UPDATED 08:00 EDT / JANUARY 01 2013

NEWS

New Year’s Resolutions? There’s An App For That

The New Year is upon us and once again we’ll all be thinking about making some positive changes to improve our lives. But unlike with previous years, this time around we might just be able to stick to some of our New Year’s resolutions thanks to a little helping hand that fits comfortably in our pockets.

What with this being the age of technology and all that, chances are good that whatever commitment you’ve made this 2013, there’s a smartphone app to help you stick it out.

So if you’ve taken a vow to start shedding those pounds or determined that this is the year that you finally make it rich, you may want to think about using one of the following apps to help you on your way.

Stop Smoking

For many smokers, one of the biggest challenges is stubbing out the evil weed long enough to be able to see the benefits of giving up. Whilst lighting up provides instant relief from your cravings, it can take weeks before you see any financial gain or health benefits from stopping smoking. QuitNow!, available on iOS and Android, helps provide smokers with a little encouragement when they need it most, throwing up real-time stats highlighting all of the positives since they last lit up – whenever that craving rears its ugly head, just call up the app and see how you are from crucial milestones such as reducing your lung cancer risk or regaining your full sense of smell. It still won’t be easy of course, but every little bit helps!

Get A Decent Job

When searching for gainful employment, timing can be absolutely crucial to your chances of landing that job. Sadly, time isn’t something that everyone has, particularly those who are already lumbered with a job that takes up eight or more hours of their day. In this case, JobMo can help to make your employment search that much more efficient, by keeping you up to date with every suitable opening from sources such as Simply Hired, Monster, Indeed and other places in real-time, the moment they are listed. This eliminates the need to check through each site on a regular basis, and the app also comes with other useful tools such as maps that help you to calculate commute times from your home, as well as info on specific companies and career trends.

Get Into Shape

Exercise was never meant to be easy, but the real kicker for many people is staying motivated for longer than one or two weeks. The Fitocracy app might just be enough to make a difference where that’s concerned. It helps you to remain committed to your goals by linking you up with its community of fitness seekers, presenting your fitness program as a kind of RPG, in which you compete with ‘friends’, earn points, beat quests and unlock achievements along the way, making the pain of working out regularly seem more like a pleasure.

Save Money

Wouldn’t we all like to be able to save a little more money? So here’s an idea. Instead of just tucking a few dollars into a standard savings account each month, download the Betterment app and bung a few hundred dollars (or whatever you can afford) into one of their higher yield accounts. Using the app, you can check on your investment portfolio in real-time, viewing the balance, returns and composition of each of your investments whenever you like. It gives you full control of your savings from your smartphone, allowing you to add or withdraw money at will, switch allocations from bonds to stocks or vice versa, add and review goals, and many more options.


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