How to Meet your Resolutions Without Breaking the Bank: A New Year, a New You, and a New Start in the Triad

Part Two

Now that you read through yesterday’s Part One of frugally meeting your resolutions, it is time to introduce two more traditional New Year goals. With the help of inspiration from Eva Longoria and Martha Stewart, the resources listed below will be your beginning guide.

Resolution #3: Have a Social Life

When juggling a job, kids, and an ex, social activities can often be placed on the back burner. However, with the following resources, no hobby, group outing, sporting event, nor community activity is out of reach:

Meetup – This free site asks you for your location, hobbies of interest, and then generates a list of groups that “meet up” to engage in that activity. They have groups that cater to any range of individuals: single parents looking for support; professionals hoping to network; “biggest fans” of particular sports and teams; and any other hobby imaginable. If you don’t see one you like, you can make your own!
Volunteermatch – The struggle to find volunteer work that suits your interests and qualifications is now over. This site matches you with an extensive list of organizations and non-profits that need what you have to offer, based on the criteria you entered.

*Celebrity Spotlight* – Eva Longoria went from being a “Desperate Housewife,” to a real-life divorcee. Despite going through a tumultuous breakup, Eva put her focus on others; More precisely, she gave back to those in need. The star’s generous nature has not gone unnoticed; she earned multiple community service awards and made connections with individuals throughout the entire country.

Resolution #4: Work Toward Career Advancement

Many individuals come out of a divorce without the financial support they had depended on while married. As such, post-divorce may seem like the perfect time to gear toward developing or improving upon a career. When the urge for “something more” arises, the following resources are available to help:

City/County Resources: Routinely checking out your county’s calendar of events will show you the many free resources available for career improvement. For January:
- Sessions for entrepreneurs – starting a new business, expanding an existing business, financing a business, bookkeeping basics
- Job Search and Resume Building – How to use ReferenceUSA, Introduction to Microsoft Word
Goodwill Industries: Did you know Goodwill offers much more than a donation and thrift store site? The majority of the company’s proceeds go back into the community to aid in job and career training, as well as access services.

*Celebrity Spotlight* – Martha Stewart went from a divorced housewife to a world-renowned entrepreneur and home-specialist. Martha honed in on her decorating, organizing, cooking, and do-it-yourself skills and slowly built up a profitable business to share globally.

Don’t allow your divorce to hold you back any longer; achieve your goals!