We've all been there. You agree to a group meal when you're on a tight budget, ordering eggs on toast or a garden salad while your friends split appetisers, order entrees and try fancy new smoothies. You watch helplessly as the bill comes and your friend's boyfriend you were never really a fan of to begin with utters those five dark words: "Should we just split it?"

It may not feel like it as you battle chilly weather and pray for winter to finally end, but the holidays are almost upon us. And that means starting to budget for gifts, flights, feasts and all the other Yuletide trappings.

Most young people don’t learn the tenets of personal finance in school, but building solid habits throughout your teens and early twenties can help set you up for a truly prosperous life.

Balancing your financial goals, wants and needs isn't easy. There always seems to be something else popping up, keeping you from setting aside the money you intended to save at the beginning of the month. If you're trying to reach a money milestone - like saving up $10,000, for instance - here are some strategies that can help.

If you have money to invest, what's keeping you from realising higher gains? Probably time.

August 7 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day — or the symbolic day that the average black woman reached pay equity with white men in the US this year — and Refinery29 ran a great piece on how three women discovered they were underpaid, and what they did about it.

There’s a contingent of personal finance obsessives out there who’ve branded themselves as FI/RE, which is short for Financial Independence and Early Retirement. They’ve cut their day-to-day living expenses to the bone, while earning and investing aggressively, all with the intent of retiring well before the average retirement age (which is 55.3 in Australia). For them, saving is more enjoyable and fulfilling than a big house, dinners out and lavish holidays.

Should you put all of your discretionary money toward paying off your debt, or is it OK to splurge on something you've been eyeing? That's what we're discussing today.

If there’s one truism when it comes to your money, it’d be not to let your emotions get the best of you: You don’t want to sell when the market’s tanking, splurge on something you can’t afford when you’re in a bad mood, or continually give money to a loved one with no strings attached.

But giving into your emotions can actually be a boon to your finances in the right circumstances. Here’s why.

Talking to spouses about their money habits, curbing impulse spending and budgeting are difficult topics to broach. This question, from Anonymous, hits a lot of notes others can relate to.

Facebook’s stock dropped 19 per cent yesterday after the company told investors user growth had slowed in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica breach, one of many scandals currently plaguing the tech giant (it missed revenue estimates as well).

When was the last time you checked your bank account?

Despite strong levels of population growth, Sydney rental vacancy rates have lifted to the highest level in 13 years. This increase in supply has placed downside pressure on rents - which makes now a good time to move to a new rental property.

Mistakes happen. Missing (or skipping) a bill payment or two isn't the end of the world, but it could have serious consequences — including fees, higher interest rates, a mark against your record, or a call from a debt collector — if you're not quick to fix it.

It can feel daunting to start from zero when you’re a newbie saver or investor. You have financial professionals advising you to put away 20 per cent of your income and save double your salary by the time you’re 35, while you’re struggling to pay rent. Saving anything at all can seem like a pipe dream.

We’ve talked about taking spending freezes, allowing ourselves to buy nice things every now and then, and delineating our money goals, all to help get us in the right financial mindset to save money. Another strategy I like is overcoming the immediate-gratification urge by picking something to look forward to.

'Date nights' are non-negotiable if you want to have a happy, healthy relationship. Unfortunately, financial hardship can put a dent in the very best of intentions. If it's been ages since you went out on a proper date and money is to blame, here are six tips that will help solve the problem.

Fellow millennials, this is a PSA: When it comes to career and money advice, parents have an untold number of opinions, mostly based on what they have done or would like their friends to know you are doing. I’m here to say don’t listen to them.

Welcome back to Mid-Week Meditations, Lifehacker's weekly dip into the pool of stoic wisdom, and a guide to using its waters to reflect on and improve your life.