Friday Round-Up: The Best in Personal Finance Blogs

New Year’s always holds a sense of wonder and excitement for me. What can I do with this new year? How can I improve my life? What goals can I set that will both be attainable and challenging at the same time?

This year, my resolutions are rather simple. Since I plan to gain twenty pounds rather than take it off, I think I can easily check the weight goal off the list. Of course, I want to gain the poundage in the healthiest way possible, so while I eat for two, I vow to focus on eating more…but more fruits, vegetables, lean meats and dairy.

I also hope to maintain a semblance of exercise. I’m not running a marathon again anytime soon (I’m just not a hardcore runner like the Chicago marathoner who gave birth immediately after running 26.2 miles), but I do plan to walk while pregnant this year.

On the financial front, my husband and I want to pay off a credit card and pay off the hospital bill by July. I know we can do it!

Personally, one of my biggest goals is to pick up the phone and call friends and family more often. I’ve fallen into a mode where I never call out: family always calls in to me. This is left over from the corporate days where my ear was glued to a phone for at least eight hours per day (and I hated to spend any more time on the phone every day, even to loved ones), but it’s definitely time to break this habit.

How about you? Any great goals this year?

On the blogging front, I’ve hand-picked the best of the best! Have fun perusing the posts below, and definitely enjoy ringing in the new year!

• Check in with Retire by Forty: he delves deep into his personal motivations and asks us all to do the same. The question What’s Your Motivation may be just the push needed to take a plunge in a new direction or to take you farther in your current goals.
• Looking for great stocks to purchase in 2012? Well, take a look at MoneyCone’s Top Stocks for 2012 and Beyond. All of his picks are stocks with staying power: companies with proven track records that could have an edge in long-term investing.
• With college costs on the rise, is there any way for college-bound kids to pay for college without taking out loans? Julie at The Family CEO interviewed author Zac Bissonnette for a behind-the-scenes look at his book, Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents.
• Is there a link between receiving food stamps and eating more healthfully? Jessica at the Debt Princess thinks so. Read her article, The Kool-Aid Effect: The Relationship Between the Poor & Nutrition.
• Budgets are Sexy’s guest poster Barbara Wagner asks us all, ”Godiva or Gumballs?”The post focuses on how to balance spending and saving by focusing on her sons’ preferences for one Godiva chocolate versus a bunch of gumballs. Check it out: it’s charming, funny and oh-so-true!

Photo Source