Jennifer Derrick had the guts to bring this up with her extended family: Let's not exchange gifts this year. If her window had been open, we suspect she would have heard the collective sigh of relief.

Jennifer is not a scrooge. But she did think about how meaningless -- and how stressful --the commercial aspect of the holiday had become to her. In an excellent post at Saving Advice called "The totally free (or nearly) Christmas," she explains how her thinking evolved:

Spurred on by the faltering economy, more people are trying to spend wisely and save money. But are we getting results?

Blogger Kay Bell at Don't Mess With Taxes points to a New York Times story called "Failing home economics" that questions many people's methods.

Kris at Cheap Healthy Good is equally interested in personal finance and nutrition. Recently she combined her insights about people with severe problems in each area into one post: "Touchy subjects: Confronting loved ones about weight and money problems."

"What do you say to your 65-year-old father who puts on 100 pounds in five years? How do you tell your mom you can't support her if she has no savings when she retires?" Kris asks. "The short answer: Be honest."

Here are some highlights from her long answer:

This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

As much good as he does, Dave Ramsey drives me nuts with his extreme views on debt.

Ramsey, as he readily admits, did some really stupid things with debt. Leveraged to the hilt on bad real estate deals, he went bust in a way most of us could never imagine. As a real estate investor, my leverage and borrowing comes nowhere near the toxic level Ramsey went to.

• Bing: More on Dave Ramsey

Why? Because Ramsey's personality is one of extremes. Much like an alcoholic, he could not control his use of debt. He got one taste of that leverage, and he was borrowing before noon ever day.

This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

Have you ever been turned down for a checking account? While denials are more common when applying for credit, you can also be declined when applying for a bank account.

If you have been declined, it's likely due to a reporting agency that many have never heard of, but has a lot of information about and influence over banking customers. It's called ChexSystems.

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

"Many professionals in the field consider mystery shopping a part-time activity, at best." -- FTC.gov

Take that quote, from a Federal Trade Commission consumer alert called "The secrets of mystery shopping revealed," to heart and you'll be able to sniff out a lot of mystery-shopping scams.

The bottom line is that mystery shopping is a side pursuit at best. Any promises or hints that a company can offer you more is a sign that you're dealing with a bad company. If you're one for lists, the following might be helpful, but nothing beats your gut feeling.

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

He led our fair nation to freedom, and his face stares at us from the ubiquitous $1 bill. He's none other than George Washington, the first president of the United States.

• Bing: Find out more about George Washington
  

As one of our first elder statesmen, Washington left a wealth of memorable quotes, many of which apply to personal finance. He spoke much about integrity and character as well as discipline and service -- characteristics important in establishing a sound personal-finance life.

Let's take a look at the following nine quotes:

This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

It was the budget, with the spreadsheet, in the library -- that's what killed your finances.

The dictionary defines a budget as "an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future." Budgeting, the quintessential money-management tool, should identify where we spend our money so that we can make better spending choices.

While there is no one right way to budget, the purpose of any budget should be to give us the information we need to make smart spending decisions.