Kris and I are preparing to ring in the New Year. Before we close out 2007, here are a few links that I’ve been collecting in my mailbox.
First, Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has some suggestions for getting your finances on track in 2008. Among his tips: take advantage of higher IRA limits, focus on high-interest debt, and automate your bills and savings. Look for my own tips later this week.
Lifehacker recently published an overview of how to organize your money in 2008 with Wesabe, a web-based personal finance tool (my November 2006 review). You can get a feel for how Wesabe works by watching this introductory video:

Next, Vintek sent me another article that supports the assertion that it doesn’t pay to time the market. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Burton reports:
Market timing is not only difficult, it’s overrated. A recent Schwab Center study shows that someone who invested in the Standard & Poor’s [...]

With Christmas past, most of us have begun to focus on our plans for the coming year, making lists of resolutions to improve our lives. But Chuck Jaffe at MartketWatch suggests that this year you ditch the resolutions to focus on goals instead:
Concrete goals don’t evaporate in the face of adversity, hardship or laziness. Resolutions are broken — and usually abandoned — with one misstep; goals are such a long journey that bad footwork days are to be expected. There have been goals that have taken several years to accomplish but that have been achieved over time.
This is a terrific idea. In 2008, I’m setting goals instead of resolutions.
Goals are the fundamental building blocks of success, not just in personal finance, but in every area of life. Without goals, you are living reactively, letting life push you around. With goals, you can live a proactive life, steering toward a destination. When you have an end [...]

Jeff Yeager calls himself the Ultimate Cheapskate. He’s serious about saving money. He’s the sort of guy who soft-boils his morning eggs by putting them in the dishwasher while it runs. In a package he sent me recently, he included his business card, which is simply a rubber stamp printed on a piece of a brown paper bag. His wife calls him the cheapest man in America, and he’s proud of it.
The road map to true riches
Yeager has a new book called The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches, in which he preaches the virtues of frugality and the dangers of mass consumption. Before the first chapter, he offers a statement of purpose:
Living on less is a good thing to do. It’s the only financial advice that will work for almost everyone. It’s about a quality of life that you cannot buy, a sense of satisfaction you cannot fake, and an appreciation for [...]

Kris and I went out for a nice dinner last night to celebrate a wonderful 2007. While we ate she told me, “I was just thinking this morning how happy I am. I have a great life. I love my job, my friends, my marriage, my home.” That, my friends, is true wealth — happiness, and the absence of a need for more.
I’m pretty happy, too. This past year has been amazing. I’m out of debt. I’m making money with my writing. And I seem to have found a way to help other people achieve their goals. I can’t ask for more than that.
To celebrate a great year at Get Rich Slowly, I’ve combed through the statistics and selected the top twelve articles based on traffic. Here, in no particular order, are the most-visited posts of the past year:

The Power of Yes: A Simple Way to Get More Out of Life
Which On-Line High Yield [...]

I wasn’t raised in a culture of giving. My parents tithed to their church — irregularly — but I can’t recall that they ever made contributions to charity. This was probably because we were poor; we barely had enough money for our own needs!
As an adult, I have a more comfortable lifestyle than my parents did, yet my track record with charitable contributions is poor. Every year I give a little more than the previous year, but my total contributions are meager. I give money to several groups whose missions I support: the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Oregon Historical Society, and the local classical music station. These are all fine organizations, but sometimes I wonder if there aren’t more “worthy” places to send my money.
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator bills itself as “America’s premier charity evaluator”. This site is a one-stop destination for learning how charities use the donations they receive:

Our team of professional analysts [...]

I hope you all had wonderful Christmases. My extended break has been great: filled with friends, family, and time for myself — I’m taking time to recharge my batteries. I still plan to be scarce around here until after the first, but meanwhile here are a couple of stories from elsewhere:

“You can be happy. You can live the life you want to live,” writes Michael Montoure at Hack Yourself. “You can become the person you want to be.” This single-page website contains a fantastic essay about taking control of life using cognitive behavioral therapy (though it’s never mentioned by name). “We’re nothing but the stories we tell ourselves…If you don’t like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one.” I love this.
Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity recently warned his readers to beware random missed payment letters. His girlfriend received a notice that she’d missed an insurance payment — but she [...]