Financial Resolutions. . .

Everyone makes resolutions at the start of a new year, most of them are dealing with health and attitude.   Do you make resolutions, are any of your resolutions financial?    You probably do not think of financial goals as resolutions but, if you do not set goals and make a plan you will never achieve what you want.  This especially goes for your finances.   Dave sets up "Baby Steps" to help you achieve your financial goals when using his plan.
Dave's first Baby Step is saving $1,000 in cash fast.  You may think this is easy, if you do then great go to it.  This money should be set aside for emergencies and kept in cash.   Just so you know; Christmas, birthdays, new clothes, eating out, gas, and groceries are not emergencies.
Now let's talk about how you can reach that goal quickly.  We cut back on eating out, I did not realize how much money we spent eating out before I started budgeting.  That was our black hole for our money and boy could it suck it down.   If you are not doing a budget each pay period I really do recommend you start one.  I started by keeping all of my receipts for everything we did for one pay period and then I wrote everything out long hand to see exactly where our money was going.  That gave me a good idea on how we could save money and how to set up our budget.  
My hubby hates carrying around change in his pockets so as soon as he came home he would dump that change on his dresser.  I started having him put it in a tumbler so that I could keep up with it.  About once a month I take that money to a coin machine and get cash, that is one way to add to your $1,000.  That will not get you there by itself, you will need to do some other things.   I am a clothes and pocketbook horse,  I will admit it.  I sold a few pocketbooks that I did not carry as much anymore online to help get us to our $1,000 fast.   Dave also recommends having yard sales and getting extra jobs to help you finish that first step.  
I did not think having that extra cash would be a comfort, but it really is.  When life throws you crazy things, it is so nice to know you have that cushion to keep you sane.   You always hear people talk about saving money for a rainy day.  This is your rainy day fund, and it will rain, so be prepared.