Use February 29 "Leap Day" as the leaping off point for the rest of your financial year, after two months or research and review
(FARMINGTON HILLS, MI - December 21, 2011) - New Year’s Day is the traditional time for setting resolutions. But if you make them too lofty or unreasonable, by Valentine’s Day you will wonder what went wrong.

GreenPath Debt Solutions trainer Megan Bridgett offers up some simple and attainable ways for you to get financial goals in line in the first 60 days of the New Year.  She recommends using the “extra” leap year day of February 29 as your financial jumping off point for the remainder of 2012.

January 1-31: On January 1, come up with a projected budget of your monthly expenses, breaking them into different categories:  Groceries, clothing, entertainment, dining out, utilities, household bills, debts, etc.  “Then, for the month of January, hold on to every receipt,” said Bridgett.  GreenPath has a downloadable, interactive, budget worksheet and various calculators through GreenPath University to help you set an attainable budget and goals. Log on to www.greenpath.org/university for more information.

Each week, go through the receipts together, and place them into the different categories that you have identified.  At the end of the month, tally up the totals, and compare what you have spent to what you had projected.  “People tend to spend 10 to 20 percent over what they anticipated on projected spending,” said Bridgett.  This will help you to identify areas to adjust or cut back.

January 1-14: The first two weeks of January, when you are still excited about your New Year’s resolution, coordinate a family meeting.  “It is important to keep all members of the family involved in the decision making process,” said Bridgett.  For instance, children can help save the family money by simply turning off lights when they leave the room.  They can also monitor cell phone usage and charges.

January 14-28:  The second two weeks of the month, brainstorm to create short- and long-term goals.  Short-term goals could occur within the next three to six months, and long-term could be within the next few years.  Try to keep them SMART:
•Specific - Be as specific as possible.  For instance, if your goal is to “save money,” try to make it specific by saying “I want to save money in order to buy a new car.”  
•Measurable - Another tip is to make the goal measurable.  One way to do this is to identify an amount that you would like to get to.  “I want to save $5,000 to buy a new car.”  
•Attainable - If goals are not attainable, you might become discouraged and give up.
•Realistic - Make sure you are being realistic.  For instance, if you had a goal of “Never eat lunch out while at work,” this might not be...