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While 40% to 50% of us make New Year’s resolutions on January 1a ritual that has existed since ancient timesapproximately 60% to 80% of us have already broken them by the end of February, according to researchers.

It’s still not too late, however, to reset the trajectory on your family’s finances, experts note.

1. Build a Budget

If you haven’t already done so, create a realistic budget.

Approximately 85% of your income should be set aside for necessities like housing, food, health care and clothing, according to the professionals at VISA USA.

This leaves 15% for entertainmentand something many consumers completely neglect: savings.

2. Distinguish “Needs” from “Wants”

Make sure you have a clear understanding of what you need in life versus what you want in life.

You need to pay for the antibiotics when the doctor diagnoses a respiratory infection. You don’t need to buy the latest movie released on DVD to aid in your recovery.

You need to pay the rent or mortgage. You don’t need to buy the lovely accent pillows that beckon to you from the interior design boutique.

Always separate the needs from the wantsparticularly if money is tight.

3. Monitor Your Spending

To see what you really spend each month, keep a running log of all purchasesno matter how smallfor a full month. This will give you a visual display of where your money goes after you deposit your paycheck.

You may find that the $3 cup of coffee that starts each day adds up to $90 a montha pocketbook pincher that may prompt you to buy a pound of coffee beans at the local market and grind them yourself. That $90 blossoms into $1,080 in savings at the end of a year.

4. Create an Emergency Fund

Life is full of surprisesboth positive and negative. If you happen to lose your job or suffer an illness that temporarily sidelines you, you will need cash reserves to support you during the rough months.

“In most cases, consumers who find themselves dealing with a financial hardship are unprepared and have not saved for unexpected situations,” says Diane Giarratano, director of education for Novadebt, a U.S. financial management service agency, with multiple locations, that provides credit counseling, budgeting and financial education.

5. Educate Yourself

When you attended high school or college, you studied history, mathematics, language and science, but there was probably no course in basic money management.

If you need help in meeting a financial goalwhether it’s buying a home or reducing your debttake advantage of community resources.

“Consumers should feel free to contact a good credit-counseling agency to obtain free advice with regard to establishing a budget or to learn how to handle unexpected hardships,” Giarratano says.

6. Don’t Become a Victim

Identity theft has become an international epidemic, so be extremely cautious when giving out your credit card or personal identifying information. Monitor your credit card bills carefully for unauthorized charges, and immediately report suspicious activity to the issuing company.

“Identity theft is often an inside job,” warns Robert L. Siciliano, a personal security expert with Boston, Massachusetts-based SafetyMinute Seminars and author of “The Safety Minute.”

“Lower-level help desk workers and frontline call center employees often have access to all our personal information in their databases,” he says. “What are you doing to protect yourself? If you’re not paying attention, you could be a victim, too.”

And when a disaster strikes, such as the recent killer tsunamis in South Asia and East Africa, be wary of scammers from fake charities before reaching for your checkbook. Unfortunately, there will always be unscrupulous individuals who seize such opportunities to profit from others’ misfortune.

“Avoid using your credit card to make contributions,” advises James Walsh, author of “You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work…and Why They’re More Common Than Ever.”

“Even though this can be a convenient way to proceed, many crooks are looking for credit card numbers,” Walsh says. “They will press strongly for ‘immediate support.’ Don’t rush.”

Instead, initiate the call yourself, and select a reputable charity.

“Go with recognized names,” Walsh says. “No organization is perfect; even the best-meaning groups occasionally misallocate money or fall victim to abusive employees. But larger charitable groupslike the Red Cross, the United Way and Catholic Charitieshave the mechanisms in place to audit their people and performance.”

Charitable contributions are tax-deductible, so keep good records of all donationsincluding small cash gifts.

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Fox Symes assists all Australians discover the truth about their debts and how they can rapidly reduce them. There are methods available to the Australian public and you can discover how to use these to assist you in reducing your debt with a free phone consultation from Fox Symes. Visit http://www.foxsymes.com.au or contact them directly on 1300 361 204.

If you read my last article, you know that I have been living with back pain for quite a few years. It has been on and off and for the most part; acupuncture and a good chiropractor have kept me in working order.

Since I was feeling so good, I decided to play some basketball with some guys from work. Well, I landed a little awkward after going up for a shot and really wrenched my back. I kept playing for awhile (yeah, I know; not a good idea) thinking that it would work itself out. Of course, it didn’t. It just got worse and when I went and laid down to ease the pain I found I couldn’t get up.

I made it home and took a bunch of ibuprofen; I have never taken any hard pain meds and don’t ever want to have to do that. Since this pain was worse than ever I decided I needed to try something new. I had heard about the Vax-D Therapy before and even seen commercials on TV. I decided to look them up and give it a go. I have been getting the Vax-D treatment now for 3 weeks and feeling much better; but let me tell you what you can expect from the whole process.

First, you can expect not to be relieved from pain right away. I could not get in until 4 days after my injury and that was only for an initial exam. They did however get me right into an MRI which was just next door. They were booked pretty solid and they scheduled me for the Vax-D therapy starting in about 10 days. During this time, I went to my chiropractor for my usual treatment on the Cox table to get me by. The Vax-D plan seems to be universal and not tailored to a person’s specific needs. By this I mean that everyone gets 20 treatments it seems. My schedule was every day for 2 weeks, then Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 2 weeks and then Tuesday and Thursday for 2 weeks. This is combined with physical therapy which is primarily the Cox excercises. On my first day, they did an EMG (I think that’s what it is called) to test for any nerve damage. I have heard some horror stories about these nerve tests where they place needles into you to get to the nerve but this one was done using contact strips on the skin. It was, however, a little painful. Then it was on to my first round of physical therapy and then the Vax-D treatment.

So I was about to embark on this new treatment but I didn’t have a strong comfort level with the personal attention to my case. I think the physical therapists have seen so many people with the same problems that all seem to get better from the VaxD that they just view it as a panacea and forget to take the time to explain everything to every new patient. Hopefully this article will help you out in this area! The VaxD table is simply a flat table with grips on one end and a pulley on the other. The table also slightly slides backwards underneath you to aid the stretching. The assistant will place a strap around your hips/waist to attach to the pulley and you grip the other end of the table. If you are too tall (as in my case) they will put a harness under your arms and hook the harness up to the grips. The session will last around 25 minutes and the machine will gradually pull a little harder. It is a strange feeling and you will probably feel like either trying to pull against it or move around a little, but I think the best thing is to stay as relaxed as possible. The machine gradually pulls on you for about a half a minute and then slowly releases back to normal. This repeats for the rest of the 25-30 minutes. Since I am using the harness on the top side I have nearly fallen asleep a few times.

It has been 3 weeks since my first Vax-D treatment and how am I feeling? Well, after the 3rd session I was feeling quite a bit better and then for some reason after the 4th session I felt a little worse. Then in the second week I started feeling better again. The main problem I was having was when I stood up after sitting for a long time. Now after the 3rd week I am actually feeling great. I would guess it is probably normal to waiver in the first few weeks. I feel like the best thing for me to do now is to keep up the physical therapy on my own even though I am not going to the back institute every day.

Well, I hope this has helped if you are thinking about getting VaxD treatment or if you are having severe back pain and unsure what to do. I will write more as I experience it!

If you haven’t read it yet here is my article on Acupuncture and Chiropractic.

Want to see more health topics? Check out the Gotta Get My Info Health Page.

About The Author

Deron Van is a software engineer at Intel, he received his bachelor degrees in CIS and marketing from Arizona State University and is the marketing manager at Gotta Get My Info you can email him at deron@gottagetmyinfo.com