In today's world we know that tremendous personal, relationship and business stress can be related back to money stresses. We also know that Christmas can be a time where added money stresses can be a real problem for many families. However, with these 6 great money tips put into practice you can start to alleviate money stress and move towards a healthier and happier financial position and a happier life generally!

Tip 1. - Develop a money' awareness. You need to focus on the money that comes into your life and that flows out of your life. This means writing down and tracking every single cent that you spend. Get a note pad and for 2 weeks write down the date, time, what you spent, what you spent it on, why you spent it, how you felt once you spent it, whether you need it plus write what money came in and what you put into a savings account.

Tip 2. Develop a savings plan. You need a savings plan. Preferably have an amount automatically debited from your account to a specially set up savings account each pay day. The idea is to save a minimum of 10% of what comes in. Open a savings account where you need 24 hours before they will allow you to withdraw from it. This will help you to stay on track. The idea is to use this money for investments such as purchasing shares or for a deposit for a property. You will be amazed at how you will not miss this money and you will learn how to budget on the rest of your money. Read "The Richest Man in Babylon" which is a timeless classic about money skills. It has changed countless lives! You can even read this little book to your children and they too will learn an abundance of life lessons.

Tip 3. Learn how to budget. This may sound simple yet it is profound. Learning how to budget and tricks to keep you on track with your budget can literally change your life for the better on many fronts. This is a learnt skill. A good idea is to find someone who can mentor you with a budget. Find someone who you feel comfortable to share your financial situation with and who is skillful with money. Don't learn from someone who is not financially abundant. Learn from someone who is successful and can show you what not to do as well as what to do. I highly recommend you book in a session with a good accountant who can help you plan a start-up budget, help you monitor and assess as you go. Having someone to be accountable to will help you in the early days to keep on track.

Tip 4 Develop a positive attitude towards money. You have heard this saying money doesn't grow on trees' or money is the root of all evil'. Well it's time to change the negative self talk. It does not serve you. This type of thinking will hold you back and sabotage you. You need to focus on the positive aspects of money such as money supports' a happy, healthy life. You need to prevent self sabotage so you will not go off on a tangent and spend your money and not stick to a budget. I highly recommend that you get yourself a copy of Michele Blood's Success' cd from www.musivation.com and play it in your car, when going for a walk or have it on in the background at home. Michele has put positive words to music. Her music will help to change your self sabotage by helping to change your thoughts to more positive supportive ones. She has a money' song that you'll want to play every day and reap the benefits! Her music goes straight into your subconscious and that is the area of your mind you need to effect. So do yourself a favor and buy yourself her cd as a Christmas present for yourself and start developing a positive money mindset today!

Tip 5. addressing your fear of money remember that money is really nothing more than energy that you can harness or let it run by you. Do you ignore your money? You do this by not knowing where it goes and thus you loose its power. Often when we have been ignoring our money we end up in a mind-set of thinking of and being fearful of not having enough money. Once you start to pay attention to your money your fears will start to drop off. You will know where it comes from and where it goes. Then you learn how you can leverage it. You will, once you learn the skills and put them into practice, find that you have more money than you thought possible. Your fears are coming from a lack of knowledge and understanding of how to harness the energy of money. This is a skill you can learn. Researchers today tell us that it is crucial to avoid being fearful about any lack of money because what we focus on builds stronger neural circuits in your brain. What you focus on expands. You don't want more stress built up because of a focus on the fear of money. Remember that fear stands for false evidence appearing real'. So focus on learning how to harness the energy of money and your fears will drop away.

Tip 6 Develop an investment strategy. This is a skill that needs to be learnt. You can go to a local college or find a group who can teach you. Find a strategy that you like then focus on learning everything you can about that one strategy. You will build confidence and know how to develop a good investment strategy in that area for your future. Don't think that handing over your hard earned money to someone else to invest it for you is the answer. You need to know the basics at the very least so you can make an informed decision. Again knowledge will give you confidence to make supportive decisions for the growth of your investments.

Start putting the above tips into practice and you will find that your world will start to change. It takes courage and commitment to make positive changes in your life. You can do it. Make a decision today to start. Find people who can support you and guide you and your future days and future festive days will be less stressful and merrier!

Bernadette Dimitrov