So how do you keep from kicking off the new year in a load of debt? To start, you need to know what, exactly, your budget is. I’ve developed a handy calculator that can help you do the math, so go ahead and run your numbers now.

You’ll see that I’m suggesting you spend no more than 1.5% of your take-home pay on the holidays.  Why?  Because in my experience, that’s an amount most people can pay off by February — if not sooner.  You’ll see in the calculator’s results that putting the holidays on a credit card and then going the minimum payment route to erase them can have you paying for this holiday season through 2013 (or beyond)!

Once you have your magic figure, make a list of the people you typically purchase gifts for, and how much you can spend on each person, using your overall budget as a guide. (Be sure the amount you settle on for each gift is inclusive of shipping charges, taxes, and other incidentals.) Not only will organizing your thoughts into a list keep you from forgetting anyone, it’ll also help fight off distractions, like the cashmere sweater your mom would love but, sadly, you can’t afford. And remember that if you seem short on cash, you can always turn to inexpensive or even free gifts – offer to baby-sit for your best friend’s kids — joint gifts for couples or families or (a personal favorite) Secret Santas.

One final, favorite tip: If you’re like me, you might have a few gift cards you’ve accumulated over the last few birthdays or holidays. There’s nothing wrong with using those for your holiday shopping – it’s essentially free money to add to your budget, and no one will be the wiser.

-Jennifer, New York

ANSWER: Summers off, lots of vacation time, a nice benefits package…being a teacher definitely has its perks. In fact, according to MetLife’s annual Survey of the American Teacher, 62% of teachers surveyed said they were very satisfied with their careers.

The downside to teaching?  Once the summer rolls around the paychecks stop appearing in your mailbox, making budgeting—at least for a few months—a bit of a headache.

According to Danny Kofke, author of “How to Survive (and Perhaps Even Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary,” “paying yourself” is the key to staying afloat during the summer months.

In your particular example, in order to pay yourself, you’ll to divide your take home pay, $24,000, by 12.  You’ll get $2,000, and this is the amount you’ll want to “pay yourself” every month. The goal is to pay yourself this amount even when you’re not getting a paycheck from your school system.

How can you do this?  Set aside a little bit of money each time you’re paid.  Put it in a separate savings account so you’re not tempted to touch it. In your case, you should aim to put away $300 per paycheck to ensure you’ll get paid the $2,000 during the months you’re not working. “Every time you get paid, you should put $300 of your check into your savings account and, voila, you will never have to scrimp once the dog days of August roll around,” says Kofke.

If you don’t think you can swing setting aside $300 per month, you might have to consider doing something else during your summer vacation to support yourself.  Here are some of the best ways for teachers to earn some extra cash during both the summer and throughout the school year.

• Teach outside the classroom. According to Kofke, one of the easiest ways to earn extra money is by tutoring. “I tutored one of my students a few years ago and charged $50 an hour for my services. By the time summer rolled around, I had over $1,000 saved by just tutoring one hour a week,” he says.

• Do a little moonlighting. Kofke also suggests looking into working at your school after hours.  “A lot of schools offer an after-school recreation program for their students. Working one of these programs can generate enough extra money for you to put away for the summer months,” says Kofke.

• Get certified. Another way for teachers to bulk up their bank account is by becoming nationally certified.  It can be a challenging and lengthy process, but according to Kofke, it’s well worth the effort.  “You will not only professionally benefit from this experience, but financially as well. Once you obtain this certification, you are eligible to receive an additional 20% of the median teacher’s salary every year for up to ten years,” says Kofke.  But before you look into becoming certified check with your county about the monetary awards for completing the process–they vary from state to state.

Having Erin Chase, the mom behind the popular blog 5DollarDinners.com on my radio show yesterday felt like just that.  A challenge.  Could I make a dinner for four for $5 or less?  Chase explained that her system involves couponing (natch) but also loading up on proteins, the most expensive component of most dinners, when they’re on sale.  When boneless chicken breasts are $1.99 a pound, you don’t just buy a single pack, you buy four.  Ditto ground beef.  Italian sausage.  Whatever your family likes.  The freezer is your friend.

The whole conversation reminded me of my childhood.  My dad was a college professor.  My mom substitute taught.  We had enough money but we certainly didn’t have a lot.  And so my mother was a queen of inexpensive delicious meals.  I don’t remember the entire rotation, but I remember a lot of it.  Tuna and macaroni night.  Chuck steaks that marinated the entire day.  Rigatoni with meat sauce.  My favorite — though —  was Spaghetti and Clams.

Thanks to the canned clams, it’s a $5 dinner I make to this day.  Enjoy.

Elaine’s Spaghetti and Clams

Cook the spaghetti.  While it’s cooking, in a large skillet, heat oil, add garlic and cook until light brown.  Add clams with juice. Bring to a boil.  Add vermouth or wine.  Season with parsley (dried is fine but use fresh if you have it), red pepper to taste, salt. Lift spaghetti out of the pan when al dente — don’t drain — and put right into the sauce.  You want some of the pasta water in there.  Let it cook down a little.  Taste.  Season.  If you like a creamier sauce add a little Parmesan cheese.  Serve with a simple salad or some steamed broccoli and you’re good to go.

* Last week, ADP said that employers cut 491,000 jobs in April, versus the 708,000 that were lost in March. In fact, job losses were at their lowest since November of 2008.

* Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke forecasted a turn-around for later this year, saying that conditions in the financial markets have improved and the banking system is gradually being repaired.

* President Obama said on Friday that “the gears of our economic engine do seem to be slowly turning once again.”

* The Dow Jones Industrials gained nearly 165 points and finished up 4.4 percent for last week – the eighth gain for the index in nine weeks.

Is this good news? Eh. What I really think it is is less-than-bad news. But the fact that it’s being played so positively could cause problems for you and me. If individuals follow these encouraging headlines they can become too optimistic and sabotage their financial future. When we feel too good, too powerful, too in control of the future, it tends to backfire. There are studies from Duke University that found that when people see the glass as too full, they behave in ways that aren’t good for their future. They overspend. They accumulate debt. They fail to save. On the other hand, mild optimists – people who are happy, but not complacent – save more and are likely to have emergency funds.
What’s an understandably confused consumer to do?

* Pay down debt. Recovery or no recovery, you should absolutely continue to pay down your debt. Outstanding consumer credit fell by a seasonally adjusted $11.1 billion in March to $2.55 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. It was the sixth decline in the last eight months, after years of our debt averaging a steady growth of close to 7% a year. Revolving debt – mostly credit cards – fell $5.4 billion, or 6.8%. Sure, part of this is due to the fact that banks have become less willing to lend, but another chunk can be attributed to the fact that consumers are less willing to spend, and they’re instead putting that money into getting balances down. If you managed to pay off $2,000 in debt over the last several months, but now you turn around and charge those cards back up again, it will cost you some $350 in interest alone over one year if you make only the minimum payment each month on an 18.9% card.

*Save. The savings rate has popped, and that’s good news. In the last year, the percentage of after-tax income that people don’t spend has risen above 4%. Still, a study by MetLife released in March found that half of Americans have a one-month cash cushion or less. 28% said they wouldn’t be able to survive financially for more than two weeks if they lost their job. In a good economy, I advise having at least three to six months worth of expenses, these days you need six to nine months, which means that even if we are headed for recovery, we still need to be stocking away some emergency cash.

*Invest appropriately. Just yesterday, I saw one headline that suggested we’re in a mini-bubble about to burst and another suggesting the Dow could top 10,600 by year end. Either way, your strategy should remain the same: Pull your short-term funds out of the market if they’re still there. Anything you need in the next 3 to 5 years doesn’t belong in stocks. Then where your long-term funds are concerned, dollar cost average in on a regular basis, making sure that you have the appropriate asset allocation for your age and risk tolerance.

*Don’t under insure. A new study by the Insurance Research Council found that although many Americans have taken steps to reduce their insurance costs in response to the downturn, most still consider home and auto insurance a priority. However, five percent of homeowners and 14% of renters reported canceling their insurance. Insurance is a non-negotiable, and if you scaled back your coverage during the downturn, one of your first priorities after a recovery should be re-evaluating your policies to make sure that you have the coverage you need. You should do this every year anyway.

*Stay thrifty. A recent Pew Research Study found that Americans are paring down the list of things they can’t live without. In 2006, 68% of adults considered a microwave a necessity. Earlier this year, only 47% did. In the same study, Pew found that six in ten Americans said they were shopping more in discount stores or passing up name brands in favor of less expensive products. One in five said they’ve started doing their own home repairs or mowing their own lawns. These things may seem small, but they add up fast, and once you get in the habit of spending a few hours on the lawnmower every Saturday, why break it? Instead, you can bank that savings or use it to pay down high cost debt.

In the end they opted to pass.  I was disappointed.  But then I thought about how much better this would be for my bottom line.  Two dogs would mean twice the vet bills, twice the grooming, twice the food, twice the dog-sitter (when I travel for work, she often takes him overnight).  In other words, thousands of dollars a year.  And that doesn’t include start-up costs.

According to the ASPCA: Here’s what they look like:

Small Dogs: $1,314 for vet bills, spaying, neutering, food, a crate, etc.

Medium Dogs: $1,580 the first year because the bigger the dog, the higher the cost.

Large Dogs: $1,843 in year one.

Even cats, which seem to take pretty good care of themselves, aren’t cheap.  First year costs are roughly $1,035.  (Litter alone is $165.)

Why do I bring this up?  Because as the Obamas ready to introduce Bo, their new Portuguese Water Dog, to the world, parents around the world need to understand the cost of the dog their children will start begging for.  Portys, though very easy to train, are large dogs which means they cost nearly two grand a year to maintain.  Breeding sites on the web list them as $1,500 to $2,000 a pop to start (a number which is certain to rise as the breed basks in the White House Halo).

There’s a reason the number of pups dropped at shelters due to job loss and inaffordability is on the rise: Dogs are expensive.  Wonderful, yes.  Loving, yes.  Worthwhile, absolutely.  But an investment.  Just something to keep in mind before you take the leap.

Today I have a new trick to try.  According to my friend David Bach’s new bestselling book Fight For Your Money, searching for tickets for a family is often more costly than searching for tickets for individuals.  He demonstrated the trick for Harry Smith on The Early Show finding a $275 difference per ticket — $1100 in total! — for a family of four flying from NY to LA. To find out how it works from NY to Florida stay tuned…..

I for one think thrift is going to be hip for a while.  Just check out the style section of yesterday’s New York Times where there was a story about how less expensive labels like Ann Taylor, Talbot’s, Isaac Mizrahi’s new Liz Claiborne line for Macy’s have become suddenly alluring to the Prada shopper.   And the story in today’s WSJ about the slowdown in global consumerism.

Are you actively shopping less?  Because you want to?  Because you have to?  Lemme know….

Cell phone customers use only 33 percent of their monthly minutes and pay an average of $3 per minute, according to a study by a consumer advocacy group.  “In many ways, it blew me away; surprising, very surprising,“ said Michael Shames, director of Utility Consumers’ Action Network in San Diego.  The study examined the bills of more than 700 cell phone customers in San Diego, but Shames said the results would be true nationwide.

Ouch.  What do you need to do to save yourself some money?

Pick up the phone and call your wireless provider.  Ask them to “audit” your bill…in other words, are you in the right plan for your needs?  Or, by switching to another plan, which you can do within most contracts, could you save yourself some money? Note to Verizon customers: That new friends and family plan should not be overlooked.  By putting in the numbers of the 10-non Verizon customers you talk to most often (think landlines) you can save many minutes and many dollars.  

Watch the texting.  My kids are on my plan and although I’m a moderate texter, they text like crazy.  If you’re texting a lot or using the web and you are not on some sort of unlimited plan, I promise you are paying too much for it.

Call and get overages waived.  Recently, I went over my minutes to the tune of about $100.  Rather than just sucking it up, I picked up the phone and called my provider and asked for a mulligan.  They not only gave it to me, they offered up the fact that you get one of these do-overs each calendar year.  Make sure you get what’s coming to you as well.

Believe me, cell phone usage isn’t the only thing I’m outraged about today.  Credit card fees are going up, up, up.  More on that later….