The stretch from December to January is so festive, so cheerful - and so expensive. There are the gifts for your family and friends, new outfits for dinners and parties, booze and food for your own shindigs, airfare or petrol, holiday cards... the list goes on. In my house, at least, the late-January credit bills always bring a horrified reckoning and promises to do better next year.

Although housing prices, according to some analysts, are cooling off, it's a fair bet that many of us are putting aside a significant portion of our salary on mortgage payments. We've crunched some numbers to determine where you should live if you want to have as much income left as possible once the bank takes their slice.

Investing isn't as hard (or as risky) as it seems, but it's a lot of information and it does take some time to learn, which turns many people off of it altogether. However, if you've been putting it off and you have a hefty amount of cash savings, consider the problem of inflation.

Together with Vlad Tenev, second-generation American Baiju Bhatt founded the stock brokerage service Robinhood, which lets users trade public stocks from their mobile devices without paying a commission or maintaining a minimum balance. Their app has over two million users. Baiju started Robinhood, his third company with Vlad, when he was just 27. Here's how he works.

Telsyte released an interesting report yesterday. Their research found almost two-thirds of the 263 IT decision makers they surveyed expected their budgets to increase this year. The main reason is the need to invest in big data and analytics tools to support sales and marketing, and to prepare for the data deluge that IoT will bring.

If you're having a hard time deciding which stuff in your attic you should get rid of, ask yourself, "Would I buy this again today?" If you wouldn't, it might be time to get rid of it.

This year, we challenged you to save more, get impulsive spending under control and even earn some extra cash. For the final instalment of this year's Ultimate Money Challenge, we want you to gift yourself -- by saving a portion of your holiday spending.

Personal finance doesn’t come to all of us naturally, but that’s why there are resources like the Complete Finance & Economics Bundle. Loaded with instruction on investing, corporate finance, and more, this 9-course collection can get you making better financial decisions in no time.

Before you get into a serious, long-term commitment with any partner, especially one where you'll both be financially responsible for things like rent, loans, a mortgage, or retirement savings, it's important to get "financially naked" with them. But when is the best time to do so?

Your money is supposed to work for you, not the other way around. Get the upper hand with the Pay What You Want: Personal Finance Bundle, a collection of eight courses with more than 33 hours of hands-on training, offered to Lifehacker Australia readers at a fraction of the retail price.

Perhaps more than any other topic, I've found incredible amounts of personal value from the philosophical school of thought known as stoicism. I find stoicism invaluable for navigating the modern world while maintaining any semblance of self-control. I consider the ideas within stoicism to be an essential part of my own financial life (and personal life, as well).

Dear Lifehacker, My fiancé and I recently moved back with our parents to save money for a house. We currently have a car on finance, and a personal loan for wedding deposits. My parents are advising us to pay off our loan FIRST before even looking at a house, however my fiancé’s parents are simply advising us to save up a deposit for a mortgage and then roll the loan into that mortgage so it's only one payment.

The way we deal with money is constantly changing -- as is the nature of money itself. You can absolutely expect your money to change over the coming decades. In fact, the world of finance is on the cusp of revolutionary change.

Getting hit up for a loan can make you feel like you're stepping into a minefield. In today's economy, it's easy to understand how someone can find themselves in a dark place financially. On the one hand, you want to help out a loved one who's in need.

On the other hand, you've heard the stories about loans gone wrong, with friendships ruined and families torn apart. Also, you may be depleting funds that you might need yourself, says Irene S. Levine, PhD, psychologist, author and producer of TheFriendshipBlog.com. Even if you're sure that the asker will pay you back, it's hard to know if you should proceed.

When you find yourself with a little extra cash, it's hard to not immediately start thinking of all the stuff you want to buy. You're better off saving that money or putting it to work and a simple shift in perspective can help you do that.

Getting your money in order is no easy task, and most of us need all the help we can get. Here are some of our best money guides, explainers, and tips from 2015.

Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: 10 movie mistakes that made it into the final version of the movie, get 20% off at Toys R Us, is the global financial crisis returning?

Every now and then, we all get a little complacent with our finances. Maybe lifestyle inflation kicks in, maybe you've lost sight of your goals, or maybe you just got lazy about budgeting. If you're ready to get back into financial shape, try this exercise.

Warren Buffett, the most successful investor in history, has offered us plenty of great money advice. Perhaps his most important money message, however? The best investment you can make is in yourself.