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When the year is about half over, where are the New Year's resolutions? Some are long forgotten, others devoutly kept. Some will be resurrected next New Year's, for the umpteenth time. There's got to be a better way.

New Month's resolutions don't carry nearly as big a weight. If the obligation is only for a month, it can be much more bearable. By the time it becomes a royal pain, the month is nearly over.

With a New Month's resolution to do a certain number of sit-ups a day, the literal pain in the neck can be endured if it's only for a month. (Check with your doctor on exercise plans, you know.) The number can be decreased or the type of exercise can be changed next month.

When you declare a resolution to abstain from eating junk food, a month is far more fathomable than a year. Even ice cream can be given up for a month. Absence makes the heart grow fonder of ice cream, by the way.

During the last few days of the month, it's time to review the resolutions. Which ones can you hardly wait to forget? Forget them! They probably weren't such great ideas in the first place. The ones that seem like they would have been good if only (fill in the blank) can be altered. There's no need to abandon them.

If you've made a resolution to stick to a budget plan this month, look at the receipts you have, of course, kept since this time last month. Were you too hard on yourself? Too easy? Do the math. Make a new resolution for next month or carry over the one from this month.

If you are afraid to resolve to do something different next year, give it a shot in the middle of this year. If you think it would be impossible to save a certain amount of money each month, try it for only half a year. Put it in a savings account. Pick a bank that offers a decent interest rate and look at what you've earned at the end of the year. Imagine what it would have been if you'd started six months sooner, or ask someone at the bank to figure it out for you.

When your house needs so much maintenance or repair work that you don't know where to start, make a new resolution each month to get something done. The back door can be repaired one month, new finish added to the woodwork in the den the next, and so on. Safety is one of the main considerations, so if the back door lock is out of alignment and can't be secured, unless you've got a killer alarm system, that should be near the top of the list.

Congratulate yourself at the end of each month for having kept your resolutions. Then ask yourself what you were thinking as you abandon, alter or carry over the resolutions for the following month. Make some new ones. Who knows what you'll do with them in another thirty or so days?

Learn more about this author, Alicia Suenaga.
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