Here we are again at the time of year when people talk about getting a fresh start and avoiding the mistakes and bad habits of the year gone by. Like most of us, I believe that evaluating where we’ve been over the past 12 months and making a promise to polish up the rough edges for the coming year can be a valuable life planning tool. Of course, I am not resolving to look like Megan Fox in 2010, or to land an art scholarship in Florence, or even to win the Pulitzer Prize. Still, we’d all like to improve our financial situation in the new year so here are 10 things I plan to do and also recommend to you.

1. Build a personal reserve (emergency) fund. If there’s one thing the financial uncertainty of the past year has taught us, it’s just how dangerous it can be living paycheck to paycheck. Make a pledge to yourself this New Year to start building your own personal reserve fund—or make sure your reserve is sufficient if you already have one. Experts recommend you set aside at least 3 months’ worth of living expenses in a savings or money market account. You never know what the future may hold, but having a reserve fund will allow you to focus on the important (and not the immediate) in case you or your spouse loses your job or you’re faced with unexpected expenses.

2. Check your credit report. If you haven’t done so recently, winter break is a great time to spend a few minutes reviewing your credit report to make sure your accounts are listed correctly and that there aren’t any errors that need to be corrected.

3. Reevaluate your credit cards. Credit card issuers are tacking on big new fees to beat a deadline of Feb 10, 2010, when a new law puts restrictions on credit card fees. When I got my MasterCard bill the other day, it carried a $39 late fee and $13.79 interest charge even though I paid the full balance on time. While credit is harder to get than it has been in the past, it’s worth taking a look at consolidating high interest rate cards, or asking yourself if that rewards card with the high annual fee is really all that rewarding.

4. Review your insurance coverage. Most of us tend to look at insurance as a ‘set it and forget it’ part of our financial security. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spend some time over the holidays reviewing your coverage to see if it still meets your needs. Is your homeowner’s policy still sufficient to cover replacing all your personal possessions? Have your life insurance needs changed during the course of the past year? By making a habit of reviewing your coverage annually, you may be able to save money by reducing some unnecessary coverage, or you may find areas where you need to increase your coverage.

5. Save more. This is tough for me as I have a son in college and a daughter who just graduated and is struggling to get a foothold in today’s terrible economy. Still, I’m committed to move just a couple of dollars—a handful—from my checking account into a retirement account as often as I can. I’m self employed so I don’t have a 403(b) or 401(k) plan. I will use my IRA account. The sooner you can start saving the better. Assuming an 8% annual return, every dollar saved today will be worth more than $3 in 15 years. Thinking that I’ll get over $3 for every $1 I save today makes saving a lot more appealing—and this morning’s $3 latte a lot less appealing. Speaking of which…

6. Buy less. I started by taking inventory: cleaning out cupboards and closets, the basement, etc. to get rid of excess stuff, keeping only those things I like and use regularly. (Donating all the stuff you no longer use before the end of the year can also add up to a nice tax break.) I also resolved to make a list of absolutely essential things that I do not have. So far, that list is blank. I will not buy anything that is not on the list.

7. Know where your money goes. As the management mantra goes, you can only manage what you can measure. If you don’t know where your money is going, you’ll never be able to get a handle on your spending. Invest in a personal financial software program like Quicken or use an online site like Mint.com to track where you money is going. I think you’ll be surprised by what you learn. You’ll also discover that making future spending decisions—and setting financial goals—will become much easier.

8. Avoid “beta stocks.” I don’t have much confidence in the stock market right now. Yet I’m realistic enough to know that I can’t put all my money in a bank CD or squirrel it away in a shoebox under the bed. But I will do my best not to buy investments that move in tandem with the market or “beta stocks.” Beta measures the volatility of an investment relative to a benchmark, like the overall stock market, which has a beta of 1.0.

An investment with a beta of 1.0 tracks the market exactly, with precisely the same volatility as the overall market. A perfect example is an index fund that tracks the Standard & Poor’s Index of 500 stocks. An investment with a beta of 1.25 would be 25 percent more volatile than the overall market.

This year, I hope to find investments that don’t correlate with the market. One possibility is health care stocks or mutual funds. Another might be a currency fund that invests in a foreign currency.

9. Avoid junk bonds. I’ve never been a fan of  junk—those bonds that carry a high  risk that the issuer will default. Junk bond investments soared in 2009. A warning bell rang the day before Thanksgiving when Dubai asked to postpone payment on some of its $59 billion in debt. In his Smart Money column on Dec. 1, James B. Stewart said he sees a potential bubble in these high-risk bonds. “Lately investors have been pouring money into some of the riskiest fixed-income categories. Junk bonds have been having their best year ever, up an average 42.5% this year, according to Morningstar.” Stewart worries that the Dubai crisis could be the beginning of a “cascade of defaults.” Clearly this is no time for junk.

10. Find investments outside the market. Take a look at non-market investments such as real estate, including rental property. This idea might work better for someone who’s not still paying for college. I’m not sure I can scrape together money for real estate. I did invest in gold—another non-market investment—last summer. But I think it’s too late to put more money in gold now as it seems to have created yet another bubble. Finding non-market-related investments takes time and energy. I resolve to dedicate some of both to identifying new opportunities.

11. Give what you have. Make one resolution about giving—or sharing—time rather than money this year. The recession has left me with less money. So my time is cheap. Still, I tend to hoard it. My daughter and I spent a year teaching English as a second language but I haven’t done it again since she left for college. I’m exploring other options, too. I also count here making a weekly or monthly coffee date with a friend or teacher or mentor who has slipped out of my life.

12. Remember to invest in you. I’m not falling for the “lose 10 pounds” resolution. Too banal. But to preserve good health and strong bones, I know I need cardio work, weight bearing exercise, yoga for stretching and some core strength work. I also want to spend some time on my personal development—either taking a class or maybe getting back to a few hobbies I used to enjoy. I resolve to get serious about maintaining a schedule that can afford all these things.

I know that was 12 resolutions, but I wanted to include the last 2 because they’re important and they’re good reminders that our financial health is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Remembering to focus on the important things in life this year is the best resolution of all.