We review the results of our recent survey to reveal which financial actions the readers of lovemoney.com are planning to carry out about this year...
As the clock strikes midnight every New Year's Eve, many of us pledge that this is the year we'll stick to our New Year's resolutions! And many of us really mean it. Yet somehow, successfully managing to keep them always seems so difficult.
So we thought it would be interesting to survey lovemoney.com readers to find out what financial actions you successfully completed in 2009 and which ones you're planning to take in 2010.
Let's take a look at the results.
Top priorities in 2009
According to our poll of 1,016 readers, paying off credit card debt was the top priority for most of you last year - although sadly, only 16% of you said you successfully managed to do this. Opening an ISA was the second most important, and building up an emergency savings pot came in at number three.
All sensible priorities to have, particularly in the current economic climate! But what did you actually manage to do?
Shopping around
According our results, shopping around for insurance was the most popular financial action the most of you managed to achieve last year.
In total, one in every two of you said you successfully shopped around for car insurance in 2009. And a similar number of you said you shopped around for home insurance.
If you ask me, this is great news, given that one of our many mottos at lovemoney.com is to always shop around!
As the savvy readers among you clearly already know, comparing a range of insurance policies is a great way of saving yourself some money. In fact, shopping around for your car insurance could save you an average of £300 each year, according to the AA. And ASDA reckons shopping around for home insurance could save you as much as £122 a year. Sounds good to me!
Boost your savings
So what about savings? How many of you managed to save anything last year?
According to our survey, more than a third of you managed to open an ISA, and one in three of you also built up an emergency savings pot.
As I explained in The top 10 cash ISAs for 2010, an ISA is a great way to save because it's tax-free! You can invest up to £3,600 in a cash ISA each financial year, unless you're aged 50 or over by 5 April 2010, in which case the annual limit is even higher at £5,100. The rules, however, are changing in April - download this free guide to make sure you're prepared.
For tips on how to make sure you have enough savings to fall back on in an emergency, adopt this goal: Build up an emergency savings pot.
You can compare a whole range of ISAs and other savings accounts with lovemoney.com.
Finally, a quarter of you also decided to give your pension some attention and successfully managed to invest in it in 2009. Well done - you sure picked a good time to invest in the stock market!
Top priorities for 2010
So what about this year? What are your top priorities for 2010?
Well, according to our survey, your number one financial priority or New Year's resolution is to pay off your credit card debt - perhaps not surprising given the vast amounts of money many of us will have spent over the Christmas period.
However, savings are clearly still important, with building up an emergency savings pot being the second biggest priority, and opening an ISA for the new tax year the third.
Encouragingly, more than a quarter of you are 'very confident' about carrying out your financial actions this year, while half of you are 'quite confident'. Only 5% of you say you're 'not very confident', and a tiny 1% of you say you're 'not at all confident'.
Interestingly, shopping around for car insurance and home insurance are also popular financial aims for 2010, just as they were for 2009. More than a third of you said you're planning to shop around for car insurance, while a similar number said you're planning to shop around for home insurance.
Keeping your resolutions
If you are worried about how to make your New Year's resolutions come true, lovemoney.com can help!
Tackling your credit card debt can seem like you're climbing a huge mountain, but, surprisingly, it is achievable through a few simple steps. So if you're wondering where to start, and would like advice on how to slash your credit card debt, register on lovemoney.com and adopt this goal: Pay off your credit card debts.
Similarly, if you're hoping to build up an emergency savings pot, but you're not sure where to begin, you can adopt the goal Build up your savings which will provide you with plenty of tips on how to get into the savings habit.
And if you're worried you won't have enough money to save, we can help with that too! Simply adopt this goal: Make some extra money and watch this video: How to... save when you've got no money which is packed full of helpful tips! Finally, don't forget you can compare all sorts of savings and ISAs with lovemoney.com.
If, on the other hand, your New Year's resolution is to shop around for insurance policies, it couldn't be easier! All you need to do is take a look at the lovemoney.com car insurance comparison tool as well as our home insurance comparison centre, and you'll find a whole range of policies to choose from.
If you're concerned about some of the jargon used when it comes to car insurance, make sure you read Choose the right car insurance policy for a breakdown of what some of the terms mean. And if you'd like further tips on keeping down the cost of your home insurance, read 8 savvy tips to cut your home insurance.
Finally, don't forget that if you register on lovemoney.com, you can adopt this goal: Slash your insurance costs. This will give you plenty of advice on how you can keep all your insurance costs to a minimum.
Whatever New Year's resolutions you've made for this year, good luck with them!
More: Get into the savings habit in 2010 | Achieve your money resolutions in 12 steps