Budgeting is tough, particularly when you're trying to actually set some money aside for the future.

Like losing weight or battling any addiction, saving money resides in the realm of behaviour that sometimes seems immune to rational solutions, says one ex-banker turned blogger. But it's often tough to get out of the gate without some help.

"My guess is that the best person to help you figure out how to save money is somebody who has suffered from living beyond their means in the past, and who has developed effective strategies for overcoming this problem," he says. 

But if that person isn't readily available to you, you still need to figure out what's holding you back. That means tricking that rational mind and helping it get with the program, he suggests, including developing a better sense of just what's going on upstairs. 

Women are known to be the decision makers in the home, which is why many advertisers cater ads for household goods toward them, but times are changing.

Food makers are revamping their packaging towards men in reaction to a growing trend that males are doing more grocery shopping and meal preparation, according to a recent article by the Wall Street Journal.

Companies such as General Mills and Kraft Foods redesigned their product packaging in hopes of attracting a new customer for products they might not normally buy, such as yogurt. They're selling larger portion sizes, using darker-schemed designs with red and black and also using words, such as "ultimate," for the product to appear more manly.

Apparently, many products in grocery stores don't appeal to men, the head of research at Innova Market Insights told the WSJ. "A beer or soda in a long-necked, brown bottle makes a man feel like a man. Drinking out of a straw does not—puckered lips and sunken cheeks are not a good guy look," she says.

One home owner learned a lesson the hard way. While you can change the decor of your house any way you want, it's a different story when you try to change your home's structure.

A British businessman was told to demolish his two million pounds ($3.3 million) dream home after he made extensive changes. While city council approved him to add 45 per cent more floor space to his home and change a new roof, he went far beyond that.

Most parents wish their kids could avoid making the same stupid money mistakes that they did as they head off to college.

The best way to go about that? Get them on the way in, suggests a new study from EverFi, a Washington D.C.-based education technology company.

Researchers surveyed 40,000 college students, most of them freshmen, from across the U.S. about their money habits. They found that nearly 80 per cent of students said that they “frequently” worry about debt and are experiencing debt-related stress in their daily lives.

And, despite the fact that school costs considerably less on this side of the border, Canadian students aren't doing any better.

“A freshman in college may benefit most from education around school loans, budgeting while in school, and credit card behavior, whereas seniors in college may benefit more from education around budgeting for life on their own, retirement planning, and mortgages,” the study says.

There's no easy way to $100,000 in annual salary. But people who have reached that milestone are offering some advice on how others can get there.

One user on the Reddit website put out a request for anyone making at least $100,000 a year. "What was the smartest decision you ever made?" asked someone going by the name of RicsFlair.

The question generated a wide-ranging discussion about what it takes to climb the career ladder. Some of the predictable responses were in there — work hard, do a good job and the like — but users did have some decent advice for anyone trying to make it in the world.

According to the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC), child care fees are typically the second highest cost to families next to housing.

Not only that, over 70 per cent of mothers are in the work force and yet there are only enough child care spaces for about 20 per cent of the families who need them.

Consider a single parent working at a job with minimum wage. The cost of child care far outweighs the income earned.

The misery index, as the name suggests, is designed to measure the level of wretchedness felt by ordinary people in the economy. Created by Yale economist Arthur Okun some years ago, it’s calculated by adding the U.S. unemployment rate to the prevailing inflation rate.

Since fear of job loss and shrinking purchasing power through inflation have pervasive effects on the lives of most workers, the index is considered to be a good snapshot of the real economy.

As inflation rises the cost of living increases and, as unemployment rises, more people cross the economic line into poverty.

In both Canada and the United States, the index peaked well above 20% in the early 1980s, largely due to incredibly high inflation. More recently, the 2013 number is around 9 down from a recent peak of 12.9% in November 2011 which is up slightly from a month ago when it was 8.6%.

All of which is good for stocks, claims strategist Ed Yardeni, who took a look at how the misery index has matched up with with bull and bear markets.

Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes...and now debt.

According to a new report from BMO Bank of Montreal, more Canadians are carrying a household debt load (83 per cent) compared to 74 per cent in 2012.

The survey found that mortgage debt was the main source of debt for many Canadians followed by car loans and funding education.

The study also found that the average monthly debt payment has declined, dropping from $1,138 to $986.

There's a big difference between still being in your 50s and having said goodbye to 60 -- particularly when it comes to money.

Although often lumped together under the same category, subsets of the boomer cohort have led fairly different lives, have diverging priorities and subsequently varying levels of retirement preparedness, according to a recent report by the Insured Retirement Institute.

The biggest differences between early (mid-60s) and late (mid-50s) boomers has been the migration from the defined benefit pension plan (DB) to the defined contribution (DC) plan that has left many of those not yet retired on their own when it comes to investing.

The 'it's all yours, buddy' plans that many late boomers are relying on present them with a unique challenge when compared with the secure income plans their older siblings are living off of.

For this reason, late boomers may want to look into annuities in order to provide them with a guaranteed source of income throughout their years in retirement, the report states.

Goofy ties. Purple socks. Plaid sweaters.

Yep, Dad has a drawer full of them.

But with Father's Day coming up this weekend, it seems that Canadians are willing to spend a little more on Dad to help keep him stylish.

In fact, Canadians are planning on spending an average of $95 on a gift for Dad, up from $86 last year, according to a new survey by BMO Bank of Montreal.