It's that time of the year again, when countless people make their own resolutions in an effort to have a better year. Year in and year out, people undertake this responsibility and give themselves goals that they want to meet for the next 12 months. I do not know if you do this but it surely is a good idea, as long as you actually follow through with your initial plans. Here are some ideas for your own New Year's resolutions ? feel free to take them as your own or even tweak them to suit your personal situation and preferences.

Open a new bank account that will be untouchable.

I think that I have said this to myself many times in the past year. I used to have one and then I decided to close it and invested the money in a retirement plan that doubles as an insurance policy. I consider that money well spent but I realise that I still need something that is liquid ? that is, something that I can access in case of big time emergencies. That is why the first thing that I am going to do when I get back to work is to open a new bank account that will be under my name only and keep that as my hedge fund, so to speak. More than opening the bank account, I am deciding to put a little bit of money every month. It does not have to be big, as long as I regularly put money into it.

Stop using my credit card until it has been paid off.

This past year has been a year of spending. I bought a lot of new gadgets and spent a lot on my new apartment and before I knew it, my credit card bill had skyrocketed. I actually stopped using it a few months back and I just intend to continue with it. It might take 3 to 6 more months of regularly making big payments but I am hell bent on paying this thing off.

Limit major purchases to TWO in the next SIX months.

This is because I have already planned on getting myself a special gift on my birthday BUT this is something that is dependent on the cash that I have on hand. If I do not have the cash then I will not be buying the gadget that I want for my birthday. This is in line with my previous resolution above.

These are some of my money resolutions for the New Year but I am sure that I can come up with more if I take more time to think about it. I am not so sure that I should think of more, though, as I might be biting off more than I can chew. Then again, they have this saying ? aim for the stars and hit the lamp post, aim for the lamp post and hit the ground. Perhaps I should think of more and aim for the stars? What are YOUR resolutions?