Looking for a few simple ways to save money on everyday items and expenses? Here are a few tips that may help stretch your dollar.

A simple and easy way to save money every day is to bring your lunch to work with you a few days a week. If you bring leftovers from last night's dinner, your savings are doubled, as you are salvaging food that probably would have been thrown out anyway. Even if you manage to bring your lunch only one day a week, you can save anywhere from $250 to $1,000 per year.

If you are like most Americans, at least a few of your New Year's resolutions had to do with money. I want to help you go from wishing to having and experiencing your dreams. These five steps can help turn your financial resolutions into realities.

Identify your goals. A goal should be tangible, so you can track progress. There are three basic goal types: short-term (under a year), mid-term (one to three years), and long-term (three or more years).

When it comes to finances, you figure you're pretty sharp. But there are common mistakes that even money-savvy people can make. If you've ever let your spouse control the finances, put off examining your credit report or bought peanut butter because you had a coupon and your family won't eat it, read on to find out how to banish cash conundrums from your life for good.

So many people say they will start investing when they get a raise or a better job. But how can you be faithful with a major savings task when you are not faithful with a small savings task?  I put money away monthly into my 401k and other plans, but I wanted to do something more. So I set up a plan and challenged myself to save and invest even more. I vowed to save a dollar a day.  Since most of my waste comes from eating out, I named my plan – the Dollar A Day Diet.

Marriage is a bridge of two complete lifestyles and habits into one. Couples must
have money issues in common and be in agreement on how to handle money
before they marry to be successful after marriage. Financial differences are
among the top reasons many marriages end in divorce. 
There are several things we can do before we say "I do" to prevent
financial disasters after marriage. In many cases these disasters often spell
divorce.

1. Plan for the future.  Create a vision of your retirement. Not just how you want to live, but what you want to do. Plan to fund your vision. Start looking for ways to add multiple streams of income to your portfolio. Still put money into a retirement savings account, like an IRA or 401(k). The Compound interest will give your investments a big boost!

Let’s look at some statistics and trends in America today that are putting financial pressure on everyone, regardless of gender or age:

Women outlive men by an average of 7 to 9 years, many spending the better part of the last decade of their lives on their own. But many are widowed long before retirement. The average age when a woman is widowed is 56.

Little things add up fast. Learn from these mistakes and try these tips to start paying off your debt. Sometimes the only way to stop a snowballing problem is to go back to the top of the hill and find out what started it.

If you pay your credit cards off in full every month (which you do, right?), you can give yourself an interest-free loan of a month or more on major purchases simply by charging big-ticket items right after your card's closing date.

Without a good credit history, it's hard to get new credit. But without credit, it's tough to build a good credit history. Everyday people take steps that establish and improve their image in the eyes of lenders. So can you. Here's what you need to do:

Sick and tired of living cheap? Here's how to get past 'frugal burnout' -- and live well without busting your budget.  If you've ever been on a really tight budget, you probably instinctively know what I mean by the phrase "frugal burnout."