleep cycle and get the rest you deserve.
2. Eat Healthier
One of the most popular resolutions around, the vague "eat better" is always a difficult one to follow through on. Before you go making untenable resolutions again, learn what eating better really means, and use tools like the food pyramid to help you out. If you're on a budget, too (see tip #10), that doesn't mean you need to eat poorly, either: you can eat like a foodie at home without spending a ton of money. For bonus points, combine this with a good workout (see tip #6) to stay fit and healthy..
1. Back Up Your Data
This is one of those things everyone says they should do, but so few often actually do. I stuck this at #1 because it's by far the easiest thing to do on this list: with a program likeCrashPlan, you can set up a bulletproof, fully automated backup in mere hours that you then forget about, and have your data forever protected.
