What life changes are you planning to stick to in 2009? Saying that you have a New Year’s Resolution sometimes defeats the purpose for some because just naming a resolution as such gives it no permanence. It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead what you could do is to continue to do something that you did sporadically before the holiday season. Let’s say you decided to carry your own bag to the store but that fell by the wayside when you started making gift purchases. Never fear. Carrying you own bag to the book store or grocery store seems cool, Carrying your own bag to Macy’s or Carson’s seems different.

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of your diet for fiber and vitamins but as much as I like carrots and corn, they don’t go as well as a chocolate chip cookie with strong black coffee. So, I am returning to my better eating habits, especially since I just finished my last piece of Panettone yesterday. There is no excuse for having it for breakfast anymore.

Instead of worrying about a New Year’s Resolution, you could just go back to the good habits you had before the holidays disrupted your schedule.

For me, that means more sensible meals, taking my own bags to stores and eating fruits and vegetables regularly. This will all last until about mid-December and then things will go awry again – or unless I get a Pandoro around Easter.

How is your spending going so far in 2009?

I haven’t spent that much and seem to be on track pretty much but soon I know that things will change. I will have to go grocery shopping. During the hustle and bustle during the week before Christmas and just after I didn’t have to cook any food at home because I was going to family gatherings where I was given food to take home, ate out with friends a couple of times and had leftovers to take home and celebrated my birthday at a dinner from which I brought home leftovers.

Spending money to save money seems crazy but on my birthday that is what I did. There were two special exhibits that I wanted to see at the Field Museum. One was ending the day after my birthday and the other ending a month later. Rather than spend $30 for general admission and admission to the two shows, I decided that buying a membership for $70 was a much better deal because there are a couple of other exhibits that I want to see later in the year and I do go to the museum a few times a year. I can borrow a pass from the library, but it has become increasingly difficult to get a pass since the economy is so poor. Plus, I would still have to pay for the special exhibits. A membership allows me to bring a friend, check two items free and offers discounts to the restaurants, and shops in the museum. Plus, I also got a sturdy canvas bag that is large enough to actually use for something when I signed up.

This week will set the tone for the year. This is the first week that I will actually have to prepare meals and make plans for the new year. So far, knowing that I have some “free” entertainment at the Field Museum is great, plus I have some extra money from Christmas and my birthday that I am saving up. Meaning: so far things are starting off on the right foot. Especially because I have some frozen ready to eat meals in the freezer that I saved from the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.