5 Pitfalls to Avoid During Open Enrollment Season (Main Street).  Are your benefit selections on autopilot?  Take the time to make sure you’re choosing the right plan for your family.

How Do I Apply for a Government Job (US News).  If your resume has been falling into corporate sinkholes, why not send it Uncle Sam’s way?  After all…

Federal Hiring Proves to Be Recession-Proof (MSNBC).  This may change with the next election, but right now government hiring is far outpacing that of the private sector.

9 Free Courses You Can Take Online (Main Street).  From math classes for your kids to Yale lectures on classic literature, quality learning is available online – and the price is right.

Credit Union Business Grows as Consumers Sour on Banks (MSNBC).  Are you planning to take part in Bank Transfer Day?

And from the blogosphere…

10 Family Meal Planning Tips & Ideas on a Budget (Money Crashers).  Good thoughts on how a little planning can save a whole lot of dough.

5 Saving Money Tips for Car Owners (Consumerism Commentary).  Reminds me of the old commercial that made the point: “You can pay me now (a little bit) or you can pay me later (a lot).  Not budgeting for maintenance costs is one of the most common costly money management mistakes people make.

The Hidden Costs of Refinancing Your Mortgage (Not Made of Money).  With rates this low, you may be tempted to refinance.  Just be sure you know what it’ll cost you.  After all, getting the right mortgage is about more than just the rate.

Chase is About to Ignore Your Privacy Settings (Ask Liz Weston).  Just one more way banks are becoming their own worst enemies.  And one more reason to consider switching to a credit union like the one I recommend: Christian Community Credit Union.

How Important Is It to Start Early? (The Simple Dollar).  Having just returned from speaking on two college campuses, I can only say “amen” to the advice in this article.  I encouraged the college students I spoke with to save at least 40 percent of all the money they receive from part-time jobs or their parents.

Got some feedback on any of the above?  Be sure to leave a comment.

Who else would benefit from this article?  Why not forward a link to my site? And if you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here.  Two or three times a week, you’ll receive ideas and encouragement for using money well.

5 Ways to Get Rich, Or Poor (via MSN).  A great research-based look at five choices that make the biggest difference in our financial success.

Education Impacts Work-Life Earnings 5 Times More Than Other Demographic Factors (via U.S. Census Bureau).  We can’t do anything about our race or gender, but there’s a lot we can do about our education.  And that’s good, because it matters – a lot.  Now, if only it was easier to pay for college.

Talking to Your Teenage Girl About Finance (via US News).  A lot of this advice applies to teenage boys as well.

9 Myths on How to Build Better Credit (via Bankrate).  Will closing a credit card account will boost your score?  Find out, and gain 8 other insights into the mysteries of your credit score by reading this article.

9 Snap Judgments Managers Make in Job Interviews (via Yahoo! Finance).  Good insights for anyone looking for work.

And from the blogosphere…

12 Frugal Compromises (via Wise Bread).  Regular readers know that I don’t like the term “frugal.” However, as this article points out, there is a land somewhere in between free spending and tight fisted.

Involving Children in Household Money Management (via Consumerism Commentary).  Good (and even radical) thoughts on why and how to include kids in real-world financial decisions.

Raise Your Children to Be Generous: 3 Important Tips (via Christian PF).  Sound, practical advice from an author whose kids caught the generosity bug.

Ways to Shrug Off a Stock Market Slide & Reduce Market Anxiety (via Digerati Life).  Blood pressure-lowering thoughts for tough economic times.

10 Key Characteristics of Debt-Free People (of Modest Means) (via Len Penzo).  More proof that using money well isn’t rocket science.

Got some feedback on any of the above?  Be sure to leave a comment.

Who else would benefit from this article?  Why not forward a link to my site?  And if you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here.  Two or three times a week, you’ll receive ideas and encouragement for using money well.

Your income-producing abilities are like that goose. Take care of those abilities, and they will take care of you and your family.  Here are three ways to keep the gold flowing

Keep Learning

I wasn’t much of a student in my undergrad days, finishing with less than a B average.  Pursuing a career as a broadcast journalist, I had the high and mighty attitude that school was getting in the way of my education.  I was eager to get out of the classroom and get over to the NPR affiliate radio station where I worked as a reporter and afternoon news anchor.

But when I found my life’s work, I became hungry to go back to school, eventually earning a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from DePaul University.  The coursework, half business classes and half sociology, was related to the market research work I was doing at the time, so my employer paid for it.  Plus, it enabled me to study marketing and culture, which were helpful to the personal finance work I really wanted to do.  Some of the core ideas I wrote about in my thesis ended up in my first book, “Money, Purpose, Joy.”

Around 80 percent of large employers offer some form of tuition reimbursement and yet fewer than 10 percent of eligible employees take advantage of that benefit.  That’s huge money being left on the table, not just tuition dollars but future earning potential as well.  Does your employer offer tuition reimbursement?  Are you making use of that benefit?

What else are you doing to improve at what you do or to pursue what you really want to do?  Are you reading the latest books in your field?  Keeping up with the best bloggers?

Find a Mentor

Very often, successful people are honored when a younger person asks them for coaching.  Who do you know in your field that you admire?  It might be someone at your current company, a family friend, or even someone you’ve never met.

Contact them, and ask what advice they would give to someone who’s at an earlier stage in that field.  If it’s someone you know, ask if you could meet on a regular basis.  If it’s someone you don’t know, just ask if they’ll e-mail you some advice.

I began my personal finance writing and teaching career by volunteering for over 10 years with a financial ministry called Good $ense.  Through that experience, several people had a deep influence on how I managed my own finances and how I taught others – especially Warren Beach, Dick Towner, and Dave Briggs.  I went to their workshops and I saw how they lived out the principles they taught.  They continue to influence my life and my work in countless ways.

Check Your Attitude

Complainers are a dime a dozen.  We all know the type.  They gripe about the pay, the hours, and even the comfort of their office chair.  The more they complain, they more they stay stuck.

Resolve to never be a complainer.  If you have an issue, it’s okay to tell it to your spouse or a close friend, but then do something about it.  Offer to take on more responsibility.  Network internally for another position you qualify for.  Get the training you need to qualify for a different type of position.  Or, look for a new job at a different company.

One of the most essential ingredients to a good attitude is gratitude.  I was on a call recently that was too much about complaints, and I wasn’t just listening, I was chiming in with my own complaints!  The entire next day I didn’t feel right.  I had less energy.  I was in a bad mood.  The only reason I could come up with was all the complaining I had done the day before.

I’m not suggesting that you become a Pollyanna or fake it ‘til you make it.  I’m just suggesting that you look for something to be thankful for in your current circumstances, like any productive step you’re taking to get to a better place in your career.

The people who can most influence your career path, other than yourself, are not looking to promote the complainers around them.  They’re looking for people who are really good at what they do and who bring the people around them up.

What’s been especially helpful to your career success?  What’s holding you back?

If you found this article helpful, please forward a link to someone else.  And if someone forwarded it to you, please sign up for your own subscription.  Two or three times a week, you’ll received ideas and encouragement for using money well.

Using some common assumptions, paying off $24,000 in student loan debt over 10 years would require a monthly payment of about $275.  By the time the loan is paid off, interest charges will have tacked on another $9,000.

For parents of young kids, hopefully the prospect of having your kids start their working lives deeply in debt is a motivator to start saving for their college costs and to teach them to set aside a portion of their allowances or earnings for college.  Need more motivation to save?  Consider this: because of their heavy debt loads and the tough job market, a whopping 85 percent of last spring’s graduating seniors planned to move back home with their parents.

In a related note, Mainstreet.com recently ran an especially helpful article on helping your child qualify for as much college financial aid as possible.

If you have kids, are you planning to help them pay for college?  If so, what’s your plan?

Right after I arrived, I boarded a standing-room-only bus headed for the rental car facility and the driver began what I assumed would be the standard safety announcements.  But this driver’s approach was different.  After the obligatory instructions about staying seated or hanging onto the handrails, he launched into a passionate and fascinating history of the Phoenix airport.  He talked during the entire 10-minute trip, telling us about the airport’s opening 75 years ago, and how Eleanor Roosevelt’s trip to take part in the opening ceremonies was delayed by cows grazing on the grass runways. Another plane had to be dispatched to buzz the field and scare away the cows.  At the end of the trip, just about every passenger handed him a healthy tip.  It’s a safe bet that he’s one of the top earners among airport bus drivers.

The other experience happened at the church where I taught a workshop. As I stood by a table of my books after one of the morning services, an older man approached me holding a flyer promoting the afternoon workshop.  He was wondering if he was in the right place.  The man was well dressed, but in fashions from another era; a few of his front teeth were missing.  After he left, someone told me the man was homeless.

When the workshop started he was sitting right in front.  He was actively engaged in the workshop, providing a thoughtful comment on a question I asked of all participants and taking notes.

Both of these gentlemen inspired me.  We can either be defeated by our circumstances or rise above them.  We can either live life on autopilot or step up to a more engaged and adventurous life.  We can either be irritated by inconveniences or realize that every day is a gift.

All too often, I settle for the former in each of these sets of options, although I aspire to the latter. What about you?  Think of your family, your career, your finances.  Where are you settling?  How could you step up?

I can’t say one site is better than the other; both have their advantages.  Both offer helpful articles and both provide details of each state’s 529 plans.  I like the fact that SavingForCollege provides an overall rating for each plan, and it has the best college cost calculator.  However, Morningstar’s plan descriptions and articles seem more up to date.  I’d recommend using both sites when learning how to best save for college and choose an appropriate savings vehicle.

Two related notes.  First, Mainstreet.com offers a helpful list of online tools for choosing a school and navigating the college application process.

Second, if you’ve been using a Coverdell Education Savings Account to invest for K-12 education expenses, you’ll need to use up that money this year.  As noted by the Chicago Tribune, starting next year the only tax-free, penalty-free education expenses that can be paid with such money are college costs.

For anyone hoping to transfer to a four-year school from a community college, the article recommended staying in touch with the admissions people at the school you’re planning to transfer to, and also consulting with the department they’ll be majoring to see what classes will transfer.

Did you go to a community college before transferring to a four-year school?  If so, what was your experience?  If you have kids, would you encourage them to consider going to a community college as a way to help afford a four-year school?  Why or why not?

We’re becoming less reliant on credit. Numerous studies have shown that people who pay with cash tend to spend less than those who use credit.  And it’s never a good idea to carry a balance on credit cards.

We’re becoming more resourceful. More of us are learning how to cook or opting for home-cooked meals over restaurant meals.  We’re spending less on travel overall, but more on camping gear.  We’re going back to school, either to shore up existing skills or to learn new ones.  And we’re taking up gardening.

We’re becoming less brand loyal. In many product categories, our family uses private label products.  However, in some ways the recession has actually made us more loyal to brands whose products hold up over the long haul.

We’re doing less window-shopping and more closet shopping. I recently read a report that said the average person most often wears about 20 percent of the items in their closet.  That sounds about right, which means the next time you think you absolutely need to buy some new article of clothing, it would be wise to first take a good look at what’s already hanging in your closet.

We’re decluttering. For some, it’s about raising funds by selling unneeded stuff.  For others, it’s about simplifying our lives.

We’re redefining success.  The recession has helped many people realize that the thirst for more is unquenchable and often only leaves us with less – less time for our most important relationships, less time to take care of ourselves, and less time to enjoy some of the simpler pleasures of life.

Have you developed any helpful new habits as a result of the recession?

How are you doing in these areas?  What are you doing to continue learning about your career—either the one you’re in now or the one you’re pursuing?  How wide, deep, and active is your network?  And do you have a mentor?

With tuition at many schools rising far faster than inflation, paying for college is no easy task for many families. However, to not take into account a student’s potential post-college earnings before deciding how much to borrow is a huge mistake. One idea that more families should consider is the European tradition of a gap year, a year following high school graduation in which many students explore what they’d really like to study in college while earning money to help pay for their education.

You’ll find links to some of my favorite sites for info on saving for college and paying off student loans here.