Emily's List: resolute New Year's edition

Happy New Year, Taking Charge readers! With a new year comes new resolutions, goals and plans, most usually related to shedding both pounds, debt or both. I can't help you get rid of those love handles, but this week's round-up will help you learn how to give yourself a financial makeover and set important goals for yourself. 

In these posts, 10 of our favorite bloggers outline their financial goals for 2009, provide advice on taking control of your money and offer tips on sticking to your new goals. My personal goal is to plan better for the holidays next year so I don't enter January with debt. Enjoy these New Year’s-themed posts and embrace your chance to start off fresh!

1. No Credit Needed discusses how he is planning his finances for the new year. This includes making an inventory of all his financial accounts and scheduling automatic contributions.

2. Mrs. Micah shares her financial plan for 2009. One of her biggest goals is to pay off her car. She also provides an excellent budgeting spreadsheet that readers can download and use to help organize their money in the new year.

3. Ask Mr. Credit Card outlines five credit card practices that you should adopt in 2009. If you don't follow these measures, your credit will definitely take a hit.

4. My Two Dollars provides budgeting tips to get your new year off to a smart start. Among other things, he reminds readers to save up and encourages them to use reward credit cards.

5. Gen X Finance offers five tips that you can use to have a financially successful and debt-free new year, such as having a budget review and setting up an automatic savings plan.

6. I've Paid For This Twice Already explains how several recent, unexpected events are causing him to reconsider his financial goals for 2009. His story is a prime example of why you need to save up an emergency fund. When a surprise expense arrives, it's better to have the money saved than to rely on a credit card.

7. Is your New Year's resolution to become debt free? Kristy at Master Your Card has achieved freedom from debt and outlines the 10 steps she went through during this process. This is an encouraging read for those who don’t think they can do it.

8. Money Under 30 offers five easy New Year's resolutions that you can use to make positive financial changes in the coming year. Some excellent suggestions are to stop paying unnecessary fees, such as ATM fees and overdraft fees, and to cut up one of your credit cards that you don’t truly need.

9. We Americans have had quite a tumultuous year. Trent at The Simple Dollar makes 10 interesting financial predictions for 2009 involving everything from stock market behavior to gas prices. He believes our economy will rebound and next year’s Christmas season will be strong and record-breaking. Let's hope so!

10. Jesse at The Penny Saved says there are three New Year’s resolutions we should all stick to this year, and one of them is to get rid of debt. He says the main reason people abandon resolutions is because we get frustrated when the results aren't immediate, so remember to have patience!

See related: Emily's List: Post-Christmas smorgasbord, Emily's List: Old credit smarts, new credit smarts, Emily's List: Debt management