New Year's superstitions: what to do and avoid for a lucky year

The short answer: most New Year's superstitions share one idea: whatever you do on January 1 sets the pattern for the year. People pay bills, fill the pantry and clean before midnight, eat lucky foods and then do very little on New Year's Day.

• Classic don'ts: no laundry, no sweeping, no taking out the trash, no lending money, no crying
• Lucky foods: 12 grapes or black-eyed peas
• Practical habit: clear or schedule every bill due in early January
• Make January 1 a no-spend day
• Next step: Plan it with the Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99).

The most common New Year's superstitions all share one idea: whatever you do on January 1 sets the pattern for the rest of the year. So people pay their bills, fill the pantry and clean the house before midnight, eat lucky foods like 12 grapes or black-eyed peas, and then spend New Year's Day doing very little. On the day itself, the classic don'ts are no laundry, no sweeping, no taking out the trash, no lending money and no crying.

You don't have to believe any of it to enjoy it. I love the seasons and the holidays, and the traditions that make a family feel like a family: the meals, the cards, the little rituals you repeat every year. New Year's superstitions are some of the oldest of those rituals, and most hide a good habit underneath. This guide lists the well-known ones, what each is supposed to bring and the practical step behind it, so you keep the fun and get a calmer January.

New Year's superstitions at a glance

Here are 20 popular New Year's superstitions. The last column is the part I care about most: the real-life habit each one points to.

The thread running through almost all of them is that the first day of the year is a preview. Old American newspapers were full of this kind of advice. The Library of Congress collected a few: a 1921 Indiana paper said "It is lucky to rise early on New Year's morning." It also said "It brings good luck to place a piece of money on the window on New Year's eve." A 1945 North Carolina paper told readers to "Wear something new, if possible, on New Year's Day" (Library of Congress, Headlines & Heroes).

Money superstitions for the new year

Money shows up in more New Year's superstitions than anything else. Nobody wants to start a year broke.

1. Pay your debts before midnight. Start the year owing money and you'll owe all year. The practical version: pay or schedule every bill due between December 28 and January 10.
2. Keep money in your wallet and your pockets. An empty wallet at midnight is said to mean an empty year. The practical version: start January with a small cushion, even just a week of groceries.
3. Don't lend money or pay out money on New Year's Day. Money that leaves on January 1 is said to keep leaving. Treat the day as a no-spend day. It's a gentle warm-up if you're thinking about a no-spend January challenge.
4. Put a coin on the windowsill on New Year's Eve. This is the old newspaper version of "invite money in."
5. Wear yellow underwear or polka dots. In many Latin American homes, yellow is for money. In the Philippines, round polka dots stand for coins.

Here's the honest part: none of these will change your bank balance. Knowing your numbers on January 1 will. So pair the superstition with one real money step: write down what you have, what you owe and what's coming due.

The Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99) is built for exactly that first sit-down of the year. It has 12 monthly tabs, a planned-vs-actual view and a year dashboard, so the bills you paid before midnight and the plan for the next 12 months sit in one place. If you'd rather write it by hand, the Budget Planner Printable ($5.99) has 12 undated pages for your budget, bills, spending, savings and debt. You can browse all our budget spreadsheets too. For the full money task list, use our end-of-year financial checklist, then make a budget for the new year.

Can you clean, do laundry or wash dishes on New Year's Day?

By the superstition, no: you shouldn't clean, sweep, vacuum, do laundry or take out the trash on New Year's Day. In real life, of course you can. But the superstition is a great excuse to rest, so here's what each one means and how to plan around it.

Some households take the "nothing goes out" rule so seriously that they won't even shake out a rug on New Year's Day. The softer version says it's fine to take things out once something new has come in first.

The planning lesson is simple. If you want a quiet New Year's Day, the cleaning has to happen on December 30 and 31. Our Cleaning Schedule ($4.49) has room-by-room checklists and a seasonal deep-clean list, so you can split a reset clean over those two days. Then you can truly put your feet up on January 1. If guests are coming, our guide to cleaning before holiday guests has a fast room-by-room order.

Lucky food superstitions for New Year's

Food traditions are the most loved New Year's superstitions, mostly about money, long life or moving forward. The Library of Congress food blog lists several from around the world (Library of Congress, Inside Adams):

Two food superstitions are about what not to eat. Some people skip chicken because a chicken scratches backward, and lobster because it moves backward. Pork gets the vote instead because a pig pushes forward.

If you're cooking the Southern menu, our New Year's Day meal guide has the full plan, from the peas to the collard greens and cornbread, with a make-ahead timeline.

The 12 grapes (and the "under the table" version)

To do the 12 grapes, wash and dry 12 small grapes per person and put them in a cup or on a skewer before midnight. Eat one grape at each chime or each second of the final countdown, and make a wish for each month. If you finish all 12 by the last chime, the year is said to be lucky.

A newer viral version has you eat the grapes sitting under the table, said to bring love in the new year. It has no deep history, but it makes everyone laugh.

One real safety note: whole grapes are a choking hazard for little ones. The American Academy of Pediatrics' HealthyChildren site lists whole grapes among the foods to avoid or modify and says round, firm foods like grapes "can be served if completely chopped into tiny pieces" (HealthyChildren.org). For young children, cut the grapes into small pieces or swap in 12 pieces of soft fruit, and nobody should have to swallow them in a rush.

Fill the pantry before January 1

"Don't start the year with bare cupboards" is one of the oldest New Year's superstitions, and great advice for the first week of January, when the holiday money is spent and nobody wants to think about dinner. Our Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99) helps you plan that first week of meals, check the pantry and build one aisle-sorted grocery list, so you shop once before New Year's Eve and then stay home.

Midnight and doorway superstitions

• First footing. In Scotland and northern England, the first person to step into your home after midnight sets the luck for the year. An old Midland Journal item quoted by the Library of Congress said the first visitor after 12 "is believed to bring that home good luck for the remainder of the year." Traditionally the first footer brings small gifts such as coal, bread, salt or shortbread.
• Open the doors and windows. Some families open the front door or a window at midnight to let the old year out and the new one in.
• Make noise. Banging pots and pans, honking horns and cheering are said to scare bad luck away.
• Kiss at midnight. Kissing your sweetheart at midnight is said to keep your love strong all year.
• Jump into the new year. In Denmark, people jump off chairs at midnight to "leap" into January, and some still save old dishes to smash at friends' doors.

What not to do on New Year's Day

The most common "don'ts" for January 1:

1. Don't do laundry.
2. Don't clean, sweep or vacuum.
3. Don't take out the trash or let anything leave the house before something comes in.
4. Don't lend money, pay back money or go shopping.
5. Don't break anything, especially glass or dishes.
6. Don't cry, argue or start the year angry.
7. Don't eat chicken or lobster if you want the year to move forward.
8. Don't let the first visitor be someone who brings bad news.
9. Don't sleep in, since some old lists say rising early brings a lucky year.
10. Don't start the year with an empty wallet or an empty fridge.

Most of these are really about a calm day, which only happens if the work gets done before it.

A New Year's Eve plan that covers the superstitions

This simple plan turns the superstitions into a to-do list.

For party food, games and a countdown timeline, see our New Year's Eve party ideas. Staying in? Our guide to a family New Year's Eve at home has easy ideas. And if you want to know which day the holiday falls on, check when New Year's is, which also has a free New Year's planner with a money reset checklist.

How to share New Year's superstitions with family and friends

Turn the tables above into trivia. Read a tradition and have everyone guess the country. Or put a small card by each dish that says what it stands for, such as "peas for coins."

If you love cards like I do, write each person's wish for the year on a small card at midnight and save them to read next New Year's Eve. Pair it with a quick year in review and you've got a tradition people will ask for again.

Make the luck practical

You can eat every grape and still start January stressed. The most useful New Year's superstitions are really a checklist: pay what you owe, fill the pantry, reset the house, rest on January 1 and know your numbers.

If you want one tool to carry that into the whole year, start with the Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99). Want the complete set? The Ultimate Budget Bundle has 8 budget tools, including the Annual Budget Spreadsheet and the Budget Planner Printable, for $19.99 instead of $46.42 when you buy them separately. Browse every budget spreadsheet or see all our bundles.

Want something to say at midnight? Pick from 100 happy New Year wishes for family, friends and work.