As the New Year approaches, we think about the resolutions we are going to make. These goals help us start our new year with a determination to change or grow. Whether we vow to lose weight, save money, or quit smoking, it’s nice to have a little help to organize ourselves and keep track of where we are on our way to fulfilling our resolutions. The Internet is full of tools that can help us organize ourselves.
Fitday.com
While losing weight and getting in shape it’s very important to document progress. Fitday.com allows you to document all calories you ingest (with a built-in calorie counter), your exercise, and your weight. It also has a tool that allows you to input your weight loss goal. Along with the standard tools for getting in shape, it has a journal and a place to document mood. The site is free to join with a paid premium membership option.
Mint.com
Let’s face it, budgeting is a pain. When faced with a pile of credit card bills, bank statements, and loan bills, it seems like an enormous amount of paper to wade through and make sense of. The free website mint.com allows you to compile all your financial information in one place. This user friendly site turns your budgeting data into easy to read graphs. The graphs make it easy to quickly see where your money is going and what you can cut out of your budget to save money. This safe site also provides information to help you lower your cost of living, stay on budget, and pay off debt.
Quitnet.com
For many, quitting smoking is a yearly goal. You may have tried to quit before but failed. With many resources this site can help you to snuff out the habit for good. A wizard will lead you through setting up a date to quit, what sorts of pharmaceuticals (gum, patches, and prescriptions) you will be using, and how fast or slow you want to cut back, and ultimately quit. The top of the page states how much money you will save and how long quitting could prolong your life based on how much you smoke and for how long. Chat rooms, quitting buddies, and community boards help to make sure you don’t go it alone. While the cartoons throughout the website are cheesy, and almost childish, the site maintains an upbeat feel and a sense of humor to help you through the rough transition.
Joesgoals.com
Sometimes you don’t want to just work on changing one part of your life, but many. Joe’s Goals has two tools to help you pick goals and keep on track as you work toward them. The site is very plain, but the tools are simple to use. The tracker is a calendar labeled with positive and negative behaviors. A click in the box beside a positive behavior marks it with a green check; beside a negative behavior a click makes a red x. The checks are worth one point and the x’s are worth a negative point. The points are totaled, showing a score for the day. The site also offers Joe’s Logbook, which is a calendar in which you can write your progress toward goals. Using Joe’s Goals and Joe’s Logbook together can help you to set and work toward both small and large goals.
Nicole Rodgers has been blogging about health advice for 5 years. She is currently contributes to several blogs such as free insurance quote.
