Everyone makes financial mistakes from time to time - that's just part of life. Learning about common budgeting mistakes can reduce your odds of making them. In the same way that it's impossible to stick to a diet if you don't know how much you're eating, it's impossible to stick to your budget if you don't know where your money is going.

Some money-saving tips are obvious, like flying coach, cutting back on eating out, or ditching expensive bad habits like smoking. Some ways are uncommon enough to be impractical for consistent savings like choosing cheaper hotels on vacation or buying a used car rather than a new one - great advice, but it's not going to help keep your monthly expenses in check.

We've certainly amassed a wealth of knowledge over the years covering the money beat-be it the dozens of "I got out of debt" success stories we've featured to the scores of psychological studies we've covered linking better financial decision-making to behavior change.