The start of a new year acts as a clean slate for many and is also synonymous with New Year Resolutions. We start with the best of intentions. However, we often abandon or defer our resolutions and then kick ourselves for procrastinating so long when December finally rolls around. Not this year! Award-winning social search engine Scour rounded up the best online resources for five of the most popular resolutions in its 2009 New Year Resolution Guide to help people reach their goals.

With current economic conditions and constant media attention on key areas such as health and the environment, it’s no wonder that 41 percent more people than last year vowed to make resolutions for 2009 according to a national study. However, the trick always comes down to keeping your resolutions, which only roughly half of people manage to do. Luckily, there are lots of free online resources designed to help you stick to those goals.

Make your resolutions a reality with these services and tips for five of the most popular resolutions:

1. Lose Weight/Get Fit – Tackle your fitness goals by joining Discovery’s National Body Challenge which includes trainer tips, tracking spreadsheets, diet advice, workouts, and much more to help you reach your goal and keep you motivated.  You can also visit http://www.myfreetrainer.com/ for free customized work-out routines.

2. Reduce Credit Debt/Track Finances – Learn all the details of improving your credit and paying off debt at About.com. Utilize free budgeting sites such as Mint and Quicken to track and manage your finances, learn to budget, and plan for the future.

*Then be sure to take advantage of Scour’s reward system and earn extra spending money by searching and ranking your results.

3. Do Your Part for the Environment – Kermit the Frog was mistaken when he said “It’s not easy being green” because The Daily Green and the Natural Resources Defense Council teamed up to provide 15 Simple Steps to start your green initiative.

4. Get Organized – Get rid of the clutter and learn organizational habits at LifeOrganizers, which will help you be more efficient in 2009.

5. Eat Healthier & Cook More – Bypass the crazy diets and educate yourself about proper nutrition with NutritionData.com. Then skip over to allrecipes.com for a comprehensive database of recipes to cook on your own.

“When it comes to New Year Resolutions the internet is packed with all sorts of information, but the trick for many people is finding the right resources to help them stick to their goals,” explains Dan Yomtobian, president and CEO of Scour.com. “Though we can’t make someone lose 15 pounds with the click of a mouse, Scour can bring users together to find the most relevant and valuable resources on the web thanks to our meta-search capabilities — searching the top three engines at once — and feedback from our users which is incorporated right into our search results.”

Scour is a social search engine that bridges the gap between algorithmic and human powered search. Scour rewards people for searching, voting, commenting and referring friends. Launched in 2008, Scour was previously Aftervote.com, which was acquired by ABCSearch, an Internext Media Corp. company, in 2008.  Scour was voted “Best Search & Social Search Engine” in Mashable’s 2008 Open Web Awards. To learn more about Scour, visit www.scour.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 7:05 am and is filed under Alts, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.