But, I do have to admit that I love making new year's resolutions. I like that feeling that something new and exciting is starting... that I'm about to make my life better. I like the idea of putting past mistakes behind me and working toward a new goal. It's a time to look at yourself and tell yourself that you can make a change.
Sure, most resolutions fall by the wayside mere days after January 1st... but I'm convinced that if you really want to make a change (and I mean REALLY want to) you can do it.
And, the first way to do that is to tell people about it. Because once those words fall out of your mouth and the world knows you are trying to accomplish something, it becomes real. You have a sort of instant accountability. Even better? If you tell someone to ask you about it. Because eventually you'll get sick of telling your friends and family that you "just haven't gotten around to starting an exercise regimen/quitting smoking/whatever" and you start to want to show that you're doing it.
Continue reading "It's New Year's... Have You Made Your Resolutions Yet?" »
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times... we all need to set aside at least three months salary in case of emergencies. But, at the height of the financial boom, it seemed downright silly to keep money in a money market or savings account when practically every stock on the exchange was going through the roof. And besides, we thought, it's much better to put that money into a house since those were guaranteed to increase in value... right? Right?
I'm back from my annual retreat away from the world and I'm thinking about how fun it is to see some old friends and get away from it all... without breaking the bank.
When you have bills piling up on your kitchen counter, a bank balance hovering dangerously close to zero and a half dozen creditors calling you all hours of the night, the idea of taking control of your finances can seem impossibly overwhelming. Heck, even if you aren't drifting down a financial death spiral, it can be daunting to figure out where exactly all your money goes each month. 

I've been letting the economy get me down lately. I've been 
