One of the largest expenditures a household faces is what they spend on food shopping. What you think you spend on food, and what you actually do could be considerably different. The first step to understanding what you spend, and how you can save, is to keep your receipts and sum up what you spend. Do this for three or more months to get a good picture of what you spend. Keeping track over a three or more month time frame, and then averaging it will show what you spend on average (read more)

Keeping your car in working order can often put the squeeze on your wallet. If you take a few simple steps every month to keep up on the maintenance of your car, you could end up saving some serious cash. Now sometimes going to the mechanic is unavoidable, but if you go in armed with knowledge and some useful tips you might be able to walk away with a few extra bills in your pocket. (read more)

As a couples therapist, I often give relationship advice to couples who are arguing over money. According to University of Denver study, couples argue over money more than any other issue. Money means different things to different people: Power, self-esteem, competence, acknowledgment, security, love, commitment, protection, control, independence, love, etc. (read more)

Any time is a good time to think about paying off debt. Be it the holidays, the new year, or your birthday - now is a fantastic time to free yourself of the confines of high-interest credit card debt. It's pretty likely that we've all been leaning a bit on those open lines of credit to make ends meet during these chokingly bad economic times, but racking up those interest charges will only hurt you in the long run. Here are some suggestions of what to do and what not to do in order to pay off some of those accounts. (read more)