15 Products to Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Sticking to New Year’s resolutions can be tough, but there are plenty of ways you can stay on track and get a strong start to 2023. Whether you want to focus on your health, save money, or become a “new you” in a variety of other ways, here are 15 products that can help you achieve your goals.
1. If You Pledged To Clean More This Year: iRobot Roomba i4+ EVO (4552) Robot Vacuum with Automatic Dirt Disposal; $427
When floors get grotty, you’ve got two options: Either ignore it or bust out a vacuum and get cleaning. If you’re the type who usually opts for the former but being tidier is one of your resolutions for the new year, you’ll appreciate what the iRobot Roomba i4+ brings to the table. This Alexa-compatible gadget can zip around the house like a little helper, beckoning pesky crumbs, dirt, pet hair, and other muck to their doom. You don’t have to be home for it to start working; in fact, you can schedule and monitor cleanings from anywhere via iRobot’s app. The best part of all is that the i4+ has a special function, allowing it to empty itself out for up to 60 days. In short, you won’t need to worry too much about cleanliness with this speedy gizmo at your command.
Buy it: Amazon
2. If You Pledged To Put Down Your Phone And Talk More IRL: We’re Not Really Strangers Card Game; $20
Ditch social media and learn more about your compadres in real life with this popular card game, designed to help facilitate deeper conversations about life, values, and more. The cards will walk you and others through a series of carefully constructed questions, with two ways to play: safe mode or “to grow” mode. How you go about it is up to you, but one thing’s for sure: You won’t be glued to your smartphone as you navigate this sometimes cringe-inducing, otherwise tender game.
Buy it: Amazon
3. If You Pledged To Hit The Gym More Often: Fitbit Charge 5 Fitness Tracker; From $116
Whether you’re hoping to lose weight, gain muscle, or train for a 5K, a fitness tracker offers something for everyone. The Fitbit Charge 5 in particular is a model worth grabbing, as the touchscreen display provides access to all kinds of information about your overall health and wellness, including stress management scores, heart rate tracking, and more. You can also use it to count your steps and measure distances traveled, and it offers a built-in GPS, which can really come in handy for outdoor activities.
Buy it: Amazon
4. If You Pledged To Actually Drink Water This Year: HidrateSpark 3; From $60
Water bottles come and go, but one that’s built to track your daily water intake and remind you that it’s time to guzzle down some H2O is in a category all its own. The HidrateSpark 3 is a souped-up version of the popular HidrateSpark 2 (sold out right now on Amazon) and boasts many of the same cool features, such as easy syncing with fitness trackers and the brand’s app. The new model differs from the old in a few key ways, however. The entire bottle glows in vivid hues when you’re due to take another sip, and it offers better battery life and faster syncing with the aforementioned trackers. You can even enable location tracking, so if you accidentally leave the HidrateSpark 3 behind at work or the gym, you’ll be able to find it with minimal head-scratching required.
Buy it: Amazon
5. If You Pledged to Reduce Your Plastic Waste: Stasher Silicone Bags; From $9
Plastic storage bags are wasteful, but it can also be a hassle to find the right lid for the many plastic containers in your kitchen. The solution? Zippable, reusable containers. Stasher’s reusable silicone bags come in four sizes (half-gallon, snack, sandwich, and storage) and they’re dishwasher- and microwave-safe.
Buy it: Amazon
6. If You Pledged To Stop Buying Starbucks: Stojo Collapsible Travel Cup; $15
At a quick glance, this travel mug seems just like any other cup you’d get from a local coffee shop. Peer at it a little more and you’ll see that it’s collapsible, giving it an edge over similar reusable picks like the KeepCup. Made from food-grade silicone with a temperature-resistant sleeve, the Stojo is great for hot or cold drinks, safe to use on the top rack of most dishwashers, and fully leakproof. When it’s clean, you can compress it down to fit in a purse or backpack for on-the-go use. So, when you need that midday caffeine fix, you won’t end up back in line, waiting for a barista to finish your order—you can just whip this out, pour another cup’s worth at the office, and go about your day.
Buy it: Amazon
7. If You Pledged To Start Meal Prepping: Rubbermaid Easy Find Food Storage Containers; From $20
Whether you’re embarking on a new fitness journey or you’re just sick and tired of scrambling to make dinner during the work week, meal prepping is a practice that can take the edge off of cooking. To pull it off successfully, it helps to have plenty of food storage containers around, and this set of 21 from Rubbermaid is one of the best. It comes with 42 pieces overall in a limited-edition, skylight blue shade. It also includes built-in vents to prevent microwave splatter. In addition to being microwave-safe, these Rubbermaids are also fine to run through a dishwasher, so cleaning them is a breeze.
Buy it: Amazon
8. If You Pledged to Meditate More: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You by Benjamin W. Decker; $11
Just a few minutes of meditation can help reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, according to a 2018 study. If you’re ready to start reaping the benefits of mindfulness, this book, written by Benjamin W. Decker, an experienced meditation teacher, will give you 10 step-by-step techniques to get you started. Alongside techniques, the book will also give you the tools to set up a daily meditation schedule and offers writing prompts so you can journal your insights.
Buy it: Amazon
9. If You Pledged To Be Better With Money: Clever Fox Budget Planner and Monthly Bill Organizer; From $31
One of the best ways to save money is to keep a close eye on your spending habits. That’s easier said than done, but Clever Fox’s versatile planner makes the whole process easier and dare we say, fun? This leatherette hardcover is good for up to a year and features thick paper that ink won’t bleed through, along with 12 built-in pockets for stashing bills and receipts. You even get two pages worth of stickers to use when you pay a bill or hit a financial planning milestone. (See, we told you it was “fun.”)
Buy it: Amazon
10. If You Want A Way to Save All Your Notes Digitally, Too: Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook; From $19
If you have too many loose papers and notepads lying around your office, we have two words for you: reusable notebook. Perfect for pen and paper traditionalists, the Rocketbook Everlast lets you take notes or write to-do lists in the same way you would use a regular notebook, except anything you write can be sent to your iCloud, Google Drive, email, Dropbox, Evernote, Slack, and more. Once you’ve stored your notes digitally, just wipe the pages clean with a damp cloth. The executive size has 36 reusable pages and comes in four colors.
Buy it: Amazon
11. If You Pledged To Travel More: Away The Carry-On Suitcase; From $245
Tired of staycations? Let this be the year you let wanderlust take the lead. With this chic suitcase from Away in tow, you’ll have everything you need to make your next trip one for the books. The Bigger Carry-On is roomier than the brand’s flagship item, the Carry-On, but still slim enough to fit in most overhead bins. Aside from aesthetics, this suitcase boasts an ejectable USB charger that’s TSA-approved and compatible with most smartphones, so stressing about plug adapters when your iPhone’s at 5 percent battery life will be a thing of the past.
Buy it: Away
12. If You Pledged To Keep Better Track of Your Keys: Tile Mate (2022); $25
That feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you realize you can’t find your keys can be tough to shake. Banish it in the new year for good with a Tile Mate—you know, that gadget your mom keeps telling you really is worth the investment. Here’s why she’s right: This Bluetooth-enabled gadget is designed to fit on a standard keychain and has an up to 250-foot range. With your smartphone, you can access the Tile app to locate your missing keys, and your peace of mind while you’re at it.
Buy it: Amazon
13. If You Pledged To Order Less Take-Out: Gobble Meal Kit Subscription; From $36
Meal prep is the planner’s way of making dinnertime less of a chore during the work week. If you’re someone who hates it altogether and has developed a close, personal relationship with Uber Eats over the years, meal prep alone won’t do the trick. That’s where a meal kit delivery service like the one offered by Gobble comes in. These boxed meals are designed to be nutritious and easy to cook—the brand claims you can make dinner in just 15 minutes. Each box contains pre-made sauces, half-cooked starches (all you need to do is reheat them), and veggies that have already been diced and sliced. You’ll also receive useful recipe cards that’ll walk you through all the steps to make each dish. If cutting back on costly takeout habits was on your to-do list for the new year, consider Gobble’s kits one of the best ways to do it.
Subscribe: Gobble
14. If You Pledged To Keep Your Car Tidier: Lusso Gear 2-in-1 Car Seat Gap Organizer, Set of 2; $22
Black holes should only exist in space. If your car gives the Ton 618 a run for its money, it’s time to seek a little outside assistance. These car seat gap organizers are a solid storage solution that can help keep smartphones, cash, credit cards, and other essentials from falling through the cracks, literally and figuratively.
Buy it: Amazon
15. If You Pledged To Learn A New Hobby: MasterClass Subscription; From $15 Per Month
Folks talk a big game at the start of every new year about the resolutions they hope to tackle, and trying out new hobbies—from mastering wilderness survival techniques to becoming a better plant parent—often ranks high on most people’s lists of things they’d like to do. With a subscription to MasterClass, you can follow through this time around. Celebrity instructors like Gordon Ramsey, Aaron Sorkin, and Neil deGrasse Tyson can help lead the way, and the new skills you pick up over the course of the next 11 months may end up surprising you in more ways than one.
Subscribe: MasterClass
A version of this story ran in 2019; it has been updated for 2022.