Year End: Change Important Passwords

Much of your sensitive personal information is one smart guess away from being stolen. You should think about adding an extra layer of protection by changing the most important passwords at least once a year. A good password typically contains a mixture of characters, numbers, and symbols.  Before the end of the year, go through your passwords (i.e. bank account, financial accounts, etc) and change them.  You'll feel a little more at ease once you've done it.

Year End: Preparing Your Budget for 2012

We have talked a little bit before about how important it is to have a budget, and to begin preparing it. 
If you are serious about organizing your finances in 2012, then it is necessary to create a budget. This needs to include your income and spending, so that you can first understand the amount of disposable income that your salary produces each month. If you don't know how much you have to spend each month, then how can you make financially responsible purchasing decisions? You can't.  Make sure that all of the information included in your budget is accurate. Go ahead and detail your incomings and outgoings in dollars and cents, so that every bill or expenditure is recorded as it is rather than being rounded up. If your budget is completely accurate and based on truth then it has a greater chance of succeeding.