I'm fed up with the way I handle my New Year's Resolutions. Every year I pledge to lose that last ten pounds, spend more time with my daughter, and organize my workspace. Every year I fail. I still have that ten pounds, my daughter wants more time to herself, and my desk is lost under a mountain of paperwork. Why frustrate myself? This year I'm going after the same resolutions, but I'll make them so I can manage them with a remote control or, better yet, I'll keep them because they'll be difficult to break.

For instance, if I want to lose that last ten pounds I'll just cut back on my chocolate intake instead of suffering through a half hour of aerobics every day. If I have a box of chocolates hidden somewhere, I'll eat them sooner or later. Ok, I'll eat them sooner. Occasionally I've hidden chocolates so well I haven't found them for months. When I finally find them (which is like finding a twenty in an old coat pocket), I stop what I'm doing and eat them. So, I know not to have chocolate in the house or, if I buy it at the store, I know to eat it en-route so I remain chocolate-less at home. If I walk to the store, I can discount the calories.

But, if there's no chocolate in the house and there's a blizzard outside, then I've easily kept my New Year's resolution of cutting back on chocolate and losing weight. How? Because nothing is worth going out into a blizzard for, not even chocolate. How easy that was that? I'll worry about spring when it gets here.

I'll admit I'm not too worried about the organization resolution, because this plan gets carried out at the beginning of every year whether I want to do it or not. Every January I pull all my receipts together and separate them for April's taxes. By the time I scour the house for every receipt from the previous year, the place is spotless. Cora enjoys this process because she gets to see what I buy when she's not looking. This is good quality time together, with her laughing at me and me fretting about me.

There are other resolutions, though, that will be tough to keep this year. As a single mom and a graduate student, it's getting tougher to keep that resolution to invest in my BUYandHOLD account on a regular basis. Cora advised me that if I stop purchasing chocolate, I would have that $25 per month to invest in my portfolio. However, I can't always count on a blizzard, so I have to take extra measures this year to insure I stick with my investment plan.

Fortunately, BUYandHOLD has a plan for people just like me. The E-ZVest^sm option is for those folks who would invest if it were painless and could be done without lifting a finger. Before I tell you how easy this will be, let me tell you how the E-ZVest^sm option works. Basically, this BUYandHOLD service lets us create our own stock purchasing schedule. All we do is designate a specific dollar amount that we would like to invest in a stock on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Our purchases can be made through BUYandHOLD Instant Deposit or a check, or from funds in our BUYandHOLD accounts. We determine the exact dollar amount we want to invest, and we can make changes at any time.

I can't afford to spend time this year making changes. I'm going to be realistic on the front end about how much I want to invest within a specific time frame and stick with it. The stocks I already hold can be changed to the E-ZVest^sm option, also. All I have to do is go to my account, click on E-ZVest^sm, select the dollar amount, frequency, and type of payment. If I use Instant Deposit, that's one less thing I'll have to deal with this year, also.

"Wait a minute," you might ask, "What about market timing? Aren't you worried the equities will be priced too high at the time of purchase?"

Of course, I'll worry. But, I've never been a whiz at market timing anyway. In fact, I don't know anyone who has a crystal ball on any stock's future highs and lows. The deal with E-ZVest^sm is that if the stock is low at the time of purchase, I'll have more of that equity that month or quarter than I will if the price is too high. Either way, it balances out. It sure beats trying to get in when the price is right, because that takes time away from my daughter.

Of course, when we use the E-ZVest^sm plan, this does not mean that BUYandHOLD will pick the stocks for us. We still have to do initial research, and we still have to maintain interest in what we've purchased so we aren't blindsided by some strange astral quirk in our investments.

That thought reminds me of another New Year's resolution. This year, I will not buy any stocks mentioned at Christmas parties, because they're probably overvalued. Small companies are the goal this year. Cora enjoys the research, and this is a good way to spend time together. It beats her laughing at my purchases from the previous year as she wades through my receipts.

So, with a few calculations and a few keypunches, my portfolio plan at BUYandHOLD is done for the year. And, Cora is right - since that $25 per month chocolate money is now going to my portfolio, the choice to buy chocolate appears dim. Unless, of course, I juggle the doughnut money?

Cora and I wish you a Happy New Year, with hopes that your resolutions will be just as easy to maintain.

Until Next Year,
Linda Goin