Do you kiss and tell?  No?  Okay, what about spend and tell?  Feel free to divulge you secrets to Geezeo.  Money Confessions are an area where you can share your money secrets, concerns, or thoughts — publicly or privately.  Go ahead and confess.  Still nervous?  Here are some recent confessions to help you get some courage:

• Collecting unemployment and stretching our savings, our money will last thru July. Whew!
• First day of spring break I spent over $75 on clothes and eating out…not a good sign for the week to come
• I’m an unemployed fresh grad ….
• I am on my way to being a Millionaire…
• I went over budget on electronics I really didn’t need due to cheap deals from the closing of circuit city stores.
• I am spending way too much on my wedding…
• I spent $14 on Mexican food paying for my friends when I was super high.
• i spent 74 bucks on beauty products at Walgreens!!
• Got my car fixed by a family friend with pieces from a ‘pick and pull’ junkyard. Total cost: $500 versus the $2,750 body shop estimate
• I’m stressed about the economy.
• I’m loving being able to see my spending habits (and a little ashamed)…
• i should be writing a lab report right now..
• I don’t have a will, POA or AMD. And I know better!
• I get reimbursed monthly at work for car use and tolls, and don’t tell my wife ’cause I want to use it as I please.
• unemployment took far too serious of a hit on my savings account… why? because i kept shopping!
• I goofed up the money and put my family in a financial strain. I am making all attempt to fix it.
• Spring break is killing my budget
• I spend over my means and leave my children to pick up the slack. I allows my husband to drink away about $70.00 a week.
• Those payday advance people are going to be real mad come payday. My account has five bucks in it.
• I bought Killzone 2. Video Game for playstation 3. I didn’t need that game!!! I could just used that money in something better.
• I CANNOT SAVE 1 DIME… MONEY BURNS A HOLE IN MY POCKET.. I HATE IT
• I just spent too much money on car insurance
• I think our country is going down the wrong path.
• more than doubled dining out budget for this month already!!!!!
• Money issues aside. I never really cared for “The Godfather”.

So go – now!  Confess your money secrets!  We want to know what you are up to.  It also helps that each day you sign in, budgeting or confessing, you will be entering for your chance to win in The Great Geezeo Bailout.  If you’re lucky enough to get the grand prize, your newest confession can be that you won $6,000!

You learn about money when you are young, but as you get older your parents can still teach you a thing or two about what to do (or not to do) with your money. Once you jump into the “real world” and get your first job, with the additional money comes extra bills, payments, and other expenses you were not necessarily expecting.

How to Get through Tough Times – Your parents have lived a lot longer than you so they have seen more ups and downs in the economy than you have. Ask your parents how they made it through and ask them for advice on what you should do. They may have a few words of wisdom or suggestions that you hadn’t thought of yourself. With the current economy in a really tough situation, it is best to get free advice wherever it is given on what to do with your money and how to save for the future.

Balancing a Checkbook – This may seem out of date to you, but your parents probably grew up in a time when checking your bank account information online was not something they had access to. Learning how to balance your check book may help you with your budgeting. Writing down your spending and keeping track of it can help you realize how much you are actually spending. When you swipe a credit or debit card, it doesn’t feel as though you have spent any money. However, if you record your spending somewhere and keep track of how much you have spent, it will make you realize how much you have left to spend or what you need to save.

How to Teach Your Own Kids – If you have kids of your own now, your parents may be able to offer some worldly advice on how to teach your kids about money. You don’t want to give your children the wrong impression about money and spending so your parents might have some ideas from how they taught you or what they would have done differently.

Bad Habits – Although your parents can teach you a lot of insightful things about money, you can also learn your bad habits from them as well. As you grow up you witness how your parents spend or save money. Sometimes parents do a great job at balancing the two, other times they overspend and get themselves into debt or become extremely stingy and save all they can. Saving and spending do not need to be two extremes. Even if you are saving money (like you should) it does not mean that you can’t treat yourself every once and a while. Try to think why you might struggle with money and what you saw growing up. Possibly if your parent’s situation has improved, they might be able to offer you some insight on how they got rid of their bad money habits.

These may all seem like simple concepts, but getting advice from someone you trust can be a great help when it comes to sorting out your financial situation. Everyone’s situation is different, but asking someone older than yourself who is in a good financial situation may be beneficial to you and your future.

Photo: Meg Donahue

There are a few secrets in personal finance and here is one: you gotta know what you want.

Easy? Not so fast. Zoning in on what you want out of life is a big task. And, zoning in on what you want from your financial life isn’t always a picnic, either. Coming up with goals and plans can seem intimidating. They can also be emotionally-charged. No wonder so many people just give up and hope for the best!

“Hoping for the best” is never a strong position. So how do you take active responsibility and figure out what you want to achieve with your money? And, by extension, what does this say about your life?

First, take a Financial Inventory. It is very easy to tabulate where you are and that is the first step to figuring out where you’d like to go. The hardest part of the financial inventory is looking at this assessment in the eyes. Face it: you can’t improve your financial life without being honest with yourself.

Now that you have a firm grasp on where you stand the next step is to consider your highest values. If you had the privilege to have the kind of cash available to Bill Gates or Oprah — how would you use it to make the world a better place? For example, Gates uses his vast fortune to fund to fighting disease. Oprah uses her fortune to provide educational opportunities. What about you? Would you like to establish a scholarship? Create a lasting financial gift for your family? Donate to humanitarian or environmental causes?

Once you can name the handful of ways you’d like to share your money you can step back and figure out a plan to make that a reality. For example, your highest goal might be to serve those who cannot speak for themselves or defend themselves — impoverished children, abused or neglected animals, or the environment. Or maybe the goal is more modest and closer to home. No matter: the important thing is that you determine how your finances can positively affect the world around you.

Note: It is okay to be selfish here, too. Maybe your motivating factor is to buy that new shiny car. You can still work for goals like these. It is just more satisfying to work toward goals that do not expire when you purchase something.

It is my personal opinion that very wealthy people of today and of yesteryear gave considerable thought to how their money could be used for the higher good. It wasn’t because they had oodles of cash to dispose. I believe it was because they recognized the unique opportunity they had to affect positive change. Compared to many in the world we Americans enjoy extreme privilege. Even the poorest among us have access to clean water and library books, for example. (Libraries: those are thanks to Carnegie’s golden goal!)

Okay, now it’s time to put your desires into action. Here’s how.

When times are hard, it is difficult to imagine giving money to charities when you are searching for money yourself. When times are hard, people get very caught up in everything around them and forget that there are other people out there that might be a little bit worse off. Giving back to your community or to families in need does not always have to be costly. Donating does not always have to be expensive.

Here are some ways you can give back this holiday season:

Soup Kitchen – Donating your time is the best thing to do (and free for you!). Soup kitchens and shelters are always looking for help and volunteers around the holiday season. Get some friends together and do this together! It will make you feel really great and all you have to do is donate some of your time. Yes, everyone is busy around the holidays, but one day (or even just a few hours) of your time can make all the difference in someone else’s holiday season.

Canned Food Drive – Search through your cabinets! Many times people buy canned food because it is on sale or just because at the time they thought they would use it. If you find cans in your cabinet that you don’t think you will be using anytime soon, donate these to a canned food drive. If they are just going to sit in your cabinet in the kitchen until they expire, they can make a difference for someone else when it comes to making dinner one night. If you are like my mum, you always stock up on canned food during the winter just in case a storm hits. Clean out your cabinets and donate what you don’t need.

Used Clothes – Purge, purge, purge…this will feel great, trust me! There are always clothes that you can’t get rid of. I’m not suggesting get rid of your basics (or clothes that you wear all the time) but there are always clothes in the way back of your closet that you haven’t worn forever. Or perhaps they just don’t fit anymore! Donate old winter coats that your kids have grown out of or that might have a broken zipper. If the zipper is broken and that is why you aren’t wearing it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it wouldn’t keep someone else warm this winter. You can look online for drop of locations for good will and other places that take used clothes. Also, if you keep track of what you donate and it adds up to a significant amount of money, you can put this on your taxes and get a tax break!

Donate More Than is Necessary – Recently my job had a Turkey Dinner Day where you got a whole turkey dinner just for donating a dollar. We raised over $4,000 but we could have done much better than that if everyone donated just a little bit more. I figured that lunch in the café costs about $5 (or more) anyway, so I gave a little bit more than was necessary. Giving an extra $4 that I would have spent on lunch anyway can make all the difference in how much money was raised.

It isn’t always easy to take a step back and think of other people outside your friends and family during the holiday, but if you do remember it can make all the difference for someone else (and also for you!). Donating your time (or a little bit of money) can make you feel that you are able to help out someone else just a little bit. With times being so hard for everyone, nobody is expecting much, but every little bit counts!

Photo: Malinda Welte

Do you have a high-fever case of Affluenza? What is it, and how do you get it? Geezeo investigates.

Most of us probably agree better money management isn’t just about numbers. It’s also about choosing to live wisely. How do you define “living wisely”?

Some might say that it means living below your means, spending conservatively, and choosing few items to own and maintain. There is always room for improvement when it comes to how much “stuff” you own. (Believe me! I just moved!)

Do you find yourself trying to “keep up the Joneses”? Many of us strive to do just that — whether we admit it or not. How does that affect us culturally?

Some say Americans in general are struck with a severe case of “Affluenza” — consuming too much and caring too little about the financial (or environmental, or psychological) ramifications. Do you have Affluenza? Here’s a quiz.

Here’s some more diagnosis information (courtesy PBS). And here’s the treatment!

So: spend wisely. Use your Geezeo account and the “spending target” feature to manage your case of Affluenza. Good luck with the cure!

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“Of course we talk about sex more than money. I’ve probably thought about it 1 or 2 times since the beginning of this interview…”

How many friends do you have with whom you can engage thoughtful, meaningful conversation? For many of us, friends like these are few. First, you have to have a certain level of trust. And hey, it’s usually a lot easier to have superficial conversation about superficial topics.

Thankfully, there are alternatives if you’re craving deeper conversations. In fact, my friend Allah Jesus Ali is building a community called “Real Talk” on this very concept: meaningful conversation. He hosts regular salon-format discussion groups on a number of topics as well as hosts an internet radio show.

So, how can people get real when it comes to talking about money? Here’s the first part of our discussion.

Allah, what’s Real Talk?

Real Talk is mainly a discussion group and a community. Ultimately it’s a lifestyle (being a Real Talker) by which you choose to live — the lifestyle of going beyond the superficial stuff, and really getting to the authentic root of things. A couple of friends and I started it back in June of 2006 because our business wasn’t doing to well, we were focused too much on money; so to bring some heart back into the picture, we started having weekly discussions to dismantle our drama. Soon we opened it up to our peers. Now Real Talk is an event that hosts over 500 people a month in multiple countries. In it’s entirety, Real Talk consists of three components: first the heart of Real Talk, the one-on-one conversation, or group discussion, then the large events where you learn how to have Real conversations with others and strangers, and lastly the website, www.talking4real.com, designed to keep Real Talkers up to date with useful tips, topics, and the happenings.

Why do you think people have difficulty discussing money? Don’t we talk about our sex lives more easily than our finances?

Smiles! Of course we talk about sex more than money, I’ve probably thought about it 1 or 2 times since the beginning of this interview, but money — I think I’ve thought about that more. About the money thing though, we attach to much to it, so we have difficulty talking about it. Think about it, if you go out and ask 100 people what money is to them, they’ll all give you a different answer. We tie it to our livelihood, it’s our measure of success, it’s our piece of mind, it’s our health, etc. So when someone brings up the topic of money, they bring up all those other discussions too. Not to mention traditional opinions of money, such as “it’s the root of evil.” I don’t like that one, but some people believe it. We always equate it mentally and emotionally to more than just the piece of paper or fabric in our hands. As a result it’s always committed to being a touchy subject.

How can you start having an honest discussion about money?

First things first, get to the real deal about it. We have to take a look at our bank accounts, check our stashes, get a pen and paper and write down all of what we have, then sit there and observe ourself. Chances are, if we don’t have enough we’ll be mentally disgusted and cursing ourself out in our head. If we have what we need or more, we’ll be praising ourself. Either way it really isn’t who we are. Once we take an earnest shot at realizing that the numbers are just the numbers, and what is just is, then we can move forward.

What are some common “lies” people tell themselves when it comes to money? How can these attitudes be changed?

Some of the common lies are that there’s never enough, or that we can’t have as much as we want, it’s the “root of evil,” etc. The attitudes can be changed the same way they were created, simply create a positive affirmation and continuously say that instead of what you usually say. If you’re always saying “I don’t have enough,” instead say, “I always have enough and always when I need it.”

Stay tuned tomorrow when Allah offers some words: “if you don’t pay attention, you’re going to pay somebody.” So true. That’s one of the benefits of changing your internal dialogue about money — start paying attention and you can find the courage to change. Thanks, Allah!

Stay tuned for tomorrow. And if you can’t wait to hear more, head over to Real Talk’s website and listen to a show: http://www.talking4real.com/