We’ve also covered the types of credit, including mortgages.

Now it’s time to talk about mortgage escrow.

Yes, there’s potentially more to your mortgage payment than the principal and interest.

In fact, the escrow components can be pretty expensive.

But what are they and where do they come from?

Do all home loans come with mortgage escrow?

Strap in, because we’re about to get into all of that right now!

What is Mortgage Escrow?

An escrow account acts as a secure temporary holding spot for funds involved in a transaction.

It’s a neutral third-party account managed by a trusted entity, often a bank until specific conditions are met.

In the case of a mortgage escrow account specifically, it’s a special savings account connected to your mortgage used to ensure timely payments for certain property-related expenses.

What kind of expenses?

Things like:

• Real estate taxes
• Homeowner’s Insurance
• Private Mortgage Insurance

The mortgage escrow account is a way for the lender to ensure that the money needed to cover all these expenses is in hand.

It protects the bank’s interest but also makes it easier for you since you only have to account for one payment in your monthly budget instead of all of the individual expenses.

How Does Mortgage Escrow Work?

If you are required to have a mortgage escrow account attached to your loan, part of your total mortgage payment funds it each month.

The money you put into the account is then disbursed to the appropriate recipients when the time comes.

Think of it as a money manager for your home-related expenses.

For instance, if you have PMI as part of your escrow it typically gets paid monthly.

Depending on where you live, the amount you escrow for property tax will accrue in the account until the quarterly.semi-annual/annual payment is due.

Each expense has it’s own timeline for payment.

At the end of the year (or the beginning of the next year) the lender will perform an escrow analysis.

This analysis determines if the current amount you pay into your mortgage escrow account is enough to cover the following year’s anticipated expenses.

If it’s determined that you had an escrow surplus, you can get a refund or potentially carry that balance forward to reduce future escrow payments.

If you have a shortage, you can pay the difference in a lump-sum, or have the escrow portion of your mortgage payment increase to account for the shortage.

When Is Mortgage Escrow Required?

Not all home loans are required to have mortgage escrow attached to them.

Some types of mortgages require escrow accounts no matter what.

For instance, government-backed loans such as Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) mortgage loans require mortgage escrow on all accounts.

Conventional mortgage loans do not require a mortgage escrow account in general, but if your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price you will likely be required to have a mortgage escrow account.

Can You Get Mortgage Escrow Waived?

It may be possible to get an escrow waiver with a conventional mortgage loan.

You would have to contact your loan servicer to get the ball rolling.

There is a possibility that you might have to incur some additional costs such as:

• An updated appraisal to show what the current LTV ratio is if you need to meet that threshold
• Paying a waiver fee
• Incurring closing costs if you refinance the mortgage

If you have one of the government-backed loans mentioned above, you cannot get the escrow requirement waived under any circumstances.

In those cases, you would have to refinance into a conventional mortgage to possibly avoid the mortgage escrow account requirement.

Wrapping Up

If you didn’t before, hopefully, you understand mortgage escrow accounts better now.

At first, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Once you have it all broken down for you, it seems a lot simpler, doesn’t it?

Trust me, I know–when I first got my mortgage I hated the idea of having a higher mortgage payment due to having my property taxes escrowed.

After a while, I changed my viewpoint and realized that it’s a lot easier to pay a little more each month than having to come out of pocket for the entire amount at once!

Your Turn

If your lender forces you to have mortgage escrow how do you feel? Do you view it as a pain to spend the extra each month? Do you like having everything paid in smaller chunks and someone else paying the bills later on?

Well, almost everything.

Anyone who knows me knows that.

You can probably gather that just by browsing this site lol.

And sometimes I get a little feisty.

Hey, I own it.

What I am not, however, is a sucker.

Not for lame financial advice.

Not for marketing tricks.

I’m certainly not a blind follower of social “rules”.

With that being said, I will let you in on a little secret:

I’m also a romantic.

And that, my friends, is why I think Valentine’s Day is a fool’s “holiday” and a total waste of the concept of a “special” day.

Valentine’s Day Is All About Money

Just as a disclaimer, I feel the same way even when I do have someone in my life at this time of the year so it’s not that I’m bitter at being single!

Why would a supposed romantic be against the concept of Valentine’s Day?

The reasons are simple, yet many.

The first thing I hate about this supposed holiday is how counter to the popular saying “money can’t buy love”, everything about celebrating the day revolves around spending money.

The overriding message is you can win your partner’s heart with materiality:

• Jewelry
• Expensive Cars
• Fancy dinners
• Expensive trips

Hell, Jennifer Lopez had the balls to write a song called “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”.

I wonder what would happen if her partner just gave her a card with a balloon or a rose.

Or if they made a reservation at a restaurant for which they clipped a coupon for a special Valentine’s Day dinner.

She’d drop his ass, that’s what would happen!?

Hollow words…that’s all they are.

It’s all about image, not substance.

And why are past acts of douchery seemingly forgiven because they did something nice for Valentine’s Day?

It’s like someone can be a neglectful asshole or bitch for 364 days, but if they go out of their way to do something special on this one day…BAM!… all is magically forgiven.

Or at least that’s how it appears to work.

It’s not just the money, or social issues that annoy me, it’s the core relationship stuff more than anything.

Valentine’s Day Isn’t Anything Special

I have a hard time wrapping my head around why there is so much fuss over this particular day and the things it represents:

• Why can’t any random day be special? What’s wrong with March 17? Or August 8th? Or better yet…
• Why is it a once-a-year thing for so many people? Having a special date night each month or even each week set aside is too much hassle perhaps?
• You can’t tell someone you love them every day and have it mean as much or more?
• Proposing or getting married on February 14th isn’t even romantic. It’s lame, predictable, and overdone.
• Don’t you want your partner to know that they’re special and loved all the time?
• Wouldn’t you want to know that you are occupying someone else’s thoughts at random times, not just a day when it’s forced upon them?

Seriously, since when is actually caring for someone with all of your heart, not enough?

Why is it that we have to measure affection, not in moments spent but in dollars?

No, now it’s like we’re being told that if you don’t go out and buy fancy jewelry or even an expensive car you really don’t care as much as you could if you did those things.

While I’m a big fan of doing things “just because”, wouldn’t this grand gesture day be better suited to happening on a day that actually means something?

• Perhaps the day you first met?
• Maybe commemorating the first actual date?
• How about the first time you said: “I love you”?

Pretty much anything rather than a day that really has no meaning and when everyone else is doing something similar!

Talk about following the crowd and being uninspired and unoriginal!

Valentine’s Day Isn’t About “Real Love”

Show how much you love them with this diamond blah blah blah

Every jewelry store commercial around Valentine’s Day

Give the gift of performance or luxury or whatever the fuck we’re selling

Every car commercial around Valentine’s Day

I’m not against romance.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

I’m for genuine romance.

The kind of romance that is spontaneous.

The kind of romance that comes from the heart, not from marketers.

The kind of genuine romance that leaves someone at a loss for words.

Original gestures that mean something real, not doing things that some marketer tells you you should be doing or giving.

Not this commercialized, manufactured, nonsensical bullshit.

Why not something like this:

Give the gift of YOU this Valentine’s Day

You know, like actually being present in the relationship rather than trying to make up for your lack of attention or trying to show off how much you can spend.

Or maybe this:

Give him/her/them something they really want this Valentine’s Day–love and attention

Yeah, how about actually showing and proving that you care for someone rather than trying to buy them or their forgiveness?

Wrapping Up

Hey, I’m not a love expert.

Never claim to be.

Your relationship is whatever you want or need it to be.

I’m just a guy who is tired of dealing with the total bullshit that people are fed about what Valentine’s Day is.

If your idea of Valentine’s Day differs from mine, so be it.

If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.

I just know a lot of people need to hear (or read) this because they do feel the same way.

Your Turn

Do you buy into the whole V-Day thing, making elaborate plans or grand gestures simply because it’s “socially required”? Do you take the other approach and express your feelings whenever and for no specific reason other than wanting to? Or, have you given up on love, period?

Everyone wanted one.

The typical response to the question “What would you like for [enter occasion]?” would be “Just get me a gift card to [enter retailer]!”

Gift givers were all too happy to give a gift card, too as it was a way to not have to put much effort into the gift…

Plus they sure as heck didn’t have to go from store to store trying to figure out what to get.

And the recipients were more than happy to accept the gift cards.

They didn’t have to worry about opening a wrapped box just to find a pair of socks, an ugly sweater, or another item(s) they had to feign interest in.

To see how popular gift cards have become, just take a look at your local grocery or drug store.

I’d guarantee that you will find at least one display of gift cards for other stores.

Let’s not forget about “rewards” such as Rakuten cashback bonus offers, business referrals, survey rewards, etc.

But things aren’t all rainbows and unicorns as there are people who don’t like them very much, including me!

Gift Cards Make For Lazy Gifts

This isn’t my own opinion, but something I’ve heard/read about multiple times so it bears inclusion here.

The biggest complaint seems to be that it takes no effort.

I mean, I’m pretty sure the giver does have to spend a bit of time thinking about which store’s gift card to give.

But that isn’t what people mean.

It’s lazy in that it doesn’t show any thought being put into the gift in terms of it not being meaningful to the recipient.

Some people think it’s no different than simply giving cash.

I can see where people are coming from with that viewpoint.

There is a time when a cash gift can be unquestionably appropriate such as a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah.

The reality is, however, that many people think that gift cards make for a lazy gift.

Store Gift Cards Lock You In

Now we get into my reasons for disliking gift cards.

One of the biggest reasons for me is the fact that you have no flexibility.

You have 3 options that may not be ideal:

• Force yourself to use the card at that store
• Try to sell it
• Regift it

This kind of ties into the idea that a gift card makes for a bad gift.

If you even put in a little bit of effort to think of a store where you think the recipient would appreciate a gift card, that’s not always the case.

Maybe they simply don’t need anything from that store at the given moment.

Maybe you based the decision on limited information or an incorrect assumption.

I’ve experienced something like this firsthand:

I mentioned buying something at the grocery store (for the life of me I can’t remember what it was, but that’s not the important part) to my mother one time and for months moving forward she would clip the coupons for it to give to me.

She took that one purchase and turned it into something bigger.

People do the same when it comes to gift-giving:

They will recall one mention of a store or a single trip, and while the thought is in the right place, the person might not have a desire to shop there.

I’ve also had someone give me a gift card to Starbucks, but I don’t drink coffee–and yes, I know it sells other things but coffee is the main thing there.

So what do you do after you smile and say “thank you”?

You can re-gift it, which is what I did with the Starbucks card.

You can also try to sell unwanted gift cards, but you need to be forewarned that you will not be getting 100% of the value in return.

Or do you hold onto the card, hoping for a reason to use it until you forget about it and find it while cleaning out your drawers years later?

Some gift cards, however, have multiple stores available on them so those may make it a bit easier to use the card, but won’t necessarily solve the problem completely!

Gift Cards Can Force You To Spend Money

Another reason I don’t care for gift cards is that there is almost always a personal contribution involved.

Depending on the amount of the card, you may be forced to spend your own money to use it.

Let’s say you get a $10 gift card to Best Buy.

What can you purchase there for $10?

There likely isn’t much I’d imagine, so if you wanted to use the card you would have to put your own money in to make up the difference.

If you happen to find something costs less than the value of the gift card you get to carry a balance on to the next purchase.

Of course, the personal outlay will come with that next purchase or…

You Can’t Always Clear Gift Cards

The opposite problem is what happens when you don’t want to spend any of your own money.

In those cases, you end up leaving money on the store gift card which can, again, sit in a drawer forever.

There’s not much else to say about this.

You are either going to spend extra or lose some money unless you have the magic ability to spend exactly the amount on the card!

And speaking of leaving money on a gift card…

Debit Gift Cards Suck For Online Shopping

Some people might be inclined to prefer a debit gift card ie: Visa or MasterCard due to the universal acceptance and flexibility that store gift cards don’t provide.

It’s a logical assumption but leaves you in a more difficult position when online shopping.

With virtual debit gift cards, you can sometimes add them to a digital wallet such as ApplePay to use in a store or your Uber account to pay for rides, so it’s not a problem.

Neither are the physical gift cards.

The issue comes into play while shopping at home.

You see, stores are specifically set up to process their own gift cards as separate payments.

That means if you go online you can enter a store gift card separately from the payment method.

But, when you are using a debit gift card, you don’t have a “gift card”, you are using the actual payment method!

Online stores just can’t process debit gift cards separately, so they make terrible options for online shopping.

You need to play mathematical gymnastics when shopping with those debit gift cards!

The one workaround I have found–and this works really well for those times when you have small amounts remaining on the debit gifts:

Use the card to replenish your Amazon gift card balance!

There’s no minimum amount so you can reclaim all the change remaining on your various debit gift cards and give them a new purpose.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with store gift cards for obvious reasons.

Wrapping Up

Don’t get me wrong, free money is free money.

I’m not stupid–I’m not going to turn that down.

But in all honesty, just give me cash.

If you’re giving me a gift, just give me cash.

If you’re giving me a reward for taking a survey, just give me cash.

If you’re giving me a “thank you” for a referral, just give me cash.

Your Turn

What are your feelings about gift cards? It can be about giving, receiving, spending, whatever. Have you ever been faced with any of the situations described above? Do you even care about the issue?

Or broadcast television for that matter.

It’s not because I’m some anti-TV advocate, not at all.

It’s not because I read a money-saving tip telling people to do so.

It’s not because I cut out all spending as a method of building wealth.

It’s actually a much simpler answer:

I don’t care for the programming.

Too many “reality” and competition shows.

Too many shows with the same premise.

And then the remakes–talk about unoriginal!

Most of it’s fake or interchangeable in my mind.

That’s why I cut the cord on cable many years ago.

And I’m not alone!

With cable and satellite television programming costing more than some car payments these days, people are looking for ways to watch their favorite shows without blowing a majority of their discretionary funds.

I can completely understand.

I laugh when I hear what some people pay for something I, for the most part, find absolutely dreadful.

Heck, I hear what my parents say they pay and even then they occasionally complain about “nothing being on”.

But I’m going to let you in on a little secret:

You *MAY* Get Free Cable Television

Yes, I said it.

It’s completely possible to get free cable television.

I know this because I do.

It’s not guaranteed to work in all cases, but this is what worked (and still does) for me.

That’s why I starred AND underlined the word “may” in the heading!

There are no strings attached.

You don’t need to buy one of those black box cable television descramblers or whatever they may be called these days (if those are still a thing–I’m probably dating myself a bit here too).

You don’t need to buy any equipment to connect to your computer.

You don’t need to tap into your neighbor’s cable television service (which is illegal by the way and I would never suggest you do that).

You don’t even have to go to any of those life-hacking or cheap living sites to learn how to build your own antenna.

You have all you need right at home already–assuming you have a fairly modern television.

I will warn you that you do need a little free time and some patience, but that’s all.

Sometimes it takes up to an hour to process, but in the end, it could be worth it!

My Recommendation

Amazon Prime Video For Variety

Amazon Prime Video is more than a few select blockbuster movies and TV shows. There’s original content plus the ability to connect other entertainment apps and cable subscriptions for an all-in-one experience.

Go Get It!

How *I* Get Free Cable Television

Again, this isn’t a trick.

I’m not using a black box cable television descrambler.

There’s no hacking or illegal tech either.

All I have is my television which has a built-in HD tuner and a cable connected to the wall jack:

This is the best part!

I’m using nothing at all.

As you can see above, there isn’t a cable box.

And I swear that I didn’t conveniently remove or photoshop an HD antenna or anything just for this article.

So how did I get this to work?

Oh, you’re going to love this:

It’s so simple it’s disgusting.

I scanned for it!

Yes, that’s all I did to get cable television beyond what my Limited Basic plan calls for.

All I had to do was go to my television’s setup menu and tell it to scan for available stations.

When it finished after an hour, it had found all of the standard stations which are included with the Limited Basic cable package my HOA dues cover, plus about 70 or so “digital stations”.

The best part was the TV’s built-in tuner also pulled in the in-between HD versions!

After the scanning was done, all I had to do was go through the channels one at a time and when I came across one that was in standard definition, I simply removed it from my available channels.

Now, I know what you are thinking…this must be some sort of fluke, like when you were a kid and set the tv to channel 2 and the cable box to the porn channel and you could see it semi-clearly.

I’ll be honest, I was skeptical too.

So I went to my parents’ house and conducted a little experiment.

You see, they have a completely different cable television provider than I have, and they have newer TV sets.

The results were the same as mine, except better.

On their television, the digital music stations came in with the sound and picture, where I didn’t get anything.

So that told me all I needed to know–this wasn’t something relegated to only my television or my cable television provider.

You can try it for yourself one evening or weekend when you have a little spare time.

Who knows, maybe you will even have better results.

The TV Channels I Get

Ok, so we talked about the equipment I use to get my cable television programming.

We talked about the process, too.

Now, let’s talk about the TV channels I get using this little trick.

And for the record, the image below is what I get with my basic HOA dues–pay attention particularly to the blue section as that’s what I get included:

The only thing that comes with the package that I’m paying for is some garbage “streaming only ” stations, most of which I have never even heard of!

No Local TV Stations

With my Limited Basic cable television subscription, I get none of the normal local TV stations.

I’m without:

• PBS
• CBS
• Univision
• NBC
• FOX
• CW
• Something Called My33
• ABC

Using my TV’s scanning feature, I can get them, but also the HD versions on the in-between identifiers, too.

For example, if PBS in SD is channel 2, I get the PBSHD designation on channel 2-2 as well.

The same goes for each of the other local TV stations, all on the “-2” channel numbers.

Cable Channels

Similarly to the local TV stations, my specific plan comes with zero regular cable channels of any kind.

I do, however, get the following when I scan the digital cable signal:

Just like the local TV stations above, I also get the first column of these cable channels in HD on the “-2” intervals, too!

Plus, living in South Florida, it’s good to get The Weather Channel during hurricane season.

I also get “real” cable channels now, such as:

• FXM (Fox Movie Network)
• BET
• USA
• TBS
• TNT
• FX
• HGTV
• Comedy Central
• ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN U
• And basically all of the other “real” cable channels

It’s probably mostly all of the sub-100 numbered stations which are all of the most common ones.

This even includes Cooking, and FoxSports college stations, but no HBO, Starz, etc. mind you.

Granted, these are all the SD-quality versions, but hey, even that is better than nothing!

What If You Get No Cable TV

The great thing about technology is that we have so many options available to us besides traditional cable television subscriptions.

One of the things that I hear people doing is using an HD TV antenna.

Sure, it sounds old-school, but there is a big benefit to it:

All over-the-air television signals are uncompressed and therefore are true high-definition signals.

That means even if you can’t get free cable television the way I do, you may be able to at least get the next best option.

There are a few caveats, however:

• The further you are from a tower, the weaker the signal will be, and the fewer channels you will receive
• The makeup of your home will also impede the signal
• Line-of-sight to a tower is important in terms of trees, mountains, hills, other buildings, and structures
• Naturally, the weather will also play a part

The FCC even has a DTV Coverage Map showing you which DTV signals you should be able to access and how strong of a signal you should get.

It’s not exact but can be used as a reasonable guide.

But, if you get lucky and buy an HD TV antenna like one of the ones below, you may be able to keep your entertainment budget lower than if you paid for cable television.

Wrapping Up

I get it, this trick won’t work for everyone or you may want/need more variety than what you can get.

If you prefer something else, there are plenty of streaming options.

Some offer you original content, while others just curate content the way your cable service would.

Which one(s) should you use?

That’s totally up to you and you should always take advantage of free trials to see if you will get the most out of a paid subscription.

Your Turn

Have you tried this simple technique? What have been your results? Let us know and please include your city/state too. Even though this will vary depending on your television model and cable television provider, maybe someone from your area can get it to work narrowing the problem down to your TV or provider!

A chance to start anew.

I’m sure you hear that all the time.

But, do you ever stop to think about what it means?

The calendar pages are getting torn off quickly.

The remaining days left in the year are getting fewer.

Many people start planning to turn the page to the new year.

With that comes lots of excitement:

• Family vacations during winter break
• Planning holiday/New Year’s parties
• The prospects of starting with a “clean slate”

And then there are the dreaded New Year’s resolutions.

It is the last item that deserves more careful consideration.

The Definition of Insanity

You know…doing the same thing over and again expecting different results.

Yet each and every year, people make the same resolutions to begin on January 1st.

Doesn’t anyone ever get a strange feeling that the resolution itself isn’t the problem but the approach?

It’s funny because people absolutely love to share quotes exactly like that all over social media…yet no one has put 2 + 2 together how that specific quote may hold all of the answers to why New Year’s resolutions fail so often.

A Personal Tale

I’ll be honest with you.

It took me forever to quit smoking.

I tried countless times and failed.

The biggest reason for that?

I’m 99% sure it was doing it as a resolution.

Every time I would pick a date to “start quitting”.

Once it was my birthday.

Once it was Thanksgiving.

Once it was even on my mother’s birthday.

The rest were on January 1st.

And I failed every time.

Most of the time it was because I didn’t finish the pack and couldn’t bring myself to throw “money” away.

One time work got so crazy I just couldn’t see myself quitting in the middle of it.

A few times I just wasn’t in the “frame of mind” I thought I would be.

The one time when I was actually successful came when I decided midday on a Wednesday in October.

There was no planning.

There was no significance to that day.

The date itself wasn’t significant either.

I ran out of smokes and just decided that it was time to not buy another pack.

Was it hard?

Hard as hell.

Harder than anything I can remember attempting in my life.

But because it was fresh in my mind, and my desire was at it peak the process was easier to stick with.

Everyone Isn’t Me

This is SUPER IMPORTANT!

Sadly, so many people who write about any kind of personal experience fail to realize this one simple fact, and it can do a lot of damage to the author’s credibility as well as hurt the reader by giving false hope.

So I believe it’s of the utmost importance for me to be self-aware as well as anyone reading to understand that my story and the result of it may not be the typical one.

I may very well be an outlier in this scenario.

I’d like to think I’m not.

Honestly, I would love to think that everyone can find success in changing their ways simply by changing their approach.

Unfortunately, I may just be being overly optimistic.

BUT I will never say anything negative toward anyone who at least makes an effort to change what they don’t like.

Back To New Years Resolutions

Lots of people look for ways to improve their health:

• Lose weight
• Build muscle/get fit
• Start getting more active
• Get better at grocery shopping (like trying Aldi stores)
• Eat cleaner
• Improve your mental health

A large number also go the quitting smoking route.

Some people want to improve their education or job situations.

A few even want to start a business and leave the 9-to-5 altogether or put more energy into their existing business.

Many people make financial health a big part of their resolutions:

• Pay off debt
• Contribute more to a retirement plan
• Increase or even start saving
• Learn to make a budget

With money and finances being such an important aspect of everyday life, maybe it is time to think about your money in just that way: every day.

Every day the state of the economy changes.

Every day the state of people’s individual financial health changes.

If you follow that line of thinking, then every day you should be making efforts to either maintain your financial position or take steps to fix your financial position.

Making a resolution one time at the beginning of the year is great because you are at least making some concerted effort, but too often the luster of such ideas wears off and people fall back into their poor habits, forgetting about their “resolutions”.

Financial well-being is a step-by-step, one-day-at-a-time process.

It takes determination and persistence, especially in the beginning when attitudes and routines need to be reinforced.

But as time passes it gets easier until you get to the point where some tasks become second nature (transferring unspent cash into an emergency fund, clipping coupons from the Sunday paper, funding a retirement account, etc.)

Don’t get caught up in setting a “target date” on which to start implementing a new plan of action, as you will only open yourself to self-sabotage and failure.

By tackling changes and challenges immediately, you have a better chance of overcoming your biggest hurdle to achieving your goals: yourself.

Get out of your own way and allow yourself the chance to succeed in reaching those goals you set.

What that means is simply not allowing life to get in the way before even starting to make the changes you need.

Wasting time and putting those resolutions off only allows for other issues to arise and push those resolutions to the back of your mind, or for you to simply forget about them altogether.

Let’s be honest here, no one’s life is so simple that they don’t have to worry about work, family, health, or anything else getting in the way of plans.

Make it easier on yourself, start today or at the exact moment that you have the realization that something is either working or not working for you.

Write it down, send yourself an email, tell a friend, and ask them to remind you about it, whatever you have to do to get the process going.

The saying “Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today” holds true especially when dealing with finances.

Correct a problem today and you greatly reduce the chance that it will get bigger or reappear in the future.

Continue with a course of action that is working for you today, and it will become more routine and easier to follow going forward.

Don’t put off dealing with a situation, thinking that it will be better to start fresh with the new year or even the next new month that comes along.

Problems don’t go away on their own, and the longer you wait to take corrective measures, the longer it will take and the more difficult it will become.

Even the smallest of issues may snowball into a major headache down the road, and you’ll be kicking yourself for not dealing with it when it is manageable like you had planned on doing.

The best thing you can do is to resolve to take action as soon as the thought pops into your head, otherwise, you may lose the idea within seconds.

Quicker actions lead to quicker results!

And please, check out this great resource on suicide prevention if you or someone you know may be having more serious issues…there is no shame in seeking out help.

Your Turn

What’s your history with New Year’s resolutions and life changes in general? Do you tend to leave them for the new year or do you prefer to start as soon as the thought comes to mind? Have you found one way easier than the other? Let’s help each other be more successful in sticking to our life goals in the comments!