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"  This year, more than half of Americans will be making money-related resolutions, according to a study by Fidelity Investments. Since so many of us already have money on the mind, it&amp;#039;s important to shape these resolutions so that they will actually help us become our more secure financial selves. Here&amp;#039;s how to help make 2014 the year you finally get your finances in shape and take control of your money. Resolution #1: Make a plan. The New Year is the time to get started on the right foot, and one of the best ways to do this is to have a game plan. To start, figure out where you are today and where you want to end up \u2014 at the end of 2014 and beyond. Run your numbers to see how much money you&amp;#039;re actually bringing in (after taxes), and then take a look at your recurring expenses. What big goals are you trying to accomplish? Buying a home, taking a big trip, getting married? Whatever your dream, you&amp;#039;ll need a plan to get there. Resolution #2: Create a budget. Many people arbitrarily create a &amp;quot;budget&amp;quot; as a way to cut costs and feel like they are saving. But really, you should create a budget you can actually stick to, one that isn&amp;#039;t about deprivation, but about organization and spending wisely. I love the 50/20/30 budgeting formula because it takes a macro look at your spending: 50 percent of your take-home pay is for essentials (housing, food, utilities, etc.), 20 percent is for your future (savings, debt repayment, etc.) and 30 percent is for your lifestyle (all the fun stuff \u2014 travel, gifts, shopping, etc.). Resolution #3: Track your spending. This is essential in order to maintain that 50/20/30 budget and stay in control of your money. I love any tricks that keep me more organized, and there are many important things I do to stay organized financially. For example, I have a separate email account just for my bills so my financial statements are in one spot. I also link my financial accounts with a system that automatically tracks everything for me. Personally, I use LearnVest&amp;#039;s Money Center, but that&amp;#039;s just one of the free tools available online. The big win? You can see all of your transactions in one place and can also sort your charges based on the category that they fall into. Resolution #4: Have the money talk. Take the time to sit down with your significant other (or the entire family!) and go over your goals. It&amp;#039;s important for everyone to be part of the conversation in order to be on the same page and working to achieve the same end result. We know that love and money don&amp;#039;t traditionally mix, but this is actually a way to bring you and a loved one even closer together, as money is one of the most intimate things you could talk about. Find a relaxed time, open a bottle of wine if you need to, and lay your financial concerns, goals and dreams out there. Resolution #5: Spend smarter. Many people decide to just &amp;quot;spend less&amp;quot; in the new year. This is an overly generalized way to cut costs and usually has minimal impact because of the lack of specificity. Though cutting back is a resolution I can certainly stand behind, I still think it&amp;#039;s important to spend a little on yourself, just spend it wisely. As I said before, 30 percent of your budget can go toward your lifestyle, and this category is all about choices. I have a simple equation I use when I&amp;#039;m deciding what to spend my 30 on. I call it the &amp;quot;cost per happy&amp;quot; equation. Your cost per happy is simply how much something costs divided by how happy it makes you. For me, one of the things that has the lowest cost per happy is flowers, so every three months, I feel totally comfortable buying a new orchid. Think about what you savor the most when it comes to money. You may not be able to have it all, but once you have that 50/20/30 plan in place and you employ the &amp;quot;cost-per-happy&amp;quot; technique, you&amp;#039;ll be able to have a whole lot more of the things that make your life truly rich. Resolution #6: Practice negotiation. Negotiation is a skill that, for many people, is anxiety-inducing. But an important thing to remember this year is that it is incredibly powerful and necessary in order to get you where you need to be. As you already know, your income is one of the biggest influences on the kind of life you&amp;#039;ll live. What you negotiate for yourself in terms of earning will affect whether you&amp;#039;ll be able to afford that trip to Hawaii or a big unexpected auto bill. Negotiating is one of the most important skills you can pick up. If you learn this one thing, it will ripple out to every aspect of your life and it can improve it. Resolution #7: Increase your credit score. I always say that your credit score is the only grade that matters after school. This year, make sure you check your score, and if it&amp;#039;s not above the target of 760, figure out ways to increase it. You can check your score for free at sites like CreditKarma.com, which will also give you a report card on what areas have room for improvement. One of the biggest factors is whether you pay your bills on time, so make sure to never ever miss a payment! With these resolutions in place, here&amp;#039;s to making 2014 your most Financially Fearless year yet! Alexa von Tobel is the CEO of LearnVest and the author of the new book Financially Fearless: The LearnVest Program for Taking Control of Your Money. Follow her on Twitter. LearnVest Planning Services is a registered investment adviser and subsidiary of LearnVest, Inc. that provides financial plans for its clients. LearnVest Planning Services and any third-parties listed, discussed, identified or otherwise appearing herein are separate and unaffiliated and are not responsible for each other&amp;#039;s products, services or policies. Photo Credit: AMC Studios "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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