Merry New Year 2011! It All Starts again…

So I have returned from my sabbatical ready for another exciting year, which 2011 looks to be.

As you saw with the Personal Financial Rants of 2010, there are a lot of angry personal finance bloggers out there, and I was proud of the posts that most of the folks sent me (although I am kind of worried about a few of them, maybe they need to cut back on the high test coffee).

Time for Some Resolutions!

Yes, even I, a self-described cynic when it comes to resolutions will attempt a few resolutions, a few I will share with you (I have others that have nothing to do with this blog, so these aren’t all of them).

Why are resolutions important? I think it is important in anything you do, to challenge yourself, or you simply end up doing the same things again. If you are Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, doing the same thing again still makes you millions of dollars, however, for poor schlubs like us, doing the same thing again, simply means farther in debt.

The New Year is a perfect time to start something new, so let’s look at some of the areas where a resolution or two might help out (and allow me to personalize these from my point of view).

1. Move completely to a passive investing model, by using Index Funds instead of specific stocks. Currently my RRSPs still hold specific stocks, and given my inability to not worry about minutia, the best thing for my mental health would be to change to a completely Index’ed based methodology. Use a simple model for an investing mix and then sit back and not worry too much.I think this resolution is fairly easy to execute, as I am almost there in a few of the investment vehicles I currently have.
2. Automate bill payments completely, so that I am not constantly worrying about whether bills are being paid on time. Again, this is not that hard for me, I am mostly there, I have a few bills left to automate and this should make life simpler for me, and hopefully less stressful.
3. Create more income by spending less. This one sounds ridiculously simple, doesn’t it, but given my current situation in terms of my job, the best way to increase my income spending less is the easiest way to create more income in my household. The areas where spending can be curtailed are obvious as well:
   1. Discretionary spending while at work: Don’t buy lunch, don’t buy too many coffees (hey I need at least one or I might fall asleep). Paying for parking is another big expense that needs to be dealt with, not sure exactly how that will get remedied.
   2. Work with my wife on the grocery budget (i.e. get the hell out of her way, and let her do it, and I’ll keep my big mouth shut). This one is a lot harder than you think (given how big my mouth is).

Darn simple resolutions, but then again that is the essence of a good plan, simplicity. The major goal of all of this is to make money less stressful.

Am I missing something here? Are these resolutions too simple? I’m open to suggestions.