Pop quiz: Do you know how much cash you have in all of your bank accounts, right now? How long would you take to determine how much you spent on groceries and how much you contributed to your IRA last year?

Stumped? You might stand to learn how to organize your finances better. I know I could. Still, I don’t want to waste countless hours scrutinizing every receipt. I want to “set it and forget it”. I want a system that eliminates work and creates powerful peace-of-mind. So I created a plan to organize my finances in the simplest way I could devise; hopefully it helps you organize your finances, too. It comes down to three simple steps: Consolidate, Automate and Document. [...]

Have you ever wondered why your checking account is free? Obviously, it’s not because your bank is feeling charitable. Big banks make big money. The kind of money that leads to the obscene Wall Street bonuses we so often hear about. But banks make money even when they’re not involved in Wall Street’s multinational investment deals and billion-dollar hedge funds. Old fashioned “retail banking” (i.e., taking deposits and making loans) is quite a business by itself.

Banks are never short of come-ons for winning new customers; some banks offer new depositors free checks, cash bonuses or iPods (just to name a few).

That’s because banks can’t make money until they have your money. [...]

So, you want some answers.

• On priorities: I’m 25. What should my financial priority be?
• On saving: How much should I be saving if I earn $45k?
• On spending: Can I afford that vacation next summer?

In three years I’ve written roughly a half million words (about two or three average-length books) about money. I am proud of those words; I like to believe they help readers take control of their finances every day.

Sometimes, however, I flip flop.

I don’t intentionally provide contradictory advice. I simply believe that in spite of all the numbers involved, personal finance is more art than science. I like to point out to readers there are many roads leading from A to B. Some are fast and difficult, others longer but scenic.

But many readers aren’t looking for whimsical debates on the best way to budget; readers want answers. They want somebody to tell them: “If you’re in this situation, this is what you should do, and this is why.”

I get it.

If a reader doesn’t think the advice in an article is sound, they won’t follow it. But readers certainly don’t want to be confused by myriad possible solutions to their problem.

That is why I give you the Seven Precepts to Prosper By:

1. Avoid debt unless it can provide, with certainty, a return on the money borrowed.
2. Save and invest 25 percent of your income.
3. Account for your spending.
4. Know what you value.
5. Improve yourself.
6. Keep it simple.
7. Give back.

I wanted to bring all of my own financial beliefs that I write about in various articles together in one place. Not only to showcase my own beliefs about money, but also to provide a starting point for future readers to learn what this site is all about.

I hope these precepts inspire you on your own road to financial peace whether that means being free of debt and having “enough” or climbing higher mountains of wealth. [...]

As a financial writer, I try to do one thing above all else: Make intimidating financial topics easier to understand. Sometimes I succeed, often I fail, but my goal is always the same: Make managing your money simpler.

So I am excited to review a book that does just that: Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security by Charles Farrell, JD, LLM.

(Farrell is a Denver, CO-investment adviser who writes the “Retirement Roadmap” column for CBS Moneywatch.)

Let me be clear: There are a lot of personal finance books out there. Probably too many. And not every book is for everybody. There are investing books, get-out-of-debt books, get-rich-in-real-estate books and “total money manual” books. Your Money Ratios is none of the above. I would call this book a “road map to retirement”. Essentially, Your Money Ratios helps you figure out how much you should save for retirement and how to manage your savings, debt, investments and insurance products at every age using simple “ratios”.

But at that, it does a great job. [...]

Four years ago, nearly dozing off in class, I thought to myself: “What if I borrow a million dollars, hide it somewhere then declare bankruptcy?” The idea seemed as diabolically ingenious as a well-planned bank heist. And I actually considered it! Today, of course, I realize how foolish that idea was and that pulling it off would have been nearly impossible.

But can you blame me for dreaming about it? After all, I assumed that anyone would just lend me money (even $1 million) without peeking at my credit history. Was it my fault I didn’t know what “credit” was?

At 18 or 19, I was, like the majority of my generation, completely naïve about even the most basic financial concepts: credit, saving and investing. I’ve become more cash-savvy since. I can’t say the same for all of my peers although, fortunately, the recession may mark the beginning of an era when frugality, financial literacy and saving savoir-faire become as hot as Facebook and iPhones. [...]

Along with getting in shape, improving one’s personal finances is another popular New Year’s resolution. Every year, millions of Americans vow to get out of debt, save more money, or contribute more to their retirement accounts. Did you make financial resolutions this New Year? If so, read on to find out how to make those resolutions stick.

Be Reasonable

If your annual income is $40,000, it’s not realistic to declare that you’re going to pay off $35,000 in student loans in 2010 unless you’re going to live in your parents’ basement and eat Ramen noodles at every meal. Unattainable goals will only set you up for failure. It’s important to be ambitious, but it’s practical to be rational. If your goal is debt payoff, sit down and hash out the numbers until you come up with a monthly amount that you can pay towards your debt after you’ve set money aside for necessities and bills. [...]

How often do you write a paper check? A few times a month? Less? Debit cards, online bill-pay, direct deposit, and electronic checking accounts are making the paper check more and more obsolete. And soon, checks will vanish completely.

In Britain, banks are expected to vote today to eliminate paper checks by 2018. Ireland and some Scandinavian countries have already begun phasing out check payments.

Let’s face it: In today’s digital world, checks are slow, cumbersome, and a liability. (Where else can a thief get all of the information he needs to drain your bank account than from the front of any standard check?) [...]

Whether you’ve been on your own for a few days or a few years, try to avoid these common money mistakes young people make. Already made them? Don’t be hard on yourself; chances are you just didn’t know better (a big part of money smarts comes from learning from your mistakes). [...]

I’ll be the first to admit that browsing the personal finance section at your local Barnes & Noble can be intimidating. There are hundreds of personal finance titles to choose from; it’s possible to spend a small fortune trying to learn to how to make a small fortune. But you don’t need to.

In my opinion, a few personal finance books stand out from the rest. Whether you need some broad financial motivation or a specific action plan on how to get out of debt, automate your finances, or start ingesting, there’s a book here for you. And, by the way, these books also make great gifts! [...]

We non-millionaires (last I checked, we’re still in the majority), may or may not find the prospect of such wealth alluring. Those of us swayed by the sirens’ song of riches may work hard to increase our income, invest wisely, and set a course to get rich slowly; others may fall for get-rich-quick schemes or play the lottery.

Many of us, however, do not really care if we join some club delineated by an arbitrary number with lots of zeros. Instead, we focus on building true wealth in every moment of our lives.

And true wealth, dare I say, is not number; it’s a state of mind. True wealth is the feeling of having enough—whether that’s money, fulfillment, family, or love—and being grateful for all you have.

There is a myth about millionaires that blogs, books, and the mainstream media perpetuate. The myth is that millionaires have it better. [...]