One of the most surprisingly entertaining and informative books I’ve read during the past few years was “A History of the World in Six Glasses,” by Tom Standage. This book is a history of six of humanity’s most popular drinks: beer, wine, liquor, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola. It discusses how each of these drinks were discovered/invented and how they came to be widely consumed.

There are interesting stories about the history and health effects of each drink, as well as the broader social trends that made each drink popular at each point in time. There’s a lot we can learn about human health and wellness by taking a closer look at these Six Glasses.

Read the full post on What can Six Drinks teach us about health and wellness?.

Right now, many of us are fighting to make it through the “I want it now” culture that tells us to spend today and worry about the consequences tomorrow. It’s just so easy to start living outside our means, hoping that eventually something will come through for us and help us get out from under a huge pile of debt that sometimes we get over our heads before we know what happened.

Read the full post on 4 Steps to Building a Personal Budget that Works.

Apple is one of the most admired, wealthy, valuable and powerful companies in the world. They are absolutely at the top of their game – their products have created entirely new industries and changed the way business is done in personal computers, movies, music, and mobile phone service. Apple has put computers in people’s pockets (with the iPhone) and brought Star Trek-like technology to life (with the iPad).

When you look at such a big, influential company like Apple, it can be hard to imagine how this company’s success might impact your life and your finances. But if you look closer, there are many lessons that we can learn from Apple as we try to improve our own financial condition.

Read the full post on What can Apple teach us about personal finance?.

Coffee is a popular target for people trying to save money. We’ve all read those articles about how you can save $1,500 a year just by cutting out your daily $5 latte. But what if there is another side to this story? What if people are getting something valuable out of their daily coffee shop experience that is worth more than the money spent?

Read the full post on If you are trying to save money, do not ignore these 4 hidden benefits of the 5 dollar latte.

Although we all seem to put off talking about our death, it remains a fact of life that sooner or later it will occur. Death can occur at any time and it is not only associated with old age as many in the younger community seem to believe. For this reason we should all be prepared for when the inevitable finally happens, this includes the young, who are heavy with the responsibilities of earning a living to care for a growing family, as well as the aged who are more conscious of their time with us running out in the not too distant future.

Read the full post on 8 Excellent Strategies to Prepare for the Inevitable.

Written by Ben Gran

The weekend’s coming. You’re looking for something to do on the town. Maybe a nice time out with your family, maybe a hot date. Whatever the case, chances are you’ll be eating out.

If you’re trying to improve your personal finances and also live a healthier lifestyle, the best place to start is at the dinner table. The old saying “You are what you eat,” is also true for your personal finances. Saving money and eating healthy are often two sides of the same coin.

Read the full post on Eating out? Dine more wisely….

Every New Year is a time for reflection and renewal. Each January 1st presents us with a clean slate and a chance to make changes in our lives. This is why people make New Year’s Resolutions – whether it’s to lose weight, exercise more, improve their diet, get a new job, or tackle some long-term challenge that they’ve been delaying for too long.

If you want to make some changes in your personal finances, perhaps it’s time to consider making some New Year’s resolutions for how you relate to money.

Here are a few ideas to help make 2012 a more prosperous year:

Read the full post on New Year’s Resolutions for your Personal Finances.