If you make time each month to give your money some attention, you'll start the next year in fabulous financial shape.

The last thing family and friends want is for you to spend money on them that you don't have or that you can't really spare.

You must recognize, embrace, and be honest about what is real for you today and allow that understanding to inform the choices you make. Only then will you be able to build the future of your dreams.

Make it a priority to have at least eight months of living costs set aside in a federally insured bank or credit union account.

They got married, they got divorced, and half their money goes out the window.

Absolutely invest in retirement. You can always get a loan to get kids through school. I do not know of any loans to get you through retirement. The markets are seriously low from where they were (even though they've gone up 30 percent recently). Now is the time to be dollar cost averaging; the more money you put in, the more shares you buy. Save for your retirement, people.

Those carrying a credit card balance should scale back to making the minimum payment each month so they have more money to put into savings.