Financial sanity is one of those things I try to strive for. It isn't always easy, of course. Sometimes you just feel like chucking it all, and seeing if those old communes from the '60s are still around so you can grow food and not care about money any more. Of course that isn't going to happen because I love the Internet (and you guys) way too much to ever abandon all the creature comforts I'm hooked on. But still, being financially sane is about enough to drive me crazy. Take saving, for instance. Yeah, please. But seriously, saving really can be tough as nails.

Take the holidays; wait, keep the holidays right where they are, but let's get over the notion that Thanksgiving has to be this big deal where everybody is all uncomfortable and awkward. And why does Christmas have to be all about buying a bunch of stuff for everybody around you? I know, it's good for the economy and it creates jobs, and it's a nice thing to do for people. But when you think about it, this is the only time of the year where everybody and their brother feels like spending every dollar they have just to get people they barely know stuff that they may or may not like.

I mean, if you have tons of money it's fine to do stuff like that. But if you have to visit PayDayOne.com just to be able to afford your household bills after you binge out on holiday spending (have you seen how much they're selling a pie for these days?), it's getting to a point that only a crazy person would think is financially sane. But what are we going to do about this problem, anyway? There is just this psychological bent we all seem to have during some parts of the year, when it comes to giving people gifts.

Everybody's had money troubles at some point. It's completely normal, especially when you're young and just learning to handle your money. You can also run into trouble even when you're older - like when the economy tanks and all of a sudden you don't have the good job that you were used to. You were counting on that job to pay your bills and suddenly your hours have been cut or you've been laid off. You may be able to get another job, but will you make the same amount of money? Often, you won't. You'll get paid a lot less, but your debt won't come down along with it. So, what do you do?

If you're in that situation, don't give up. It may be frustrating - and even a little bit scary - but getting depressed and giving up on things is never the answer. Fortunately, you can go and see about debt consolidation. It's a great way to get help, and a lot of people do it. Some of them go because they've been careless with their money, but others go through no fault of their own - like when the economy goes bad and they lose their job.

Don't be ashamed to go to debt consolidation. It's a great way to end up with just one payment instead of a bunch of them. You'll know exactly how much you have to pay, you'll have only one (usually lower) interest rate, and you'll know how long it will be until your debt is paid off. If you can pay extra that's great, but you don't have to. Just making the minimum payment will get you out of debt in a reasonable amount of time, provided that you don't do anything to get into more debt. Put away those credit cards and see someone today about debt consolidation.