The reason? You’re So Money was inspired by other financial advice books that Torabi, a 28-year-old reporter for TheStreet.com, felt were chiding her for wanting nice jeans and suggesting she live off hydrogenated noodles, she recently told Marie Claire.

So she set out to pen a book to her peers about money in a language they could understand.

But, perhaps, one of the more telling blurbs is one by a peer. Ben Lerer, co-founder of Thrillist.com wrote, “Farnoosh Torabi's book is a hilarious must-read for anyone who wants to live like a king, even if he's just a lowly serf with nothing in his bank account but blighted turnips, and, like, $3000.”

This isn’t a technical book about finance. Torabi is carving out her niche as the go-to friend-expert for questions about how to tailor your finances to your larger goals and values.  The idea, she said, in a recent interview with her college newspaper is to get people to think about their lives. “But not like I want an iPod. But like core values. Do you want a family? Is work your No. 1? Do you want to live in the city?"

And Torabi isn’t going to wag her finger at you.

"I'm not here to tell you how to run your life, but I'm here to ask you how you want to run your life.”

When facing foreclosure, most people are aware of the two options you have. You can either sell your home and pay the lender the difference, or you can do nothing and allow your home to go into foreclosure. What we like about The Negotiated Solution is that it gives you a third choice: You can be proactive and propose a comprehensive solution to your lender in the form of a short-sale proposal.

What does this mean? Doing something like this will help you to save your credit and will minimize the negative impact on your financial future.

We do want to tell you that this is not a quick or cheap fix. It is a comprehensive online seminar (the cost for the course if $249) that will walk you through the process step-by-step and in the end, you will know exactly what the right solution is for you. If someone if offering an easy fix to this problem, beware. These are not simple problems.

So put an end to those sleepless nights. Take charge of your financial future and learn from the best how to negotiate with your lender to find the right solution for you.

But consumers Google “lost money” at their peril -- the search results will be rife with scamsters, phishers and “services” that will charge you for searches that can be done free -- if you know where to go.

If you think you may have misplaced an account or two (or even if you don’t, it doesn’t hurt -- or cost -- to look), let your mouse do the walking to MissingMoney.org, a service of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

Unlike other sites that will claim to help you, this is the nexus of info from administrators of unclaimed property in all 50 states.

One note: Although you can search for lost bank accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, dividends, mutual funds, uncashed checks and wages and escrow accounts, unclaimed property does not include real estate.

That’s what Gary Hirshberg’s book, Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, reads like. Hirshberg is the CE-Yo (his term, not ours) of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer.

But don’t be deceived by the “farm” label – this is no small scale operation. Stonyfield has enjoyed an eighteen-year streak of a compounded annual growth rate of 27.4 %.

Hirshberg, who also calls himself an “eco-entrepreneur,” details how he has helped build Stonyfield into a $300 million business, using techniques such as cyclical, nonlinear resource – a concept that is all about waste from one action becoming food for another.

Hirshberg’s one-two punch speaks both to the heart and the bottom line. The first punch is this thought. ”A company that appeals to consumer’s best instincts while delivering high-quality products has a competitive edge that today’s sophisticated consumers find irresistible.”

And the second punch is: “humanity pays.”

So thank goodness that CellSwapper.com has pioneered an amazing solution to help the millions of us that are stuck in unhappy relationships with our cell phone providers.

 As for your interpersonal relationships, they are working on that. The concept is as simple as it is brilliant. The site allows you to transfer your contract to another consumer for the remainder of the contract period. You, the consumer, are fully absolved of all responsibility and are free to start dating other carriers.

They are also looking to save you a buck – the system provides an exclusive deal for those looking to start a short term service plan that gets you out of those $45 activation fees.

You don’t have to be stuck.

Just because Microsoft with its Microsoft Office is the biggest purveyor (some might say enablers) of communication software, doesn’t mean they are the only game in town.

Yep, the products from the merry band of coders in Redmond are not the only way, alternatives are available -- and for free. Some of them are downloadable, and some of them are web-based, but all of them can do much the same thing (and sometimes more) as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

No one said saving money was going to be easy. But just because it takes a little effort doesn’t mean it has to be unpleasant.

As a matter of fact, done successfully, saving money is rewarding, empowering and uplifting – all of which are powerful tools to combat the type of doldrums a bad economy can produce.

When it comes to using coupons, you can kick it old school and cut them out of circulars found in the Sunday newspapers or go 21st century and find coupons at sites such as Coupons.com (if you don’t see coupons when your first get to the site, make sure you are using one of the browsers that support their printing. The browser requirements are a bit pesky, but are clearly explained on their website).

Don’t stop at just grocery coupons: many other local services like dry cleaners, pet groomers, drug stores, automotive maintenance, contact lenses, etc. have their own websites that offer specials and rewards program. Use them!

And you don’t have to get obsessive about coupons (that’s just plain annoying), but if you make it a point to use at least one coupon every time you run errands, you’ll be that much more ahead.