Hibernation - Not Just For Bears

The Value of HibernationDuring the winter, all species of bear will hibernate or den. During this hibernation period, the bear has the capacity to live without food or drink for 100 days. I think that just as bears and other animals "hibernate" in the winter, this is a great exercise for people to do to either catch up or get ahead on their finances for the year. Every month I check in on my clients to see if they are on track for achieving their goals, and last week I had a few clients who had a “rough” holiday season. We agreed that the best course of action for them was to lay low or hibernate for the winter. During this period of time, they will focus on staying in and building up their finances. Even for my clients who did not have a rough December, I think winter is the perfect time to get ahead of their finances for the year. A number of them have travel plans or home buying plans, and the money saved from hibernation will help them reach their goals even faster. In New York (where I live), it was 7 degrees yesterday and the windchill made it feel less than 0. Rather than going out with friends and spending money, we should be home, warm and focused on our financial health. So I encourage you to learn from our fuzzy friends and opt for a financial hibernation this winter. Here are some things you can do while hibernating:7 Things to Do While Hibernating1)   Netflix – If you have not done it already, you can sign up and get one month free, and after that it is only $7.99. Use this hibernation period as a chance to catch up on all of those shows you wanted to see. For me it is How I Met Your Mother, Sons of Anarchy, Big Bang Theory, Orange Is the New Black and MadMen.2)   Cooking Challenge – Challenge yourself to create yummy, healthy, inexpensive meals. I have started a weekly blog post about it, and I would love your recipes!3)   Reading – Catch up on books that you wanted to read or discover books you didn’t even know you wanted to read. I follow a few book bloggers, and I love that they highlight self-published authors that are great storytellers with books for less than $2.4)   Discover new apps – I recently discovered Free Fall which is the Disney version of Candy Crush. When I get frustrated with Candy Crush, I play Free Fall. I also love Heads Up. We played that for hours as a family over the holidays.5)   Home Mani/Pedi – Practice giving yourself the perfect mani / pedi at home.6)   Start a Blog – There are a number of great resources on the best ways to start a blog. Two bloggers that I follow have created specific posts to help you.Grayson at Debt Round Up lays out a very specific plan for starting your blogMichelle at Making Sense of Cents wrote a post for new bloggers7)   Pinterest – You can spend hours realizing dreams or discovering new one. These boards will become your inspiration to continue to work hard to maintain your responsible financial habits.Are you planning a winter hibernation? If so, how do you plan to spend it?