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SUNDAY. DECEMBER 30.2012 (]o in m Agents with the Forsyth County Extension Office file a report each Sunday for "Community Living " For more information, call them at (770) 887-2418. Stick to monetary resolutions for 2013 The new year is an opportunity for do-overs, fresh starts and new' beginnings. Quitting a bad habit, losing weight, get¬ ting more exercise, and being smarter with money are common resolutions. The goal is to do better in the coming year. These popular resolu¬ tions ail involve day-to day habits and routines that develop gradually over many years. Changing overnight is a tall order, and rarely pos¬ sible. By Groundhog Day, most resolutions have fallen by the way side. Why? Because people tend to be too hard on themselves. You fall off the wagon one time, decide you have failed, and give up. But people who stick w ith it long enough to be successful know that fail¬ ing is part of the process. Persistence — trying again after every failure PARTICULAR Super Crossword CATS ACROSS 1 Served in blazing liquor 7 Wise saying 12 Little hit 15 Pea protoctors 19 Ot direct descent 20 True-blue 21 Lilting melody 22 Region 23 Classic 1942 horror film, in old Addis Ababa 7 26 Lab animals 27 Ovid's “Lo!" 28 Salute 29 Nephew ol Abel 30 Question to someone who's no1 responding, in Isfahan? 37 Lasagna cheese 38 P in Greece 39 Advice bits 40 School for Prince Harry 41 Reply to "No you're not" 44 Born, in a bridal bio 19 H I 21 22 23 24 25 26 128 2 '< •v 31 32 S3 35 36 37 |38 [39 40 [41 42 43 [44 45 46 47 48 149 50 51 52 5: 54 55 [56 57 58 te9 i ■K 62 It. i" 64 65 M 67 68 69 'o 71 [72 73 74 75 [77 79 1 82 83 84 [85 86 87 Be §9 Bo Bi 92 93 94 95 96 B7 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 ,107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 11 117 121 118 122 119 123 I 124 12b © 2012 King Features Synd., Inc; All rights reserved. U 3 3.1 s S d;T 3 A N 3 A 5 8 3 T 1 3 3 B 3 X N V I A V V N V SIN a i n 3 ST i VI 3 N i I NO I 1 V W O H 3 8 |d u'N 3 S OH vVo's's 1 3 d Vl' I ^3 H : Vs D V OO l i TON 3 W V L O H l D O 0^0 H oH IvooHl J. N V T V H N I s 3 a i l non v n * a*N S N 3 A 3 X S 3 S 3 W « FI 9 V H N I d Ohd |S 3 T Id V N |m v a_ -Vi’s'vjd w i n o a 3 A^ IVvVo 3 P ;0 V H O 3 H J N I S N V A V T V w'I . F a v 3 o| ■ O X V N el 3 a ■■vs d's'o____ 3 i-lH van v t six n _ A 3 d 3 s s _ aoa w v eg ri’oj t t via I a 's 3 ~n i T via Mi sa 3 i n 3 ! 3 i od|0o N "hVi sV^aJBBBn'o'x'x apv o'o n~i|o|o[Niv[ H x i t a alnlol NjQUja oHHb i S B^lid SON 3HX 33d 0 D 3 _ SI V H«3 T d 0 3 d N V I N I S S A 0 V v'a'a'vBa'i dBd'v vBt v a’o o'vB tBt'v aVi t s'o'o' XM3 S V 3 Q W V l L d — is the key to success. Walking for 30 minutes does not make you thin overnight. But small changes to your daily rou¬ tines (i.e. walking for 30 minutes every day) make a huge difference over the course of a year. Most Georgians never learned about personal finance in school. Perhaps you graduated from the sink-or-swim school of money management. You may have even come close to drow ning before you figured out how to swim. If you w ant to fail at keeping resolutions, focus on what you have to give up. Thinking about what you are sacrificing all the time practically guaran¬ tees an epic failure. Banish this negativity from your thoughts. To be successful you need to focus on the prize the benefit you get from hav¬ ing money for important goals such as paying for a college education, getting 45 1965 Jane Fonda comedy, on an Indonesian island? 50 Firearm¬ cleaning aid 55 Atlanta-to Tampa dir 56 Fish hawk 57 Partner ot its and ands 59 Singer Nyro 60 Costa —, California 61 "La Cage aux Folles" role 63 Much-loved 64 Harry Chapin hit. or Mt Everest? 71 Ellipsoidal 72 Ump's cry 73 Molecular bit 74 Rigatom, eg 76 Bonkers 77 Italian port 80 Soft drink 83 Under one s control 85 "Peace Tram" singer, in Rangoon? 88 - step further 90 Nothing 91 3/15, e g. 92 Asthma spray, e g. 97 — -Magnon man 98 Pooch pace 101 Tennessee Williams play, in old Bangkok? 105 Lot division 106 Drive along 107 Socks 108 Switzer land's capital 109 Flogging whip, in Mogadishu? 117 Sooner State city 118 Comic Gasteyer 119 Concerning birds 120 Old Toyota model 121 More or — 122 Longing 123 Dogs' cries 124 Covered with frozen rain DOWN 1 Tampa loc 2 Ad— (play it by ear) 3 news?" 4 Month, in Monterrey 5 Most sordid 6 Bring out 7 Noncitizen 8 — good job 9 Objectivist writer Rand 10 Chasm 11 Mourner's poem 12 Bind with a bandage 13 Airplane part 14 Less ugly 15 Mom or dad 16 Navel, e.g. 17 Reroute 18 Is cheeky with 24 Umv. sports org 25 Genoa gold 30 Gyro wraps 31 School, in Somme 32 Rice-A— 33 Loonlike bird 34 ''—, can you see 35 Travail 36 NBAs Shaq 37 Soldiers In gray 41 Sutlix with law or saw 42 U S>. vice president Barkley 43 Get up onto 46 Caroling song 47 Lamb writing MICHELE MELTON Columnist ‘Perhaps you graduated from the sink-or-swim school of money management. You may have even come close to drowning before you fig¬ ured out how to e swim.' out of debt, buying a first home, and saving for retirement. Here are a few tips to help you manage your money better in the com¬ ing year: Know where your money goes — Find out how much money comes in and exactly what you do with it. Carry' a pad with you for a month or two. Record every pur- 48 Fixed, as a d»'J 49 Orrin Hatch's state 51 Woman of the house 52 Repented ot 53 Verbal 54 Take a risk 58 Is larcenous 60 Island off Sicily 61 Slowing, on a mus. 62 Four duos 64 Southwest tribe 65 Tennis' Lendl 66 Squoosh 67 Iraqi or Saudi 68 Quite a drag 69 Karamel — (Ben & Jerry's flavor) 70 Wooer's flower 75 It may be acute or right 77 United — College Fund 78 Take — at (try. 79 Animal companion 80 Pitcher Marline; 81 “It's just — those things” 82 Low-key “Hey!" B4 “Obey me!" 86 A great deal 87 Head Corteone 89 Sea — (reef creature) 92 Actress Sanlord 93 — Creed 94 Emmylou or Franco 95 Alters formally 96 Boss 98 Leader ot the Belmonts 99 First phases 100 Hansel's sib 102 3 R s org 103 Pacify 104 Waters ‘ down 110 "— heard enoughl" 111 Texas tea 112 40 winks 113 Live 114 Apply frosting to 115 Authorize to 116 Stealthy 7. f M * 7® EM& / fSf “ I / V. F t W V t ■ / / - / 4 t* a if 7 r* K ] For the Forsyth County News chase. At the end of the month, separate your spending into no more than a dozen categories such as food, housing and transportation. Target eyebrow-rais¬ ing surprises for spend¬ ing cuts — If you’ve never tracked your spend¬ ing, you will probably find out you spend a lot more than you thought for something you do every day. If it bothers you that you spend so much for whatever it may be, do something about it. Set realistic and specif¬ ic goals — A specific goal includes the cost of the goal and the date you plan to reach it, such as plan¬ ning to save $600 by next December for holiday gifts. The goal is realistic if you can afford to set aside $50 each month. If you cannot, adjust the goal or increase your income. Develop a plan for spending to meet goals — Besides goals, your spending plan needs to include fixed, variable, and occasional expenses. Fixed expenses are the A little son make vouiy X. Sign _______ Heallby options sproutin' •rn (,«rtrv e 1 ' ForsytJi'lwHfc I t art i Y: Sr S3 rrtrrr I up sr •,ur. ■nt: irSL.- mm Cl sur Busy ^ start L tom for 11 ■' ' >* ]t ‘ Hs for rrsj S3£ 4 ST i F -■ iff - begins v hnoff °ting -T - t ! -Er . - 2£‘~-/ Forsyth County Vw at just $4.99/month and get 1 month FREE home delivery! No more checks to write, no more bills to mail! Call 770-205-8950 Home Delivery Only! AutoPay requires a valid credit/debit card. Your subscription will be automatically renewed each month. Savings are based on the monthly AutoPay home delivery rate of $4.99 and the retail rate of $0.50 for a daily edition and $ 1.00 for a Sunday edition newspaper purchase. _ forsythnews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS same every month. Variable expenses go up or down each month. Occasional expenses are due less often than every month. Some occasional expenses, like birthdays and annual insurance pre¬ miums, you know about. Others, like medical bills, arise unexpectedly. Pay yourself first — Saving whatever is left usually means not saving at all. Instead, put the money you need to save for goals and occasional expenses in your savings account before you spend a penny for anything else. Better yet, arrange for an automatic deposit or payroll deduction into your savings account. If you get a raise at work, sign up for half of the raise amount to go into a savings account or a com¬ pany savings plan. Eliminate debt Pay attention to how much you pay in monthly finance charges on credit card and other debt. Instead of pay¬ ing interest each month on your debt, you could be earning it on your savings. Being on the lending 5C side of that transaction is a much better deal than being on the borrowing side. The money going to debt payments each month could be going to your savings. Focus on one expense at a time — When mak¬ ing changes, it is easy to go too far, too fast. Commit to making a few changes at a time to reduce your spending for a particular expense. Stick with the changes until they become second nature. If you miss a day, a few days, or even a week do not give up. These simple sugges¬ tions can help you do bet¬ ter with the money you have. Some changes pay off more rapidly than oth¬ ers. The sooner you start, the more you stand to gain. Tips provided by Michael Rupured, VGA Extension Financial Management Specialist Michele Melton is the exten¬ sion’s family and consumer sciences agent.