BROKEN those 1996 New Year's resolutions already? Don't despair, Family Money offers the following, which will go some way towards putting you on the straight and narrow personal financial route for the coming 12 months

Make a will. Half the adult population fail to make a will and die intestate, resulting in delays and no small amount of hardship to many families. The Law Society now sponsors a Make a Will week with members offering reduced fees for arranging straightforward wills, but the cost is not high anyway £50 should cover the cost for most people.

Arrange for a wealth check with an independent financial adviser. This involves analysing your income and expenditure, the cost of the mortgage and other loans, your tax position, pension and other investments. Fees for such a service are usually charged by the hour, but are well worth the cost, especially if you end up with a tax refund or make savings through loan refinancing. The private clients divisions of the larger accountancy practices, stockbrokers and large investment brokers all offer this services. Contact the Irish Brokers' Association for a list of their members who charge fees.

Organise a family budget. This requires everyone sitting down together on the next wet Sunday afternoon and working out their combined income and out goings. Don't forget to add the cost of summer holidays, Christmas, birthdays and entertainment. By including the older children and getting them to work out how much they earn from babysitting, garden work, packing supermarket shelves, etc., and then giving them an idea of how much is spent on food, clothes, telephone bills, insurance, you might get a bit more sympathy when you try to balance the family books this year.

Review your mortgage and insurance contracts. Check to see the rate you are paying for your home loan and compare it with other lenders. Go and talk to a few of them and see if it is worth switching lenders, keeping in mind the extra legal and administrative costs. Similarly, resolve to call an insurance broker when home and motor insurance comes up for renewal. Shop around for the best price and policy for your needs.

Join the credit union. One of the best methods of saving and borrowing, the credit union charges interest at one percent per month on a diminishing balance and pays a decent interest rate on savings. Run for the benefit of its members, the credit union encourages good saving habits.

Cut up (or hide) the credit cards at least until the summer holidays. The prohibitive interest charged by the credit card companies is reason enough to avoid using the cards if possible. Is there a cheaper affinity card you could switch to? For instance, are you an alumnus of one of the national universities, a member of the trade union MSF, do you bank with ACC which has recently launched an affinity card with an insurance company?

Start saving, even a little every month, for your children's education. If you think you have the discipline to save long term (15-20 years) then by all means investigate a good, low cost life assurance investment fund. The heavy weighting in stock market shares means that these funds are likely to outperform deposit rates over a longer term but will have their ups and downs over the period. If you worry about risk, consider a low cost with profit fund which smooths out the ups and downs of the markets and locks in profits every year. For shorter saving periods you should consider An Post instalment savings plans and savings certificates.

Buy some more life insurance. With the exception of the elderly and people with no dependents, statistics show that nearly every other adult in this state is under insured. If you have a young family and a spouse who does not work outside the home you should aim to carry enough life insurance, when invested, to replace your after tax salary. With best investment returns hovering at around 8 per cent, if you earn £30,000 a year you need to carry about £350,000 worth of life cover. This may sound like a lot but keep in mind, any income generated will be subject to income tax at a single person's rate.

Term life assurance has never been cheaper contact a broker for best rates for your age group.

Open a savings account for your children and encourage them to regularly put a portion of their birthday, first communion and other money gifts into the account.

Take advantage of electronic banking services, such as banking by phone which are not only very convenient but can cut down on annual charges. At least one of the main banks waives the annual charge for their phone service if you already hold a credit card with the bank.

Finally, start saving for Christmas now and you may avoid having to make any financial resolutions in January 1997.