This upcoming year is all about saving and getting ahead, with an occasional splurge every now and then; but if you’re looking for ways to save so that you can afford to have an occasional ‘treat yourself day’ then there are some things that you have to do without. These small things quickly add up and put dents in your bank account without you even realizing it until later. While most of them have become part of our daily routines, they’re financially unhealthy and far from necessary. So if you’re serious about saving in 2012 without making any drastic changes (Don’t worry, no one is asking you to skip your hair appointments.), then stop buying these five items…like now!

About “Money Talks”

With the recession showing no signs of letting up, these days everyone’s got money on the mind. In this episode, we’ll talk about ways to raise financially responsible children, as well as feature a few inspirational Mom Entrepreneurs.

Featured Guest: Sakina Spruell

Sakina Spruell is the founder of Cole Media Inc and a freelance business journalist, specializing in personal finance and entrepreneurship. Cole Media Inc is the creator and producer of ‘Keeping It Rich,’ a personal finance literacy product that includes seminars and a web show that has aired on the websites for Uptown Magazine, North Star News and currently on BET.com. Sakina is the executive producer and host of the web show and has presented the ‘Keeping It Rich’ seminar as well as the Black Enterprise “Wealth for Life” seminar to professional organizations and college groups such as the National Association of Black Accountants and the University of Virginia. A graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and a Knight Bagehot fellow in business and economics at the Columbia Business School, Sakina has a long career of writing and editing business articles for major publications such as Money, Black Enterprise, Essence, and Fortune Small Business. You can follow her at www.twitter.com/keepingitrich or www.facebook.com/sakinaspruell

Episode Links & Resources

• LINK: Bank of Mom iPhone App
• SOCIAL MEDIA BRIEF: Facebook Q & A – How do YOU teach your children the best money-saving and money-management habits?
• FEATURED MOMPRENEUR: Cinnamon Bowser of Nail Taxi
• FEATURED MOMPRENEUR: Lucinda Cross of Corporate Mom Dropouts
• FEATURED MOMPRENEUR: Latham Thomas of Tender Shoots Wellness
• LINK: Resources for Mompreneurs
• LINK: 59 Mompreneurs’ Best Business Survival Tips
• LINK: Marie Forleo – Women Entrepreneur Coach
• LINK: How to juggle being an entrepreneur and raising a family

Want More Mommy In Chief? Watch these episodes:

Season 2

• Episode 1: Are You A Good Enough Mother?
• Episode 2: New Motherhood and Balancing A Bust Work Life
• Episode 3: How to Decorate an Eco-Friendly Baby Nursery
• Episode 4: Foodie, Nicole Friday on Kids and Career
• Episode 5: Melissa Beck, From Hollywood to Stay At Home Mom
• Episode 6: Single Mom in The City
• Episode 7: Mommy Mogul and Marketing Wiz Monique Jackson at Home With Her Boys 
• Episode 8: Beauty Maven Jodie Patterson Talks Four-Day Work Week for Moms 
• Episode 9: Tonya Lewis Lee on Motherhood and the Importance of Women’s Health

Season 1

• Episode 1: Back 2 School
• Episode 2: Happy Halloween
• Episode 3: Socially Responsible Kids
• Episode 4: Money Talks
• Episode 5: Keeping Families Healthy
• Episode 6: Thanksgiving Madness
• Episode 7: Highlights and Best Moments
• Episode 8: Stylish Moms
• Episode 9: Best Apps for Moms
• Episode 10: Socialite Kids
• Episode 11: Hair Talk with AfroBella
• Episode 12: Happy New Year!

(New York Times) — Michael Vick will take the field on Sunday wearing the uniform of the Philadelphia Eagles, who took him in after his imprisonment for helping to run a dogfighting ring.  But thanks to his personal bankruptcyfiling after he went to jail, he will also be playing for BMW Financial Services, Dodson Pest Control, Summertime Pool and the Monticello Woods Homeowners Association. They are not sponsors. Instead, they and many others have a claim on his future earnings.  Bankrupt professional athletes are a sad fixture on the sports scene, and Mr. Vick isn’t even alone among quarterbacks who have hit the financially injured reserve list. The former Cleveland Browns star Bernie Kosar and the current New York Jets backup, Mark Brunell, have had their brushes with bankruptcy, too.  Sports stars may or may not mess up more often than the average person who earns a lot of money really fast, but their troubles seem outsize because of their fame and the pathetic schemes they fall for. The stakes are high for football players in particular, since their average professional career lasts just four seasons or so and may leave lingering injuries and the health costs or physical limitations that come with them.

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(CNN Money) — Want to make your financial life easier? Download these banking apps to your mobile device.

Deposit a check from your phone: Chase Mobile.  WHY: No more running to a branch or ATM: Just snap a picture of the front and back of the check with your phone’s camera and you’re done. Chase is the only major bank open to the general public to offer this feature.  COST: Free  AVAILABLE: Android, iPhone

Save receipts: Expensify.  WHY: Just take a picture of the receipt with your phone’s camera and the info zips to a free account you create on Expensify.com, where you can add notes and store everything until tax time.  COST: Free  AVAILABLE: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone

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