During such tough economic times, it is understandable that so many people stick their heads in the sand when it comes to their money.

By considering a few simple personal finance resolutions, it is possible to transform your personal finances and get to the end of 2010 with a much healthier financial position.

Here are our eight top personal finance resolutions for 2010.

1 – Work out your budget

It continues to amaze me how many people simply don’t know how much money they spend each month (and where this money goes). Working out and sticking to a monthly budget is all about spending less than you earn. If you achieve this, month on month, you will be in a better financial position at the end of 2010 than you were at the start.

2 – Get out of the red

If you have short term debt (credit cards, store cards, overdrafts, etc) you will know that debt is a drag on your ability to meet other financial objectives. It’s also an emotional drag on your attitude towards money and personal finances. Make clearing your short-term debt a priority before starting to save for other financial plans.

3 – Make a plan

This action ties in closely with your monthly budgeting. When you are working out what you are going to spend your money on each month ensure that you prioritise debt over savings. Stop taking on more short-term debt. Mark a debt-freedom day on your calendar and stick to it.

4 – Look to the future

Starting a pension is likely to be a big priority for many people in 2010. We recently heard proposals from the main political parties on the subject of pensions, all suggesting we will need to save more and work for longer. You cannot rely on the State for a sustainable level of income in retirement and that means you need to use a pension or another investment vehicle to create your own sources of income for later life.

5 – Pay less tax

No one enjoys paying tax but many of us fail to take the simple steps that enable us to pay less tax. Each and every year we waste an average of £132 per taxpayer because we don’t take some simple planning steps and maximise our tax allowances.

The simple steps you can take to pay less tax include making sure savings and investments producing taxable income are held in the name of the lowest earning spouse and using your annual Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance. From 6th April 2010 we can each invest up to £10,200 each year into a tax-efficient ISA.

6 – Review your mortgage

The ‘credit crunch’ has made getting good mortgage deals more challenging, yet it remains important to review your mortgage regularly to ensure you are paying a competitive rate of interest. If you are on your lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) then you might be able to access a better product, saving you money each month which can go towards your other financial objectives.

7 – Sort out your financial affairs

If you don’t have a Will, get one. You can write your own Will but there are some major risks involved with this DIY approach, so meet with a solicitor to get this organised. If you die without a Will, your estate will be distributed according to laws created in 1925. It is no surprise that these laws probably do not reflect modern thinking on inheritance! Don’t risk dying ‘Intestate’.

At the same time give some thought to family financial protection, particularly what would happen to your family from a financial perspective if you were to die, lose your income or contract a critical illness such as cancer. It is possible to insure against these risks but you need to quantify them first. If you have existing life assurance plans, review them to make sure they remain competitive and appropriately structured.

8 – Meet with an Independent Financial Adviser

Make 2010 the year that you carry out a comprehensive review of your personal finances and Financial Planning with an impartial professional who has access to the tools and knowledge needed to improve your current and future position. Most IFA’s offer a free initial consultation with no obligation so they can identify areas that they can help you with and you can grill them about their qualifications, experiences and charges.

There are plenty of money saving experts out there, all with lots of different suggestions on the best ways to save money. The best ways to save money will depend on your personal circumstances and objectives in life. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to saving money.

If you haven’t reviewed your expenditure for a while then you are likely to be able to make substantial savings in 2010. What you do with these savings is up to you, but with analysts predicting a challenging second half in 2010, there is no harm in cutting back on what you spend and using these savings to pay off expensive debts or boost the size of your emergency fund.

Here are ten ways to save money in 2010:

1 – Review your mortgage

A mortgage is likely to be your largest item of monthly expenditure. Whilst the Bank Rate fell to the historic low of 0.5% in 2009, many mortgage interest rates remained at much higher levels. The recent partial recovery in house prices should favour those hoping to remortgage to a better deal, with the loan-to-value (LTV) making borrowers eligible for a more competitive rate.

2 – Save money on utilities

This week we saw the price of oil climb to over $78 a barrel, the highest price in nearly a month. As the world economy continues to recover, we expect to see higher oil prices in 2010 and this will result in a higher price for domestic energy supplies.

This article we published during Energy Saving Week in October described some simple ways to save money on your energy bills.

3 – Review your life assurance

The premiums you pay each month for life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection insurance and private medical insurance can quickly add up to a substantial amount. If it has been more than a couple of years since you started a protection policy, speak to an independent financial adviser to review the cover you have in place. You might discover that the cover you have in place is now redundant or that you are paying over the odds for the level of cover you have.

4 – Leave the car at home

Another, and more immediate, consequence of higher oil prices will be an increase in the cost of petrol and diesel. If you can leave your car at home more often, you will save money on the cost of fuel and also reduce wear and tear on the vehicle. You might also save money on your car insurance if you can reduce your annual mileage. And of course there are health benefits associated with walking or cycling rather than driving.

If your journey requires a car, then more fuel efficient driving practices can also save you money. Keep the car tyres properly inflated, reduce the weight carried in your vehicle, leave the air conditioning switched off and accelerate smoothly.

5 – Make a budget (and stick to it)

A great way to avoid wasting money is to have a written budget each month and make sure you stick to it. By deciding in advance where you will spend your money, you should make it easier to avoid the temptation to spend on frivalous or unnecessary items. Once you have made your budget, review it on a regular basis so you can compare where you planned to spend your money with where you actually spent it.

6 – Become a Freegan

Becoming a Freegan will not appeal to everyone, but there are money saving lessons to learn from their philosophy. At the most basic level, by living simply, reducing your consumption and sharing resources with others, you will be able to save a lot of money which can then be redirected towards other financial objectives.

7 – Get rid of your landline telephone

The newly introduced ‘broadband tax’ of 50p per month on landline telephones will make a lot of people think about the purpose of their phone lines in 2010. With low-cost mobile phone packages and free VoIP internet telephone calls (using free software such as Skype), you might determine that the few hundred pounds you spend each year on telephone line rental could be better used elsewhere.

8 – Have a water meter fitted

Speaking from personal experience, getting a water meter fitted at my house a few years ago was one of the biggest money saving items I have experienced. Rather than paying based on estimate usage, you only pay for the water you actually use.

The water regulator Ofwat estimates that getting a water meter fitted can reduce household water consumption by between 9% and 21%. On an average household water bill of £312, this is a saving of up to £66 a year.

9 – Cancel your TV subscription

For a lot of people, this money saving tip in 2010 will be a step too far, but cancelling your satellite television package subscription can save you a lot of money. The most expensive Sky TV package (Sky+HD with Sky World) is nearly £60 a month, so you will save over £700 in 2010 if you can bring yourself to live without the sports and movies they offer.

The introduction of Freesat in the UK means that, after the initial outlay for a Freesat receiver and dish, there is no need to pay monthly subscriptions to get access to a good range of satellite television channels. Add free Internet TV services such as the BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 On Demand (4OD) to the mix, and you might find the transition from paid to ‘free’ TV a little less painless than you originally expected.

10 – Always shop around

Your golden money saving rule in 2010 should be to always shop around. The Internet makes it quick and easy to compare prices on just about any product or service.

You can even use the Internet on your mobile phone handset to compare prices when you are physically in the store about to make a purchasing decision. This can be useful if you want to buy the item on the spot, but need some ammunition to haggle with the shop assistant before parting with your cash.

Martin Bamford is site editor of BrilliantWithMoney and a Chartered Financial Planner at Informed Choice. You can follow him on Twitter @martinbamford.

Trevor joined Fidelity in January 2006 as Asset Allocation Director.

In addition to managing funds, Trevor is a member of Fidelity’s Asset Allocation Group. He holds an MA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and is a qualified actuary.

In this video, he describes the investment market outlook for 2010 along with his views on price inflation and which asset classes could look most attractive next year.

For more outlooks from Fidelity fund managers, please visit www.fidelity.co.uk/outlook.