Money matters. How you manage it matters even more. According to a study from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, money buys happiness but only up to a point. Once you hit an annual household income of $75,000 the effect money has on happiness flattens out.

There are few purchases we agonize over more than buying a car. For most of us, buying a big-ticket item like a car is a huge deal, so nobody should fault us for trying to squeeze the best deal possible out of the auto dealer. The problem is that when it comes to negotiating the best possible price on a new car, we are often barking up the wrong tree.

Mortgage interest rates are currently at record lows. However, this won’t last forever. Sooner or later, the Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates and this could have severe effects on the economy of many households. Plan by taking practical steps while interest rates are still low.

Every year $16 billion in credit card rewards go unclaimed, according to a 2011 report by Colloquy, a loyalty research company. That represents a third of all credit card loyalty points issued, an estimated $48 billion a year. To get a feel of the scale of the credit card rewards sector, consider that $48 billion is more than the total currency circulation in many developed countries, including Canada, Switzerland, and Australia.