In the church of finance, personal responsibility is the high priest. It’s true that outside forces will affect your situation to a point, but only you can dictate how your financial life will proceed. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five “debtly sins” that can misdirect your financial well-being.

If you got engaged on Valentine’s Day, congratulations! Even if you got engage in recent months and are in the process of deciding all the details of your wedding, from flowers to keepsakes and everything in between, make sure you remember to cover one of the most important things before the Big Day––your and your intended’s money compatibility.

Of course, a successful marriage is one that allows enough room to accommodate each other’s individual opinions, tastes and style. Just because you like to blast Pink in the car while your fiancé prefers to relax to Michael Bublé doesn't mean your marriage will be headed for trouble. However, when it comes to how you handle money––both individually and as a couple––compatibility is critical if your marriage is to thrive.

So you gained a few pounds over the holidays. Who didn't? Now your daily planner has a reminder to eat less so you can lose that excess weight. And if you’re like most Americans, not only did you eat too much, you spent too much as well. It’s time to trim that budget right along with that waistline.

Of course, saving is the key to a healthy budget, and to save more, you must spend less. In other words, you need to put your spending on a diet. Sure, there may be a few hunger pangs, but in the end, your finances will be much healthier.

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Ben Franklin

That Ben Franklin, he was as good with the financial advice as he was with all the Founding Father business. No wonder his face wound up on our $100 bill. And yes, as Ben said, every penny you save may as well be a penny earned. But you have to save it to earn it!

Yes, saving money should always be an important part of your financial life. We’ve already touched on saving in a more generic sense when we talked about choices for a healthy financial New Year. Well, let’s explore a few more specific ways to save. This time we’ll look at ways to save money on things you do or use every day. There’s nothing tricky or difficult about any of these options. The only thing you’ll need is a good dose of “stick-to-it-ness.” Let’s get started...

Have you ever wondered why you use money in a particular way? For example, maybe you’re the type of person who overanalyzes every purchase even though you have plenty in savings. Or maybe you can’t seem to say no to your teenager’s request for a new computer when you’re losing sleep over the amount of your credit card debt. Many people find themselves stuck in an illogical pattern with money, but why?

It’s what’s known as your money personality, or a powerful set of ideas formed early in a person’s life that govern spending, giving and investment decisions.

If money doesn’t grow on trees, it must come from an ATM, right? From a child’s perspective, that’s logical. Have you ever told a child you were short on cash only to be met with the wide-eyed response, “Just go to the ATM!”

It’s amusing a child would think that money is just dished out for free from a machine, but the deeper issue is, children should be more knowledgeable about how money works and where it comes from. The key to a responsible financial future is a solid educational foundation that starts at an early age.

306,000,000 … and counting. That’s 306 million people, the current population of the United States. The counting part will take place in 2010 with a massive undertaking known as the census, an official headcount of U.S. citizens that happens every ten years.

This counting means census workers are now out in neighborhoods all across the country collecting the preliminary information they’ll need to put together accurate population numbers. Unfortunately, it also means thieves will be out to exploit the situation, posing as official census workers, trying to collect personal information they can use for fraudulent purposes.