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Christmas 2011 is now a warm memory. For those of us – like me! – who are sick and tired of all the holiday brouhaha by January 1st, this is a good thing. One of the great things about the early days of the New Year is that we get a better sense for how the retail industry performed in the all-important month of December. Who came out ahead in the big Christmas shopping bonanza, and who slunk back to the North Pole with mediocre gains… or even losses?

I tend to read a lot about how how jobseekers should act/dress/converse if they want a good shot at achieving the job of their dreams, but very little about the niceties expected of employers when they are interviewing someone for a job. With more Americans jobless than at almost any other point in recorded history, there are a LOT of people out there on the job trail. It’s easy for them to get frustrated and saddened by the wearing-down of being rejected again and again. Also, I’d imagine, it’s easy for employers to get jaded by the steady stream of people bombarding their door, all but begging for a position.

Washington, DC has long been known as a city that is good to low-income homebuyers, often subsidizing home purchases that these poor people would not otherwise have been able to afford. Unfortunately, that largesse seems to have turned around and bit them in the rear in these days of a troubled housing market. At present, twenty percent – or one in five – of all buyers participating in the city program, which is thirty-five years old, is behind on their mortgage payment, according to city officials. It’s a startling default rate that is no less than three times higher than the overall national foreclosure rate. The Washington Post has determined that nearly fifty buyers received notices of foreclosure in recent years, while over fifty more are behind on either their HOA or utility liens.

Bank of America has included in its program to donate homes for demolition in Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago held sessions for homeowners to meet with mortgage-modification specialists. Five hundred customers showed up in Cleveland, sixteen hundred in Chicago and fourteen hundred in Detroit. Furthermore, BoA competitor Chase Bank has also established a down-payment assistance program for Detroit city employees to move into vacant homes in designated areas, and CitiMortgage held events in several cities last summer where around one thousand homeowners met with officials about mortgage problems.

Talking about costs: the foreclosure crisis is creating tremendous costs for American families. According to numbers drawn up by The Center for Responsible Lending, foreclosures that took place in 2009 caused almost seventy million neighboring homes to lose an average of seventy-two hundred dollars apiece in equity, for a total loss of over five hundred billion in lost value.

Many American cities have made it a goal to move forward with more and more foreclosure demolitions. In Detroit, Michigan, which has arguably the most blighted housing market in America at present, there is a goal to demolish no less than ten thousand structures by the end of next year. To date, some four thousand properties – ninety-five percent of which were residential – have been torn down. The properties often come into the city’s possession by way of either donation, because of delinquent taxes or failure to respond to nuisance-abatement procedures

There are far too many foreclosed properties in America right now; that’s a fact we all know. The volume of foreclosures sitting around right now is a problem, since these vacant houses not only bring down property values in the neighborhoods in which they are situated, but also attract squatters, vandals, and vagrants, all of which increase the appearance and experience of blight. Criminals use them as a one-stop shop for stripped appliances, cabinets, pipes, doors, and windows. They are ugly, often vermin-infested, and are magnets for crime. They require an input of money for taxes and upkeep, which is then stripped away from any potential return coming from the eventual sale of the property. MSN Money puts forward one solution to the problem: let’s demolish foreclosed homes. Yes, you heard right – demolish them. Bulldoze ‘em to the ground, because we’d be better off without them. Allow me to explain.

Property owners in Detroit, Michigan, have discovered a loophole in tax laws that is allowing them to wave bye-bye to massive tax liens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth, for just five hundred dollars apiece. How is this possible? Well, according to MSN Money, some ethically-challenged landowners are letting their taxed-up properties slip into foreclosure and then buying them back from the county for the low sum of just five hundred dollars apiece. It sounds too outlandish to be true, but it’s astoundingly not. From Detroit there are coming stories of landowners gaming the system to avoid huge amounts of taxes.

In the battle between popular financial gurus with cult followings, Suze Orman gets my vote over Dave Ramsey any day – sorry, Dave. Orman has always struck me as the more reasonable, relatable expert. That is, she seemed reasonable up until this past week! The vivacious, sassy CNBC personal finance pro just unveiled her own prepaid debit card, in a move that has the financial world buzzing… with confusion, that is. Orman’s pep squad is labeling the card as a “financial revolution,” but most people with brain cells between their ears know that prepaid debit cards tend to be bad news. In fact, MarketWatch’s Chuck Jaffe, a long-time financial columnist and commentator called the called “the stupid investment of the week.” Harsh.

It should go without saying that you should minimize trips out to the cinema if you are really interested in saving money, since ten dollars per ticket is not “budget” in anyone’s vocabulary. That doesn’t mean that you should not ever treat yourself, however. If you really want to see something on the big screen or are out on a date, try to go to the theater before 6PM. You can still enjoy the environment of the movie theater with the big screen and the great sound effects, but you’ll get to pay a “matinee” price for your ticket. It’s not a huge savings, but any lower expense is a savings! If you are lucky enough to have a discount theater in your neck of the woods where movies are only one or two dollars a ticket, this is a fantastic way to catch first-run movies at lower prices. Yes, it requires a little patience… but if you make a habit of going, there will always be something you have been waiting to see! Another great way to save at the movie theater is to avoid the concessions stand. I won’t touch the argument of whether or not to sneak your own snacks and drinks into the theater, because it’s a very divisive issue, but I will say that avoiding the temptation to pick up nachos, popcorn, or Sno-Caps at the theater will save you a lot of money. Another option is to go just after lunch or dinner, thereby making sure that you aren’t hungry when you sit down.

Another pretty foolproof way to save money is to keep tabs on your use of electronics. Many people in this environmentally-conscious day and age already do this, but make sure that your household is in the habit of unplugging appliances whenever possible… not just turning them off. Apparently, unplugging the TV instead of just switching it off can save a lot of electricity! When not in a room, switch off the lights and the fan. It takes a little while to get in the habit, but you will soon be doing it without even thinking. Also, consider the use of a programmable thermostat to control your A/C and heater usage. Yes, you may need to shell out a little bit of money to replace the one that you have, but the savings can really justify the initial cost before too long. At the very least, educate yourself on what each appliance uses and unplug a few of them. You might really be amazed how much money you can shave off your electric bill, which is a major source of spending for many households.

You can also save money on your vacations, if you are willing to put in a bit of work. Some financial “experts” would argue that you should not indulge on a vacation if you are truly trying to live an austere lifestyle, but I argue back that getting away every so often is a necessary part of saving our sanity in the busy lives that we lead. There can be no realistic doubt, of course, that vacations are also a huge drain on the family finances. Did you know, though, that you can cut the cost of a vacation significantly by planning and booking ahead of time? Well ahead of when you plan on leaving town, be sure to bookmark travel sites for finding inexpensive airfare, hotel etc., and book at least two weeks in advance for the greatest savings. Make sure that you always weigh the price of driving somewhere versus taking a plane when you have the time to do so, since fluctuating gas prices can really change things in this issue.

As a final lifestyle tip towards saving money, do yourself a favor and keep your distance from lavish, high-roller friends who will set a bad example and encourage you (either to your face or subconsciously) to break your budget habits in an attempt to keep up with their free-wheeling spending. You know the type of folks I am talking about: they buy a new car every other year – or worse yet, lease it; they have large screen TVs, iPads, iPhones, and every other conceivable electronics gadget from the day it hits the market; they eat out at fancy restaurants every other night, and they generally live way beyond their means. Please do yourself a favor and keep your distance from these folks, no matter how nice they may seem. It’s not that these people necessarily mean you any harm, and it’s not that they are bad people – it’s just that jealousy is a bear, and there’s no need to expose yourself to discontent and longing when you are making positive steps towards improving your financial situation and staying on the right track. What’s more important – your friends or your peace of mind? Keep in mind that all their goodies now won’t mean much in a few decades when you have a well-funded retirement fund and no debt.

With all this said – I’m not necessarily saying that you should take all these tips to heart and follow each and every one. Just as too much work and not enough play can make Jack a dull boy, so can too much frugality suck the juice out of life. Being too cheap can make both you and the people around you very miserable – and yes, there is a difference between thrifty and cheap. So, pick out a few tips at a time that will work for you and make them a habit, before deciding if you can incorporate more money saving habits in your daily routine. You may really go with some of them, you may lose some and pick up others. It may take some time for you to really get in the groove of what lifestyle habits you want to stick with to help you realize your personal goals of financial solvency and freedom from debt. It’s worth the time and effort that you expend. Any steps you take towards a financially-healthier future will pay dividends in the long run!