Happy  New Year!

2009 has arrived, for many, in a whirl of post-holiday debt, and anxiety about the economy. This is virtually guaranteed to add fuel to the New Year’s Resolution fire, as people attempt to deal with the possibility of job loss, and recession.

What’s your New Year’s Resolution? If you’re like many of us, at least one of your resolutions will have something to do with money: make more of it, save more of it, reduce your debt, budget better…

How do you ensure that you keep your money resolutions year round? Recognize what these resolutions really are: a statement that you will pay more attention to what you do with your money. Reducing debt, getting a handle on credit cards, saving money, tracking your income and expenses better are all about thinking about money differently, so that you have to worry about it less. Make sure you’re thinking out loud, too: talk to your family members about your goals and strategies for the household finances. Communicating about money is always the first step, no matter what your goal.

Look for resources within your community: money management workshops, credit counseling, your local library. Check out our blogroll and list of favourite resources for some additional ideas.

One of the most interesting things I’ve learned in a couple of years of facilitating money management workshops is that talking about money is a necessary step in the journey to change our money management practices for most people. I have participated in many groups in which complete strangers find themselves in conversations about deeply personal financial matters that they’ve never discussed with anyone, ever, within the first several minutes of the workshop. Workshop groups have been moved to tears while listening to a participant describe their struggles with debt – not because the story is a difficult one to hear, but because it resonates with their own experience: it is their story, too.

So, if you find yourself making New Year’s resolutions about money, and don’t know how to move forward with them, consider finding people to “think out loud” with about money issues. Find a place where you can talk about money, or learn new money management skills. If there isn’t one in your community – find one online, start a group in your neighbourhood, write a blog about your journey. Get together with friends or strangers over and talk about the place of money, debt, and financial anxiety in your life. Just do something. You might just find that those other resolutions get easier to keep if you do.

Have a happy – and prosperous – 2009!