It may seem like kissing someone at midnight is a way to show your excitement for the new year. But actually, it's thought that if you kiss someone you love as the clock strikes midnight, those sentiments will continue for the next 12 months.

This food superstition that originated in Spain is meant to bring you luck for the year ahead. Just eat 12 grapes at midnight—one for every month—or put them on a skewer and serve as a fun New Year's Eve cocktail garnish.

Check and see which grocery stores are open on New Year's Eve, because it's considered bad luck to start the new year with bare cupboards (signaling poverty and hardship).

Want to enter a year full of financial prosperity? Then make a run to the ATM so you can fill your wallet with cash. Also, don't loan out any money on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, and don't start the year with any unpaid debts, or you could set a precedent for the months aheads.

We can really get behind this superstition. If you're concerned about "sweeping" or "washing" away any luck coming your way, don't do any cleaning—including dishes and laundry.

Actually, just before midnight, so you can let the old year out and welcome the new one. (It doesn't have to be for long—even those who believe in this superstition can get cold!)

Save your tears for another day, because crying on New Year's Day could set a year of sadness in motion.

If you want to keep with Southern tradition, eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day will supposedly bring good luck and prosperity, respectively, in the months ahead. Whip up our Braised Greens and Black-Eyed Peas Salad and see what happens!

...until someone enters from the outside first. And who that person is will supposedly will say a lot about the luck you'll have in the new year. (In Scotland, the first person in your home also has to bring you a gift!)

You may want to rethink any fancy New Year's Eve food ideas that include lobster. Many cultures believe that eating lobsters before midnight is bad luck because they move backwards, therefore setting you up for a year of setbacks.

Whether you like your herring pickled or fresh, eating it in some form at midnight is considered good luck in Germany and Sweden.

It can just be around your house for a few minutes, but in Colombia, it's seen as setting yourself up for adventures in the new year.

Then superstition says you'll automatically be lucky throughout your whole life—even more so if you're born at midnight!