This post is sponsored by Make Your Money Matter, in association with PSCU, though all views expressed are my own.

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The new year is just around the corner and one of my major personal goals is to be more purposeful in all the choices that I’m making. I make so many decisions in a given day, and the percentage of those that are made with clear intention is alarmingly small. I’d like even the little choices to be made with an eye for how they contribute to my overall quality of life. 2014, the year in which I act like an adult by making conscious choices with my life.

In spite of my best efforts, I never did make it to my local credit union to make the switch. It’s one of those mind-numbingly frustrating things, where different priorities and general time management issues keep getting in my way.

You know what I have done several times in the last month? Gone through the

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at least a dozen times, because that’s the sort of thing that seems like a productive life choice at 1am when I’ve hit a mental block on something else I should be working on. Going through it again, just now, reminded me of how important it is to me that I live with greater intention. Choices trigger a chain of events.

I mentioned in my previous post on the subject that one of the things I find most appealing about credit unions is the simple comfort of knowing where my money is going. I like the idea of keeping my money not only in my community, but in an establishment that is owned by its consumers. It’s a much safer bet that a credit union is going to make choices that are in the best interest of the people keeping their money there because they are also the people making the choices.

All of the little things that I do in a day contribute to other things — and it’s just as important to be aware of what I’m not contributing to. The thing is, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with tracking where the whopping 97% of my money that leaves the community is actually going. This isn’t to say that I couldn’t figure it out, but keeping a diligent eye on my bank just isn’t high on my list of personal priorities. My community, though? I know what’s going on here. It’s one of the big upshots of a small town. I can follow it down the street. That’s simple.

The reason I haven’t gotten my act together and made the switch? Time is probably the main issue. Aside from that, though, it’s the very same pattern of accepting unquestioned routines — doing the same thing I’ve been doing, just because — that I’m so anxious to break. I already know that my local credit union is part of the network of shared ATMs and I do so little banking offline these days that it hardly makes a difference. The difference is ultimately about the consequences of the unconsidered actions I’m taking on a daily basis. The moment when I transfer my paychecks to my bank account. That quick second when I click “transfer” without having given any thought to what happens to that money.

It’s a high priority item on my list of ways to live with greater intention in 2014. Making it a priority is an important first step. And really, what better way to act like a grown-up than to make grown-up decisions with my grown-up paychecks? Watch out, world.