For those of you who are planning to buy a home this year, I’d like you to repeat the following: My 2010 Resolution: I will not buy a home as an investment!

My husband and I knew almost from the beginning that we had very different money management styles. After all, when we met, I was working at Consumer Credit Counseling Services and he joked that his personal tagline was “VISA, everywhere I used to be”.

We’re in a rush. We’re standing in line. It’s tiring. If you have kids with you, it’s twice as hard. The people waiting on us are doing their very best to hurry us out of there. When emotions run high on both sides of the counter, mistakes are bound to happen.

The best way to make sure that our holiday shopping doesn’t compromise our personal financial security is to limit our vulnerability.

The long-standing ideas about investing may be changing, but investing in your family, future and self will always be a good idea.

We’ve all been told that the best way to avoid overdraft fees is to keep our checking accounts balanced. Unfortunately, this precaution does not work 100% of the time.

Utilizing an array of tricks, these thieves can snag your card number, your pin, and your three digit security code on the back of your card. They make use of skimmers and hidden cameras, and if they get the information from your card, you’ll be the next victim.