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It’s fashionable to mock New Year resolutions because they often end up as 7-day wonders or even less. We’re so used to multi-tasking at the risk of focusing on nothing that I do get why focusing on two or three things that matter most can be met with such pessimism. But I rather like making a list of goals and checking it twice (a day). In the first page of my 3-year journal (yes, I still keep one and it’s not digital!), it says “the palest ink is better than the brightest memory.” That’s an ancient Chinese proverb that I hope I won’t forget in the next 10 years. We all need every chance we can get to think more deeply about what we want, what we should focus our energies on, and a chance to start all over again. New beginnings… So here are some ideas for New Year resolutions for money-smart geeks. Do jump in if you have other suggestions, because deepening the discussion can only do us more good! 1. Pay off debt. Every centavo of it. In four months. I did this in 2006 but made new low-interest debt last year. Although this goal means the whole family gotta adjust our lifestyle in the next four months, we decided to allocate 40% of our combined family income to retire this debt and then we’re home free! Wahoo! My lazy other self is telling me it’s not worth the trouble – after all its just 9% per annum or 0.75% per month. Why make the family go through such belt-tightening when we can just pay everything off in a year? Answer is, it’s better for peace of mind and investment planning. No use saving for retirement and investing if you are paying interest. Goal-making tip: Keep goals specific and add a timeframe. 2. Increase emergency fund to six months’ worth of income by December 2008. This is a smash-hit for most couples and not just for those who are starting to take the wheel of financial planning. Again, experts have always said this comes first before investing because emergency needs for cash make you vulnerable to losses. Imagine being forced to take out your money from the stock market on the day equities make a high dive. Ouch. Double ouch once you see that two days after, the PSEi makes a triple rebound. With forecasts that 2008 will be a roller coaster ride, it makes good sense to protect ourselves with a fat emergency fund. Goal-making tip: Focus on must-do, rather than nice-to-do things. Conserve your energy. 3. Work smarter (not harder) to accomplish more in less time. Lavishing more attention on family keeps me more productive at work! Last year marked many milestones in my writing. It was so much busier than previous years. There were a lot of opportunities and I wanted to take them all! Greedy lil me discovered that I can’t do all the “save the country-help the community” things that I want even if I try as hard as I can. I just gotta learn how to say “No” or else, my work-life balance will go out of whack – something that a lot of the people I interview complain about. We don’t want to feel like a gerbil on a giant wheel of work forgetting why we do the things we do in the first place. Work and family should invigorate and inspire, not sap our energy and make us not want to wake up in the morning. Work smarter! Goal-making tip: Keep the list short. Review daily and assess at the end of the year. Our personal finance article “Starting the new year right” has more suggestions on personal finance resolutions for 2008. I also found Get Rich Slowly’s post on financial goals very helpful, especially the one on losing weight! The Digerati Life makes specific goals about blogging. I should figure out my own goals for MoneySmarts but I guess I'm still so new at this that I just want to enjoy writing. All Financial Matters’ goals remind me that life and money are very much related. Flexo who blogs in Consumerism Commentary makes specific goals when it comes to increasing his net income, paying down his student loans and even contributing to charity. These are what I call goals that are meant to last longer than the brightest ink. Good luck on your goals everybody. I hope your savings and investments strategies this year are as quietly successful and nimble as that of the rat’s. P.S. Share your resolutions here so that I can remind you about them the whole year through! :)

They tell me it’s hard to be grateful when you’re dead broke. As in zero moolah in your bank account and loads of debt. A good friend told me of a time he was sunk to the tune of millions and it was all he could do to face himself in the mirror in the morning. I wouldn’t presume to know better what people should feel in those times. But perhaps it would be a good idea to be grateful while I can. After all, it’s Thanksgiving in the US, one of the holidays there that I like and want to import here in the Philippines even if there’s a lot of skepticism about it. Get Rich Slowly has a neat video and post on why Thanksgiving can be good even without turkey circa 1951! Another reason is that I write about money every day and while I know I should be thankful for what those little coins and bills bring, it’s important to focus on the real reason why we want to fix our finances. Not for money’s sake or the things that go ka-ching, but for things like security, family, health, service to God and community, helping others and so on. Digerati said it well:

… money is a replaceable asset, a distant second to many other things that we all wish we could permanently have and forever keep, but which we only end up receiving in what seemingly feels like short, sporadic periods throughout our lives.

So, I’m grateful for: (Photo from AFP) - time. Time to heal, to make amends, to start over, to think of things celestial, to ponder on light and truth, to laugh aloud - little grubby fingers that grab you and children who hug you and make you feel you’re 10 feet tall at the end of a crazy busy day - last week’s momentary misunderstandings, because that means hubby and I are still together after 15 years - mom’s health and sense of humor - two home angels who have served my family for years and keep my kalamansi juice fresh - more than 20 articles waiting to be written, because that means I am doing what I love to do - friends who text “ei, musta? Wala lang.” - the feel of fresh sheets - blogging, which makes me jump up from bed every morning. (I kid you not) - email and the Internet, for making it possible to work at home **turns to you, and gives you my full attention** It’s your turn.

(Putting personal finances in the public eye does not scare Filipinos anymore. Photo from  AFP) Used to be that Filipinos would rather reveal their most embarrassing bloopers to friends rather than talk about how much they are making or how much debt they have. Not anymore. Pinoys are talking about their deep, dark money secrets in blogs, their investment portfolio and strategies, revealing their net worth and their biggest financial dreams, the lessons they learn along the way as they journey on to financial independence – and sometimes even their mistakes (laudable, really. After all, who doesn’t make mistakes?) I usually go looking for these blogs once a week and take a peek at what people are feeling and saying. Aside from real life interviews that I do on a regular basis, these blogs give me a chance to get the Filipino pulse. The bloggers I like don’t pretend to know everything. But they are very opinionated. I do not agree with everything they write, but hey, diversity makes life interesting. I read them because they tell their stories well. Here are some examples: The Money Tree…my ABCs of Personal Finance. Carefully chosen topics, good narrative, nice tables. The latest entry, however, was a month ago. Pinoy Piso, wake up! Tales of the absolute trader is written by Tarantrader who is wild about technical analysis. He’s very opinionated. Warning, his blog is technical, but you’ll find some interesting posts like the one on choosing a stock broker. I just discovered “The Girl With The Pearl Ngipin” lately. She’s a newbie in financial planning living in New Zealand. It’s interesting to me how she will handle the wild ride to her first P50 million :) . Let’s cheer her on! Most of you know Digerati Life. She’s a Filipina living in Silicon Valley. Her blog posts will be helpful to Filipinos in the US, and even those who are making their own way here. Moolah Matters  is an example of how the young urban professional in Manila thinks, acts and decides. She’s the only one in the group that I know personally and I only met her recently. Maybe it’s the anonymity in blogging that allows them to talk about what used to be a taboo subject. Maybe it’s the drive to do better with finances, maybe it’s the chance to talk to like-minded people. Whatever the reason, this shows there’s a shift in the Filipino psyche when it comes to money.