Apps to help you keep your New Year's resolutions
Once the ball drops and midnight strikes, millions of Americans will declare their resolutions for 2016. Whether you're resolving to lose weight, get fit, pay off your debt, or just be more grateful for the life you've got, it can be notoriously difficult to follow through in the long run. But put technology on your side and give it your best shot. Here are some apps designed to help you stick with your New Year's resolutions and achieve your goals.
Coach.me
Think of it as having a personal trainer, a best friend, and a motivational speaker all rolled into one and living in your phone. Coach.me is a free app available for both iOS and Android that allows you to set any goal you want and then share your progress with others through a social network. Your fellow app community members can offer advice and encouragement. You can also hire an actual life-coach through the app to help you achieve your goal if the community support isn't enough.
Are you a big reader? Or looking to read more in the future? Then Pocket might be the app for you. Pocket is a free app that lets you save content like articles and videos on your phone and finish viewing them later. All the content is downloaded to your phone and saved in the same place, so that you can easily find where you left off. The downloaded items can even be viewed without an Internet connection.
Mint
If you're looking to clean up your finances in the new year, Mint might be the app for you. This free mobile money manager reviews your day-to-day spending and suggests a spending goal that allows you to better live within your budget.
MyFitnessPal
This free app allows you to track your daily diet and exercise goals, perfect for those who've resolved to lose weight or get fit in 2016. The app contains a massive database of more than five million foods complete with calorie counts to help you manage your diet for the new year. The app also includes a step-counting feature and connects with over 50 devices and apps like Fitbit and Jawbone to help keep track of your exercise routing. Additional features are available for a premium subscription of $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
Fitnet
Are you more of a visual learner? Then Fitnet might offer just the motivational boost you need. Through the app, users can access more than 200 free fitness workout videos. You can set five and seven-minute workouts that fit in with a hectic schedule, and the in-app SelfieCam helps make sure you've got the right moves by comparing your form to the motions of the personal trainers in the videos.
Strides
Strides Goals & Habits Tracker is the perfect app for overachievers who set multiple New Year's resolutions for themselves. Through the app, users can set many different goals whose progress is each tracked by a green progress bar. If your goals are to lose five pounds and pay off debt by by the end of the year, then you can watch the green bar in the app inch its way further and further as you make progress, giving you a tangible marker for success in achieving your personal milestones. The app is free, or you can pay $4.99 a month to unlock additional features.
Level Money
Like Mint, Level Monely is a mobile financial manager. This app helps you strategize ways to reach your 2016 budgeting goals. It helps you build a financial plan that automatically adjusts to your income and bills, sends you customized notifications for bank balance updates and credit card bills, and helps you devise a monthly budget.
Gratitude Journal 365
Journaling offers a clear-cut way to stay on top of your New Year's resolutions and what's really important in your life. The Gratitude Journal is an app that guides you to write down the things you are grateful for, putting in perspective what's working while pinpointing things you might want to change. Gratitude Journal 365 is only available in the Apple App Store and costs $1.99.
Wunderlist
Making to-do lists is a tried and true way to set and prioritize goals. The Wunderlist is an app that lets you create interactive to-do lists -- sharing your goals with friends or loved ones and syncing your lists between your tablets, phones, and computers. You can complete your lists on the go or from the comfort of home. Wunderlist is free for iOS and Android, but extra features will cost you $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
Habit List
Taking the to-do list a step further, the Habit List app is what it sounds like -- a way for users to establish better day-to-day habits. The key behind this app is the motivation of staying competitive with oneself. Users start developing "streaks" as a habit becomes regular. By keeping a streak alive, you have the chance to beat your own personal best, earning badges along the way. A green badge encourages you to keep the streak going, while a red badge warns you that you've started to slack off and need to get back on track. Habit List is $3.99, available for Apple devices only.
