It’s November now, and the end of the year always gets me thinking about MONEY. Not just because of holiday spending (which by the way will likely average over $1200 for Americans according to this report) but because the New Year brings a new opportunity to give your money situation a fresh start.

January is the season of resolutions, and while I prefer S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based) goals over the traditional resolution, I do think that November is the perfect time to start thinking about how you’ll better your financial situation in the New Year.

Here are seven things you can do to change your money situation in the coming year.

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Recent studies show that as many as 76% of families live paycheck to paycheck, meaning there is absolutely no money leftover at the end of the month.

Having lived this way for several decades, I can attest to the fact that it’s no fun being in a money situation where you regularly have more month than money.

Four years ago, my husband and I finally got “sick and tired of being sick and tired” of the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. We had no idea how we were going to change things, but we KNEW that we were done living the stressful life of having no money and loads of debt.

Here are the steps we took to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and start getting out of debt once and for all.  Read more

At a large-ish gathering this weekend, I came to the realization that much of our society has been brainwashed into believing certain things about life that simply aren’t true.

I’m still in shock over the lack of education in many of these areas.

I know I don’t often write snarky posts, but for the last two days I’ve been feeling an urgency on my heart to speak to those who are still stuck in the world of the status quo, and you may see a little “snark” along the way. . Read more

Making changes that will lead you to success in any area is tough work. Whether your goal is to lose weight, pay off your mortgage or reach that million dollar mark in your investment account, a daunting goal is hard for most people to hold on to.

In this world of “I want it now and I shall have it now!” we’ve become offended at the suggestion of waiting for more – and often at the suggestion we work our tails off. Read more

Today’s post is a guest post from Jon over at Money Smart Guides. Enjoy!

You think you know your way around money, huh?

Then how come you still have credit card debt, or how come you don’t have an emergency fund and a $10,000 car note?

There are some very commonly held beliefs about money that have permeated our culture and our way of life over the last 30 or 40 years. But if you step back and think about it, the beliefs that we seem to have been conditioned to learn did not come from a high-school or college-level personal-finance course. Chances are they came from the marketing-heavy credit-card companies. Read more

It’s been a tough few months financially here in the Frugal Farmer household. The first part of the year was smooth sailing. We were doing really well on debt reduction. Then came April. Read more

When I was in my early twenties (I’ll be 50 this summer) my BFF Judie and I were workout queens. Gym rats. Gym nerds. Muscle heads. Whatever you want to call it. We were amateur body builders who lifted weights three times a week in training from our body builder friends and spent three more days a week running or rollerblading around local lakes (it was the early nineties, after all 🙂 )

On the outside, our appearances were perfect. In fact, one time a guy came up to me on the street and said “MAN, you have the nicest calves I’ve ever seen!” It felt good to be complimented on a part of the body that most guys don’t usually notice. 🙂   Read more