One of the most popular resolutions to make every New Year is to budget one's money. Not surprisingly, it is also one of the first resolutions to fail.

Budgeting is a big task for those who have never done it or for those with an abhorrence of Microsoft Excel. And it is made worse by the fact that it brings up a painful truth: you simply don't have as much money as you thought you did. No one wants to be reminded on a monthly basis that expenses exceed income; we'd all rather be reminded of this fact several months down the road by a large burly man named "Knuckles." Delayed punishment is better than current (monthly) disappointment.

Budgeting is hard, too, because it is a beast to remember. If you go out to eat on a Friday night, that bill needs to go in the budget, not in your pants pocket, on a subsequent journey to the center of the washing machine (note to self: possible movie sequel starring Brendan Fraser). Budgeting is hard to get in the habit of doing, and it is made harder each and every time you forget.

Then, before you know it, you are right back where you started pre-resolution, spending money like a carefree young adult, throwing credit card debt to the wind. So rather than embark on a resolution that is doomed to fail from the beginning, why not break off one of these more manageable money goals this New Year and save yourself the inevitable failure. Or, at least, postpone the failure for longer than usual.

1. Save your change

If our culture is so enamored with money, then why are we so disinterested in the small stuff? Hatred of certain Presidents? Metallurgy boycott? For whatever reason, change seems to get tossed out of wallets, purses, and couch cushions with little to no regard for one's bank account.

Nevertheless, it remains actual money, and if you are wise enough to hoard it all year long, you can see a mildly appealing paycheck at the end of the year. Keep a jar beside your bed at home, and deposit all your loose change at the end of the day. Pennies, nickels, Sacajawea dollars - the jar can hold all shapes and sizes. There's no sense throwing away free money simply because it makes your wallet uncomfortable to sit on.

Aren't a big cash spender? Well your bank might just have a solution for that. Certain places offer you the option of rounding up your bill each time you pay with a card, and saving the left over change in your account for later. So if you grab a breadstick for $1.09 and pay with plastic, the bank will charge your card $2.00 and put the extra $0.91 into your savings account. Big whoop, right? Well by the end of the year, you'll have saved enough for an extra present, an extra night out, or an extra armload of breadsticks.

2. Understand your statement

Far too many people receive their monthly statement from the bank, credit card company, or investment firm, take one bewildered look at it, and throw it in a pile of papers to be filed away, never to be heard of again. Blame it on the intimidation factor of a spreadsheet of numbers and figures. Blame it on general malaise for money management. Whatever the reason, it pays to pay attention to those discarded docs. Discovering the language of a statement can prove to be a fantastic journey, like meeting the Indian in the bank account (note to self: possible Matthew Broderick star vehicle).

For this resolution, you will need one of two resources: A) the Internet, or B) a dictionary. Of course, the Internet is preferable because it is both vast and does contain Bejeweled2, which will come in handy when you desperately need a distraction. But a dictionary works fine, too. Basically you just need to look up the terms on your statement that you don't recognize. For instance, I looked up "revolving credit line" and found out that it is not, in fact, a carnival ride and does, in fact, mean that I will never be able to put anything greater than a set of tires on my credit card.

If a bank statement is too elementary for you, why not try tackling something a little denser, like a finance book? The more you learn about money, the better off you'll be when you're trying to save it, earn it, and make it grow.

3. Give yourself an allowance

This one should please consumers because you'll actually be giving yourself money. Who doesn't like that? OK, maybe the Amish.

Here's a fact: People spend more money than they should. And if you think back far enough, you'll realize that this was never really a problem when you were growing up as a kid. The reason why is because you didn't have much to spend. That is the idea behind this resolution. Make all of your money off-limits except for a weekly stipend of cash that you can spend on whatever you want. For the silver spooners, it might be $50.00 per week. For the frugal at heart, it might be $15.00. Basically, whatever amount of money you can arrive at that will not completely ruin your social and entertainment-driven life is a good number to settle on.

And then from there, go spend it. Saving money doesn't have to be like taking a vow of poverty. In fact, that is why so many savings resolutions fail. This way, you still get to spend on the things you love; you just can't spend that much. It's like high school all over again.

4. Bank online

Save a tree and save the hassle of ignoring statements and bills as they pile up at home. Of course, it probably isn't much of a hassle if you never really do anything about them. The real hassle is when you awake in a cold sweat, wracking your brain trying to remember if you mailed in the electricity bill. Oh well. Guess you'll find out in the morning when your coffee maker gets repo'd.

Online banking is a very achievable New Year's resolution because banks make it so simple nowadays. At US Bank, you can enroll in bill pay and never have to see that pesky power bill get soggy in your mailbox again. Bills can be delivered to your inbox and you can wire your payments at your convenience (provided it is convenient for you to be at a computer and have a fast Internet connection and not mind the small risk of identity theft).

Banking online will save you time in the long run, some banks offer an incentive to get you started, and your letter opener can finally, peacefully realize its place next to the staple remover in the junk drawer.

5. Start your taxes early

Ew, taxes. I am a little disappointed in myself that I even brought it up.

But that's the point I'm trying to make, in a roundabout way. No one likes to talk about taxes until it is almost too late, but if you get a head start on tax season you could find yourself saving money and sparing possible marital strife. Filing taxes is a stressful encounter, made more stressful by the pressure of getting them done. When placed under a time constraint, people tend to freak out, forget that they donated large sums of money to charity, and just mail the sucker in with a blank check, hoping that it all will go away.

That's no way for a responsible money manager to act, so consider being tax proactive this New Year instead. The IRS does not dictate any particular day when it is okay to start working on your tax return. They do not drop a giant protractor in Times Square; they don't send out an e-blast. You are on your own.

So why not use as much time as you can get to make sure that you're doing your return correctly? This resolution is as easy as can be. You'll be motivated to complete a New Year's resolution for at least the first couple weeks of the year, and by the time you hit the wall and wish you'd never committed to anything ever, your taxes could very well be done. It is the perfect resolution because it doesn't take the whole year to complete. It's like finding a loophole in time (note to self: possible sci-fi flick starring Vin Diesel). And the IRS never has to know.

Bonus item:

6. Budget.

Seriously. It's a good idea.

We decided to ring in the New Year the best way we know: releasing a few features I trust you'll find useful:

• Reinvesting Monthly Payments: until now, it took some efforts to keep your money invested. We have made it a lot easier by offering the ability to schedule a search that runs automatically when your cash balance equals or exceeds a given amount. This feature currently uses LendingMatch; we will be adding the ability to use the more granular credit criteria soon. To find this feature, log into your lender account and go to Invest > Reinvest
• Notes Already Invested in: many of you have asked for this feature in the last few months: you will now be able to see which series of notes you have already invested in and avoid investing a second time. You can also exclude them altogether when browsing and searching for notes to invest in, by selecting a check box at the top of the search page.
• Give your friends $50: you can now pass the word out to your friends and family and give them $50 to try Lending Club. Simply log into your lender account, click on the "Invite" tab, and fire up emails to your connections.
• Charged off loans and notes: we have added a “charged off” status to your account, so that you can now differentiate defaults from charge-offs. While “default” occurs automatically when a loan is 120 days past due, a loan or note only gets charged off when Lending Club considers it unrecoverable after a review of the collections activities (which can happen before or after 120 days). These charge-offs will appear in your end of year statement so that you can report them as losses for tax purposes.

Let us know how useful you find these new features, and feel free to tell us in the comments below which new features we should be working on.

Happy New Year!

At the end of every college football season, athletes gear up for their final games, coaches prepare for the bowl season, and fans flock to see their favorite teams play.

Well, except that last part.

You see, this bowl season, fans aren't flocking so much as they are nesting, and bowl games are getting hurt because of it. Blame the economic landscape and high prices. This year's bowl season just won't be like it used to.

Signs of frugality are everywhere. Ticket sales are down for most every bowl. Travel packages are sitting around collecting dust. Fan gear is staying right on the shelf, thank you very much. This bowl season is unlike any other due to its lack of excess. Where is the pomp and circumstance? Where is the rabid fandom? Where is the money? (That last question was submitted by the chairman of the Humanitarian Bowl).

And it's not like all of these bowls can stand a year or two without support. These games have names like the Emerald Bowl and the EagleBank Bowl - long on originality, short on credibility and usefulness. If no one shows up to these games, these games might not show up on the schedule after this season. Hundred-thousand dollar losses don't go over too well in Emerald Bank land.

For a better look at just what some of these bowls are facing, let's examine the case of our friends at the Humanitarian Bowl. The H-Bowl, as it's affectionately called by locals and non-wordsmiths, began back in 1997, is played in Boise, Idaho, and sponsored by Roady's truck stops (of which there are none in the Boise area). The home team, the Boise State Broncos, has played there multiple times, which was great for the bowl game and great for the local economy. However, the H-Bowl let the Broncos go this bowl season so that BSU could play in a more prestigious, less truck-stop-sponsored bowl down in San Diego, and the Humanitarian got a matchup between Nevada and Maryland as a result.

Bummer.

Nevada put together a decent season, winning seven games behind one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the West. Maryland was in the thick of the ACC title race on the East Coast before falling at the end. The game could very well be an exciting contest between two schools with very different styles of play.

Not that anyone from either Nevada or Maryland cares to see it.

Ticket sales for the Humanitarian Bowl are lagging, which is putting it nicely. Each school is allotted at least 3,000 tickets to sell to their local fan base. In a perfect world, these tickets would be snatched up immediately by players' families, students, and season ticket holders. But in the very imperfect world of the Humanitarian Bowl, this is not happening, and how.

Maryland has sold less than 1,000 tickets to the game. Nevada has sold about 100. Can you feel that Humanitarian Bowl excitement? It's contagious! (But ultimately, easily remedied by DayQuil.)

What is the H-Bowl to do? Bowl organizers have pinned their hopes on local Boise residents, planning on the allure of "hey, look, football!" to draw in about 20,000 or so non-partisan fans. Boiseans have done it before. They don't mind braving the cold so long as there'll be hot dogs and legalized violence. This is also why the roller derby is so big there.

The Humanitarian Bowl is one of several smaller bowls struggling to get tickets sold and seats filled. In tough economic times, people have decided against traveling and supporting their team, and they instead have opted for sitting at home, supporting their team.

The big bowls aren't immune, either. Word spread quickly last week about ticket prices for the Orange Bowl, which is one of college football's most prestigious bowl games. As one of the five games that are involved in the BCS selection process, the Orange Bowl is a huge money-maker and one of the biggest bowls in all the land. Try telling that to stubhub.

The online ticket agency is selling tickets for three dollars...OBO. Three dollars is unheard of for a college bowl game. These days, three dollars is unheard of for a high school football game! But that's what the Orange Bowl finds itself with: game tickets for less than a game program.

The root of the problem could be traced to a number of different factors. First and foremost is the economy. That sucker is rough, and it undoubtedly has a say on what happens with the bowls. No money, no 50-dollar midfield seats. But who can pass up three-buck nosebleeds? The only thing you have to sacrifice for those is a night out at Wendy's.

Another factor bunching the Orange Bowl's pants is the two teams involved. While the other big bowls get matchups like Oklahoma vs. Florida and Penn State vs. USC, the Orange Bowl will have Cincinnati (yes, they have a football team) and Virginia Tech (no, they aren't fun to watch) duking it out to the delight of people with direct ties to Cincinnati and Virginia Tech - and no one else. When you look at the teams, three dollars might be high-priced.

Yet despite the doom-and-gloom forecast of ticket sales at bowls around the country, the Grim Reaper doesn't seem to be partying with any of these bowls. They'll survive.

What gives? Small attendance means small gate receipts, and small gate receipts mean terrified bowl organizers. But these organizers have been around second-rate, chotchky bowl games forever. They don't need people watching their bowl game for it to be profitable. The economics of bowl games is like the Twilight Zone of sports.

Bowl games make their money off of bowl sponsors and television contracts. And bowl sponsors and TV sets don't buy tickets. Games make deals with advertisers months (and sometimes, years) before the actual game is played, meaning that they could basically set their budget in the college football preseason, well before the bowls have played. TV contracts are set early, too, so that the networks can plan what games they'll be airing and when the games will run.

One of the bowl games' biggest coups is bowl sponsorship. Almost everyone has noticed this phenomenon creeping into the bowl schedule. The Capital One Bowl is sponsored by Capital One (obviously). The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has the backing of chips. Nearly every bowl has a title sponsor that hands out thousands to be attached to the game.

Fine by bowl organizers. The money from the sponsors, advertisers, and TV execs keeps these bowls afloat.

And at times like these, this type of money flow is more important than ever. No one might be going to bowl games, but that doesn't mean that bowl games are going anywhere. Disappointing ticket sales aren't good, yet they aren't the end of the world. So long as the bowl games have their sugar daddy sources of dough pumping life into them, the bowls will be pumping life into the holiday season.

Well, maybe not "life." But at least, Humanitarianism.

References

• yahoo.com
• idahostatesman.com

Give a little at Christmas, if you have anything left to give.

No doubt all of us would like to put on our best Bill and Melinda Gates hats (the derby and beret, as it were) and give generously to charities of our choice. But let's get serious. Nowadays it is hard enough to scrounge for $4.00 milk. Giving to charities has got to come secondary to soaking our Cocoa Puffs.

But should it?

One of the most recognizable persons around Christmas time, after Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman and Matt Lauer, is that of the Salvation Army bell ringer. Every Christmas he faithfully rings his bell and makes sure-fire eye contact outside of stores and malls nationwide. He is a staple of the holiday season. Yet for some reason, I figured he would have taken this year off with the economy the way it is. But no, he is still outside of my favorite Best Buy, braving the cold for my pocket change. The spending habits of Americans may have changed, but the persistence of the Salvation Army bell ringers has not. Which begs the question: who is giving to him?

To be honest, it is not me. I'll gladly hide behind the excuse of my ATM/debit card as a reason why I have nothing monetary to give (on that note: I hope they don't set up credit terminals strapped to those red pots next year). And I'll gladly find the most circuitous route around the bell ringer so as to minimize my own internal struggle between charity and Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle.

And I know I'm not the only one Scrooge-ing it up outside of Macy's. I've seen all different styles of donation avoidance. There is the fast walker, the fake cell phone talker, the apologetic "Sorry, no change" guy, the couple who sneaks in behind someone who actually put money into the kettle pot. If there are so many of us not giving money to the Salvation Army guy, then one has to wonder who is. Even more, what about all the charities that exist in places not in our immediate path to the mall? The Salvation Army is just one of thousands. I'm pretty sure I can't use the debit card excuse on all of them.

With money being tight, many different charities are struggling to stay afloat. There are soup kitchens that are running out of soup and care houses that are running out of clothes. When the economy goes down, the giving of others goes right down with it, and that ends up hurting the people and businesses that depend on that help.

So what is a money-wise consumer to do? If citizens were to succumb to every noble and virtuous opportunity that came across their path, there is no chance that they could feasibly support or reply to each one. People are doing what they need to do in order to survive in a tough economy, and it seems like charities are one of the places that we have deemed expendable. But take a closer look at the budget or the expenses, and there is a good chance that you can find something extraneous or unnecessary. We might think that we have scrimped and saved down to the last penny, but that is usually because we are considering necessities to be those things that are not necessarily necessary.

That's one way to find a little extra to give away this Christmas. Here's another: go without a certain something around the holidays. Perhaps your budget really is pared down to the nitty-gritty, and there is no room for so much as a RedBox of a splurge. In that case, if you really feel that giving is important, maybe it would be appropriate to sacrifice something of your own so that others can benefit. For instance, if you depend on a weekly meal out at a restaurant, try dining in for the month of December and sending the saved cash to a local shelter or stuffing it into a Salvation Army pot (so that other, less charitable people can sneak past behind you, naturally). What a blessing it would be to think of others before yourself this holiday season, and what a lesson it would set for others.

One of the best solutions on how to solve the giving situation is to give of yourself and to give of your time. Take money out of the equation completely, and you still have plenty of ways that you can spread holiday cheer to others. Too often we associate charity with writing a check or dropping change in a jar; meanwhile, places could just as easily use a helping hand as they could an Alexander Hamilton. Don't believe me? Head on down to a soup kitchen and stand back in amazement as volunteers scurry back and forth at a frenetic pace doing the work of three people. Actually, don't stand back. Get in there and help. Standing would be pretty rude.

The only problem with this plan is that we will actually have to get our hands dirty. Ew. A lot of times, sending money is easy because you can end the relationship with a stamped envelope. Once the check has been written, you're done. Not so with volunteering. You are putting your time and energy on the line, and you run the risk of building relationships and impacting people's lives. Think about it: instead of buying the paint, you'll be the one applying the paint. And you're sure to find the experience all kinds of rewarding.

There is no better feeling than to know that you have made a difference in someone's life. And there is no better time to make a difference than around the holidays. If you're not sure where to start, try searching online for charities in your area or asking your local chamber of commerce or a local church for ideas. The opportunities are out there, you just have to want to go find them.

You may not have money to spend on charity this holiday season, and that's alright. That Salvation Army bell ringer is sure to be back next year. But you can find other ways to give, and I guarantee that it will make brushing off the Salvation Army jar a whole lot easier.

Imagine yourself waking up on Christmas morning to a tree full of presents. You anxiously approach the treasure trove in eager anticipation of what goodies await you inside the perfectly wrapped packages. With your family and friends surrounding you, you pick out a beautifully wrapped gift from under the tree and delicately pull off the wrapping paper.

Then you open up the box to find ...

... a macaroni necklace and two coupons for a back massage.

Welcome to Christmas 2008 in a recessed, depressed economy. This holiday season might be unlike any other holiday season you can remember, for money is tight, jobs are scarce, and there is no bailout in sight for that two-page Christmas list your daughter just handed you. And where do people tend to turn when times are tough? I mean, besides the McDonald's Dollar Menu? Homemade gifts, of course!

Nothing says "You shouldn't have" like an itchy knit scarf, yet many Christmas shoppers this holiday season will find knitting and crafting and creating to be a fine alternative to spending money. Homemade gifts are sure to be the rage, as our economy dictates. Per Christmas tradition, there must be gifts to open around the holidays, and if those gifts can't be bought with money, then it looks like they'll have to be made with love.

The crux of the gift-giving issue really does come down to money. Everyone enjoys giving gifts and receiving gifts, so there will be no stopping us from cramming our fake, plastic trees with presents. But whereas in years past when folks were making more money or not foreclosing on their homes, this year the process of gift buying is an exercise in frugality. And homeliness is winning.

Homemade gifts seem like the best solution when it comes to the gift-giving to friends and relatives. Rather than go out and spend hundreds on individual presents for everyone you know, it is far more cost-conscious to bake a batch of cookies and hope they're not stale by the time your friend opens them. Making a gift yourself would cost a fraction of what it does to buy a gift in a store. The quickest and easiest way to save money around the holidays is channeling your inner Martha Stewart, rolling up your sleeves, and making gifts for everyone on your list.

Even better, a homemade gift can mean so much more than a store-bought item. The thought and time and attention put into making a gift by hand cannot be replaced, especially by something that has a Wal-Mart price tag on it, no matter how Rolled Back the price was. Handmade gifts can be cherished much longer than other gifts, and knowing that someone went to the extra effort for you truly makes you feel special.

So it's easy, right? Handmade gifts are the way to go this holiday season.

Well, not so fast.

There is no denying the attractiveness of inexpensive, handmade presents for the gift giver. But there is some debate on whether or not people actually like receiving them.

Don't kill the messenger. Chances are you have been guilty of chuckling quietly to yourself when a family member unwrapped a piece of personalized pottery that looked less like an ashtray and more like a bizarro BatPod. Thank goodness that wasn't you, right? Well, this Christmas, it might be you.

Giving homemade gifts seems like a good idea to many people because they don't have to receive their homemade gifts. Put yourself in someone else's shoes before you go ahead and cross-stitch those coasters. What would it be like to open a fruitcake? How would it feel to be the proud owner of a bejeweled cell phone case? Try faking a smile when you get a Best Friend 4 Life certificate.

Homemade gifts don't sound so hot anymore, right? The value in saving money with DIY goods can quickly be superseded by the damage done by tacky, cheesy, or useless curio. Some people simply don't have the skills to make gifts on their own. Others have bad judgment when it comes to what the rest of the world finds valuable. And for those who are actually good at thinking up creative gift ideas, sometimes they fail to recognize that the person they're trying to please would be much happier with something else ... or nothing at all.

The point is that you have to know where to draw the line with homemade gifts, and you have to know your audience. You can create the most beautifully artistic painting, but it won't have much value to a husband and wife who think SpikeTV's MXC is fine art. Likewise, if you have the perfect person in mind for a homemade bakery item but you can't bake to save your life, all you're going to do is put the gifted in an awkward and uncomfortable situation and maybe give him or her food poisoning.

Homemade gifts don't have to be the only alternative, either. There are lots of different ways to save money on gift purchases. With places like eBay and craigslist, there are options for used or pre-owned merchandise that can be had for very affordable prices. Thinking outside the box can help, too. Subscriptions or sign-ups are creative ways to give a gift that one will appreciate and get to enjoy year-round. Even the traditional stores are going out of their way to make shopping easier on wallets and consciences. Free shipping from online retailers is a good start, and big box stores have all sorts of different deals at this time of year.

There is nothing wrong with homemade gift-giving this holiday season. It is an affordable way to show someone you love them and to give them a gift that can be cherished for a long time.

But for the record, I don't like macaroni necklaces and back rub coupons.