The past year offered plenty of reasons for consumers to abandon their New Year's resolutions.

Just try putting money away for a rainy day with skyrocketing food and energy prices crunching your budget. And forget about those promises to lose weight or quit smoking. Who could manage that when there's so much anxiety about unemployment and investment portfolios are getting decimated?

Now, as 2008 finally comes to a close, consumers have an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and pursue new resolutions. One goal worth focusing on in 2009: whipping your finances into shape. While it may not reduce your dress size, it can certainly make you feel safer in today's uncertain economy.

Here are seven simple promises to make that will help you put your best financial foot forward in 2009:

1) Take control of your investments

The worst thing you can do during a down economy? Panic and pull all of your money out of your investments. Resolve to protect your finances as the market storm rages on. Take this time to build up your emergency fund, and set reminders to regularly review your portfolio's asset allocation. To help you stay afloat, check out the following advice:

• Smart Money Moves for a Down Economy: These four tips will help you bolster your finances during tough economic times.
• Navigating Today s Troubled Markets: Feeling panicky? Take some deep breaths and follow this advice.
• Don t Pay with Your 401(k): Borrowing from your 401(k) should be a last resort. Here's what you can do instead.

2) Turn economic lemons into lemonade

Look hard enough and you can find a silver lining to just about every aspect of the struggling economy, from falling home prices (lower property taxes) to bankrupt retailers (great close-out sales). Here are a few worth taking advantage of:

• New Low Mortgage Rates: Should You Jump?: Treasury bailout plans have pushed mortgage rates low, and they may head even lower.
• 7 Tips for Shopping Closeout Sales: Going-out-of business sales offer plenty of deep discounts and pitfalls.
• Slash Your Property Tax: If your home has lost value recently, you may be paying property taxes on lost gains.
• Auto Insurers Offer Discounts to Those Who Drive Less: Auto insurers offer steep discounts to drivers who spend less time on the road.

3) Improve your credit score

As lenders tighten their criteria, this three-digit number has taken on a profound importance. In today s market, you ll need at least a 700 on the 300- to 850-point FICO scale to apply for a credit card or secure a favorable mortgage rate. Try these tips to maintain a healthy credit score:

• 5 Card Deals That Can Destroy Your Credit: 0% down, no interest for six months. These deals sound great, but may come back to haunt you.
• 6 Ways to Build Up Your Credit: Have a poor (or nonexistent) credit history? These tips will help bolster it.
• 5 Things That Can Hurt Your Credit Score: These small mistakes can carry big implications for your credit score.

4) Put savings to work

Consumers currently save only about a penny of every dollar they make, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. But just because you aren't saving much doesn t mean that cash can t make an impact on your finances. Here are some ways to help grow your savings:

• How to Earn More Than 3% on Your Cash: Despite the Fed's rate cuts, these banks still offer attractive yields on accounts.
• New Accounts Offer High Yields but Come With Restrictions: Banks and credit unions are offering high-yield accounts. Just watch out for all of the restrictions.

5) Stay on top of on your accounts

This year, plenty of consumers learned the hard way that regularly checking up on their credit card and bank account balances should be high on their list of things to do. One small misstep could have dire consequences for your credit score. To avoid getting hit with everything from overdraft fees to account closures, read this advice:

• Card Issuers Get Drastic on Plastic: Credit-card issuers are cracking down. Here's what cardholders should expect.
• Banks Lowers Consumers Credit Card Limits: Thanks to the slowing economy, more credit-card issuers are cutting credit limits. Here are five ways to prepare.
• 5 Sneaky Overdraft Traps: New bank policies and fees make overdrawing an account easier and more expensive.

6) Stick to a budget

Sure you've tried to stick to a budget in the past, but nowadays its actually an easy resolution to keep thanks to a host of new sites that automatically track and sort every transaction and services that alert you when bills are due or balances are close to the limit. To find out more, read our stories:

• 9 Sites That Help With Everyday Budgeting: Need help getting the household finances under control? These web sites can help.
• Beating the Budget Crunch: As prices on regular expenses rise, here s how to scale back without feeling the pinch.
• 7 Alert Services That Help You Save: Email or text message alerts help you save on everything from airfare to overdraft fees.

7) Seek out discounts

Once you ve set a budget, pinch every penny so that you can save even more and possibly afford an occasional splurge. After all, there's no need to totally deprive yourself these tips can keep you from paying full price on just about everything:

• Which Comparison Shopping Site is Best?: We put nine price comparison search engines to the test. Here's how they fared.
• 5 Best Coupon-Clipping Web Sites: Coupon sites are everywhere. Here's where you'll find the best, most reliable deals.
• 4 Credit Card Protections Shoppers Should Know About: Can't return unwanted or broken merchandise at the store? Try your credit-card issuer.