After spending the rocking New Year party, it’s time to be serious about your finances now. Before you mess up your new year resolutions of frugal living or cash usage and make the same mistakes again that have put your finances in jeopardy in the previous year, take some serious decisions. Read ahead to know a few tips which can make your financial life a  whole lot easier even in this age economic meltdown and post recession hangover.

Investment tip

Don’t let yourself get confused by the revolving bull market or bear market, that will keep on changing forever. According to Robert Fragrasso, CFP, chairman and chief executive officer of Fragasso Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh “An investor should maintain discipline — total asset allocation discipline — and continue to invest discretionary money into their portfolios.” In simpler words, it means irrespective of what is going on in the current market scenario, stick to your investment plan and make regular contribution of at least 10% of your income to an individual retirement account, or IRA, or 401(k) or taxable investment account.

Banking tip

Recent survey conducted by Bank rate revealed 64 percent of bank consumers change their lending intuition just to avert paying extra fees. With banking fees soaring high, do not waste any more money switching your checking account to several banks. If your bank introduces new checking fees, address the problem directly and talk to your banker in person regarding this issue. Its worth talking to your banker as Ray Soifer, a banking industry analyst and consultant based in Green Valley, Ariz believes “Many banks will be willing to give free checking if you maintain other accounts with them and/or if you use direct deposit checks or pension checks,”

Mortgage tip

If you are buying a new home and taking out a mortgage loan, make sure you make you mortgage payments in a timely manner in order to avoid foreclosure and short sale in future. An unnecessary delay in closing your mortgage could cancel your entire deal and at the same time can cost you your security deposit. Therefore it’s best to be a little careful and submit the necessary documents right on time with keeping a record of the documents submitted to the lender

Credit card tip

Last but not the least; all of a sudden don’t stop using your credit cards. This is because if your credit cards remain inactive for long, after a stipulated period of time your creditors will mark your credit cards as inactive or close the account altogether. Moreover, dormant credit cards don’t contribute in building your recent payment history, which outline a significant part of your credit history.

Keep in mind the aforementioned points and secure your financial future in the best possible way.