Are you getting a smaller paycheck this year? LearnVest gives you tips on how to cope with less income.

As we previously reported, the increase in payroll taxes that hit on Jan. 1 meant that workers making $41,000, the average nationwide salary, saw $64 less in take-home pay a month, translating to nearly $770 less for the year.

Related: How to Change Your Withholding

Whether it's taxes, a new job with lower pay, or just a good old-fashioned pay cut that's making you sweat, there are a few things you can do to soften the blow. We asked LearnVest Planning Services' Ellen Derrick, CFP®, to share some.

1. Reconsider What You're Paying For

Look for any nonessential deductions that might be coming out of your pay, and decide if you can go without them. "I often see deductions coming out of people's pay for things like Aflac or extra insurance that they aren't using," Derrick said. "I'm not saying that down the road you can't add these things back in, but if money's tight, you probably could use that cash in hand now."

Read on for more.

Sometimes a job offer can seem too good to be true. LearnVest shares some red flags to be aware of with job offers.

I moved to New York in search of fame and fortune . . . just kidding.

In all honesty, I moved to the Big Apple unemployed and in search of an entry-level position — but I'm one of the many casualties of the economic downturn.

It didn't help that my strategy for landing a full-time job was anything but, well, thought out.

RELATED: 11 Things Hiring Managers Won't Tell You

To date, I've applied for dozens of jobs — many of which were far from my dream position. In today's economy, you can't be too picky, but sometimes the gig just isn't right. In fact, I've learned that it's probably in your best interest to pass on a position if the company does any of the following . . .

1. Information about the organization isn't widely available or any info you find presents the company in a bad light.

It's easy to write off a negative review and consider it a random act of a scorned employee. I thought this was the case when I interviewed for a position at a boutique PR firm. The company's website was under construction, and the first result to appear in a Google search was a review from a former freelance employee who claimed that the "insane" boss still owed her $50 for her services. Beyond that, there was almost no information available about the firm, and the rarely updated Facebook and Twitter pages had few followers and lots of spam.

Still, who am I to say no to an interview?

During said interview, the owner handed me an in-depth explanation of what my job duties would be, including a page of guidelines on answering the phone. For example, if a certain company should call asking for the owner, I was to say that she was unavailable. Why? These things known as "collections agencies" had been "calling for months."

Read on for more

If you and your partner are money opposites, LearnVest says there's a way for you to both compromise and deal with each other's financial differences peacefully.

When you discuss finances with your partner, do you feel as though you're talking from opposite sides of a stadium? If so, you're far from alone.

Everyone who's ever squirmed through a money conversation with a loved one knows that differing opinions can be challenging—at best. In fact, according to a nationwide survey conducted by LearnVest and TD Ameritrade, money is one of the top marital stressors.

RELATED: 6 Ways to Combine Finances With Your Partner

As sensitive as financial issues can be, they can also build trust. The survey found that at least 60% of married people trust their partners to manage their finances—a number that rises to 70% among couples in their 60s and up.

Financial awareness grows alongside trust, but more dramatically. The survey also showed that just a quarter of couples aged 18-35 has a clear picture of each other's income and debt, but 60% of Baby Boomers clearly understand their financial footing.

So how can you and your spouse make opposite money perspectives a source of strength rather than friction? For one, communication is crucial. Even when you trust your spouse's financial management, be sure to have candid, regular discussions about money matters.

To show how it can be done, three couples at different points in their lives divulge how they deal with opposite approaches to money—and how these differences can even bring partners closer.

Colby and Nick Peters, Annapolis, MD

Colby and Nick, both in their early 30s, have been married for three years. Despite Nick's conservative financial outlook and Colby's carefree spending, they've managed to reach a happy medium. "Our financial personalities have changed to meet in the middle," Colby says.

Each month, the couple reviews their accounts and upcoming expenses. Nick also checks his bank balances once a week, and he gets anxious if he dips into his savings. "Colby reassures me that everything is fine, and she's right," he explains. "Allowing for the occasional splurge isn't the end of the world."

Nick cites his first credit card as an indelible lesson: It had a $1,500 limit—a purposefully low amount that helped him avoid overspending. And he has kept that limit ever since. When Colby met Nick, she carried about $10,000 in credit-card debt, but she steadily paid it off. She also adopted a similarly low credit-limit plan, which curbed her impulse spending on clothes and restaurants.

Read on for more.

Know the truth about money-saving traveling tips from LearnVest.

It seems like we hear the same tips to save money on travel over and over (after all, we’re keeping an eye out!).

But what’s worth following—and what should we ignore? Time.com put together its own list, with a twist: these money-saving tips go against conventional travel wisdom. Just in case you don’t have a chance to pop over and read them in full, we’ve summarized them below.

RELATED: The Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets for Every Occasion

Myth #1: Book Plane Tickets Early for the Best Deals
It probably doesn’t pay to book your flight to your friend’s wedding six months in advance, no matter how hard she insists. Recent studies show that the best prices are usually six to seven weeks prior to your trip.

Myth #2: Get the Extra Car Insurance
You probably don’t need the extra insurance when you rent a car. If you have a major credit card or personal auto insurance, you very likely already have rental-car insurance and should think twice. Of course, double-check with your insurance policy or call your credit card to get the details. The article points out that major rental companies are now charging “loss of use” fees, so it’s worth specifically asking about that.

Myth #3: Ask to Pay in USD
Some people think that being charged in U.S. dollars will help them avoid a foreign transaction fee. But that’s not the case, especially if the merchant uses that as an opportunity to use an exchange rate favorable to him or her. Using your credit card overseas is usually smarter. Often, credit cards have a lower exchange rate than most American banks—about 8% lower—so long as they don’t also charge a foreign transaction fee (if they do, you lose a lot of the discount, so it might not be worth it). They also provide added security if a transaction goes awry.

Myth #4: Plane Tickets Are Cheapest on Tuesday Nights
Contrary to popular knowledge, Tuesday (or Wednesday) nights may not, in fact, be the best time to purchase airline tickets. A new study from Texas A&M found that tickets purchased on the weekends were about 5% less expensive. Other research from CheapAir.com found that there’s really no difference between days.

Myth #5: Hotel Deal Sites Are the End-All, Be-All
You don’t always get the best deals through hotel deal sites. More and more hotel chains are offering price-matching in order to compete with the third-party sites—and they usually offer other perks and packages you can’t find anywhere else. If you find a better rate than the hotel itself is offering, let them know.

Myth #6: Duty-Free = Best Deal
Duty-free may be tax-free, but it’s not always less expensive. The article cites a comparison experiment by Esquire magazine, which found that alcohol and cigarettes are a better deal, but leave the makeup, perfume and jewelry at the airport.

— Erin Scottberg

Check out these smart stories from LearnVest:

Take Your Dream Trip: 5 Surprisingly Affordable Destinations for 2013

Things to Know Before Traveling Abroad

Can a Travel Agent Actually Save You Money?

Why a 'Cheap' Vacation Is Anything But

Source: Flickr User epSos.de

There are only so many hours in a day, and many of them are being wasted. LearnVest explores the concept of being busy and offers practical strategies for becoming more efficient.

I certainly think I'm busy. I work a demanding (although fulfilling!) job, have an additional side gig — and even take on freelance stories regularly.

Because my various forms of work take up so much time, I feel like I have barely any time left for socializing, sleep, cooking, and cleaning. And forget exercise.

But I still manage to read and post on Facebook regularly, write personal emails to certain people (while ignoring others), surf the web, watch The Daily Show, and listen to a lot of music.

Related: 7 Bad Habits That Are Actually Good For You

How do I manage to fit this all in? I take my iPhone to bed and waste time on it before I nod off, before getting out of bed, and even during the middle of the night. So it's not that I don't have time for things like cleaning or exercise — I apparently prefer to lie in bed killing time on my iPhone.

Taking the New Year, New You theme to heart, I decided to change my ways using some tips from "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" and "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business."

Why You're Not as Busy as You Think You Are

But before we dive into the tips, let's look at why you can actually squeeze more time out of what might feel like an already-packed schedule. Author Laura Vanderkam points out that we all have 168 hours in the week. So when we look at people who are able to "do more" than we do, often it's simply because they manage their time better.

One of our biggest challenges when it comes to capitalizing on time: we don't really know how we spend it. Vanderkam points out that surveys in which people are asked to recall how much time they spent on certain activities usually get different results compared to experiments that ask people to keep a time diary.

As she puts it: "We are prone to over- or underestimate things based on socially desirable perceptions or current emotions. For instance, few of us love the routine aspects of housework . . . So if someone asks us how much time we spend on such things, we overestimate — by something on the order of 100 percent for both men and women — compared to the actual numbers recorded in time diaries."

Read on for more.

Everyone has their own approach to money, and it turns out that your personality plays a big factor. LearnVest shares how various personalities handle money differently.

As a financial planner, Ray Linder sometimes found that he would give what seemed like solid, reasonable advice to a client that would be met with a surprising level of resistance — one that had more to do with emotions than anything else.

A little digging told him that people handle money differently, according to their personality type, and these differences were often in line with the Myers-Briggs test.

Related: Should I Get a Financial Planner? 5 Money Conversations From CFPs

You've probably heard of it: The Myers-Briggs test is a psychological profiling exam that was created during WWII. It divides people into extroverts and introverts, and then segments them even more into types that sense vs. intuit, think vs. feel and judge vs. perceive.

It's kind of complicated, which is why categorizing people into the 16 personality types outlined by the Myers-Briggs test — which you can officially take for a fee — is big business. (The results are often used by recruiters, human resources professionals, salespeople, matchmakers, and lawyers in various professional capacities.)

Linder was so interested in the parallels between the Myers-Briggs test and his clients' approach to finances that he literally wrote the book on it: What Will I Do With My Money? He also consolidated the 16 types into four broader categories: Protectors, Planners, Pleasers, and Players.

But he's careful to point out that there's no right or wrong place to be within the 16-category universe. Rather, the purpose of figuring all this out is to capitalize on your type's natural assets — as opposed to shame yourself or beat yourself up.

We tracked down Linder to hear more about the four P's — Protectors, Planners, Pleasers, and Players.

Protectors

Myers-Briggs Types: ESTJ, ESFJ, ISTJ, and ISFJ

These people are, by nature, very conservative, says Linder. "They think ahead, make sure their future is taken care of, buy the same brands, and shop at the same stores," he adds, noting that they are careful caretaker types who often end up working in the banking system — though not the Wall Street community.

Read on for more.

If you're looking for a job this year, you'll have a better chance of scoring one if you target the hottest industries. LearnVest names four industries with the largest amount of new jobs.

It's the start of a new year, leading many people to make new career resolutions — like getting that sought-after promotion or raise.

Also on the list for many people? Finding a new job.

In fact, one in three employees will be looking for a new gig in 2013. And according to Glassdoor.com’s Employment Confidence Survey, as many as 18 percent of them will start the job hunt in the next three months.

Related: Fracking — Economic Friend or Foe?

These workers may be on to something, seeing as 26 percent of hiring managers are looking to employ full-time employees this year, which is up 3 percentage points from 2012. More employers are also looking to add temp or contract workers, and nearly half are planning to transition these workers to full-time status this year.

If you're considering a job search in your current field or a related industry (or thinking about forging a totally new path), there are four hot fields right now that you should be on your career radar . . .

1. Energy

As the hunt for alternative and more efficient energy sources continues, this industry offers a wealth of opportunity for job seekers. In fact, the solar industry has experienced a 13.2 percent employment growth rate over the last 12 months, compared to a 2.3 percent growth rate in the economy overall. Additionally, fracking and oil drilling have led to 1 million of the 2.7 million jobs created since 2002.

Read on for more.

Find out if you're on the right track with this guide from LearnVest that tells you the money and career tasks you need to do in each decade of your life.

For many of us, January is littered with a motley assortment of resolutions.

Instead of willing yourself to give up chocolate, while saving an extra $500 a month and finally learning Chinese, try whittling down the list to what really matters.

We've come up with some of the most important things that will keep you on track for a bright fiscal future. In other words, these are tasks that will set you up to have a great 2013 straight through to 2025.

Related: How the $0 Day Can Help You Reach Your Financial Goals

And since our readers are all unique and in different life stages, we took the theme of "years" to a whole new level: Here are the top five things you should do in each decade of your life, from your 20s to your 60s and beyond.

5 Things to Do in Your 20s . . .

1. Build an Emergency Fund

When you're young, saving up for a huge financial safety net can feel daunting, but emergencies, like job loss, can also be daunting. We recommend that you save at least six months' net income in a high-yield savings account that's reserved just for true emergencies. Once you've saved that amount, you're done. So make it happen!

2. Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt

We know how easy it is to get into credit card debt, but make it a goal to be debt-free by the time you hit 30. Not only does credit card debt seriously weigh down your credit score, but it also compounds continuously, so it just builds and builds. Need help? Try LearnVest's Get Out of Debt Bootcamp.

3. Take the Job You Love

We don't want to make any assumptions about what your family structure looks like in your 20s, but if there's ever a time to follow your passion and take the job of your dreams, it's when you're young and don't yet have a ton of financial obligations. Will that make you feel financially insecure? That's why you need that emergency fund!

Read on for more.

Now that it's the start of a new year, it's time to set a schedule for the year. LearnVest gives a good outline of the tasks you should be doing each month.

Between recovering from holiday parties and starting your many resolutions, we know that you have a lot on your plate right now.

Since we want to make it easy for you to have your best financial year yet, we've put together a comprehensive calendar of all the things you need to accomplish in 2013 to ensure that you reach your financial goals.

You can simply set calendar reminders for yourself, and start thinking about your "financial calendar" the way you do your social calendar. You'd never neglect to send your mom a birthday card after jotting it down on your calendar—so treat important tasks like saving for retirement, preparing for taxes and donating to charity in the same way.

RELATED: Money Fantasies You Need to Get Past

We've picked months for each task, rather than specific days, so you can choose the days of the week that work best for your personal lifestyle.

Get ready for a much more organized year!

January

1. Redo Your Budget

Look over your spending from the past year, and decide how you'd like to change your budget, based on such new goals as saving for a big purchase or paying down debt more quickly. When drawing up your budget, make sure that you factor in spending that occurs throughout the year, not just monthly, like car maintenance fees, veterinarian bills or insurance premiums.

2. Set Up New Savings Accounts

What are your goals for 2013? Do you want to start saving for a house or a new addition to the family? What about a fabulous trip to Europe? Figure out how much you need to save, and then create a separate savings account for these goals, so you can track your progress—and hold yourself accountable.

3. Automate Your Retirement Savings (or Change the Amount)

If you're not automating your retirement contributions, start now. Seriously. It's the easiest way to make sure that you get on track for retirement, and you won't be tempted to spend the money if it's automatically transferred to your account.

And if you were maxing out your Roth or Traditional IRA or your 401(k) last year, change your automated contribution amount, since the limit has increased for 2013 by $500 for all three types of accounts. For your IRA, change your contribution amount to $458.33; for your 401(k), increase it to $1,458.33.

For more tasks in January and beyond, read on.

It's time to take the plunge into investing to reap the rewards of your hard-earned money. LearnVest shares how you can start.

In your mind’s eye, picture all your friends, family, classmates and colleagues.

About half of them are doing something very smart, and the other half . . . well, they're doing the opposite.

And that very smart thing is investing.

Before you protest that investing is only for people with loads of spare cash, we'd like to inform you that everyone who draws a paycheck should be investing.

The 1 Minute That Will Revolutionize Your Finances

Unfortunately, according to a nationwide survey conducted by LearnVest and Chase Blueprint, only 48 percent of women and 56 percent of men have a 401(k) retirement account, and the percent of people who have their own individual retirement account (IRA) is even lower: 40 percent for women and 48 percent for men. And these stats are just for retirement investing alone — even fewer people are doing any nonretirement investing.

We're going to show why everyone who makes money should be investing, no matter how much money they make, and explain in what ways you should be investing and when.

Contrary to conspiracy theorists' fears, the world did not end on Dec. 20 as predicted by the Mayan calendar. But that won't stop companies from capitalizing on the apocalypse! Our partners at LearnVest break down the disaster economy.

Watch out! There's a giant asteroid coming your way!

Just kidding. Maybe.

According to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar, [Dec. 20, 2012, was] supposedly the end of the world. But even if you believe that you'll live to toast a new year, you may be eyeing another apocalyptic scenario on the horizon:

• Economic collapse
• Environmental disaster brought on by global warming (you know, freak snowstorms, hurricanes, and flooding)
• Third World War and/or nuclear holocaust
• Rogue meteor
• The Rapture
• Zombie apocalypse
• We are definitely missing something here . . .

Welcome to the apocalypse economy, which can equip you with everything that you could possibly need to survive in the event that any of the above scenarios happen.

Related: Which Costs More: Preventing Climate Change or Dealing With Its Effects?

And as with any growing trend, there are entrepreneurs ready to help. What used to be canned food and the occasional Cold War disaster bunker has grown into a multimillion-dollar-a-year disaster economy that can supply you with a year’s worth of organic, freeze-dried food in your luxury bunker.

Seem far-fetched? Not to the people selling and buying these products.

The disaster market is hard to define, since many products needed for emergencies are normal things like flashlights and duct tape. But the owner of the Ready Store, which sells everything from backpacks stuffed with emergency supplies to portable toilets, estimates that this consumer market makes around $500 million annually.

That said, there are essentially two different types of disaster economies: the End-of-the-World sort and the Natural Disaster sort. Let us explain. Head to LearnVest for the full scoop on Apocalypse Inc.

Check out more from LearnVest:

10 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do by 30
The Power of Purposeful Thinking: How I Thought My Way Out of $60,000 in Debt
Become the Ultimate Wine Connoisseur in 4 Easy Steps
Widowed at 26: How Life Insurance Became My Lifeboat

Life can change at any moment, causing us to relocate, move away from our families, or leave a good job. Our partners at LearnVest share how one woman regrets giving up her career for her husband.

When I was growing up, my mother always told my sister and me to wait until we could stand on our own two feet before we got married.

"Get your education, start your career, and then worry about finding a husband," she’d say. "It’s important to always be able to support yourself. Marriages don’t come with lifetime warranties."

Some may think my mom’s advice was a bit pessimistic, but I think she was just being a good mom. Either way, both her daughters followed her guidance. At first.

RELATED: How to Find a Job in a Different City or State

For a little while, I was the woman my mom always wished I would become: I was successful, I could pay my own bills every month, and I waited until I had finished graduate school before finding the guy I wanted to marry. I graduated in 2003 with a B.A. in English literature, and I landed my first job teaching high school English shortly after. While teaching full-time, I enrolled in a graduate program and managed to pay for my degree without having to take out any student loans. In the six years that I taught at my first teaching position, I emerged as a leader in my local union, and — at the time I resigned — I was chairperson of the English department.

Read on for more.

Skip the crowds at the mall for your holiday shopping this year because LearnVest has drafted a list of websites where you can find the best affordable gifts online.

Didn’t have the energy to brave the crowds on Black Friday? Forgot to check out the sales on Cyber Monday?

Don’t worry about it.

For us, shopping online—even without the incentive of crazy Cyber Monday discounts—is the preferred way to pick up holiday presents. The benefits are obvious: You can shop any time of the day or night, and you can comparison shop with a simple click of a button.

RELATED: Women Want Partners to Buy Gifts Costing Half a Week's Salary, Study Says

Of course, even online-shopping connoisseurs like us can fall into a digital rut, surfing the same sites time and again. So we’ve compiled a list of 20 must-browse online shopping destinations with thoughtful–not to mention affordable–gifts for everyone on your list.

Read on for more.

Professionalism is always key when it comes to interviewing, but LearnVest says it might be more important to be friendly.

Should you keep things professional when you show up to the interview? Actually, maybe not, according to a new study.

A study published in American Sociological Review found that–especially for new graduates–hiring managers place more weight on your likability than your skills.

RELATED: Adorable Capuchin Monkeys Also Don't Like Unequal Pay

Researchers interviewed 120 professionals involved in undergraduate and graduate hiring at elite U.S. banks, law firms and consulting firms, and it turns out that personal feelings of comfort and excitement for a given candidate were ranked higher than confidence in cognitive and technical skills.

But wait, perhaps this isn’t as groundbreaking as it seems. Notice that this applied to undergraduate and graduate hiring. This is the level where, sure, prospective employees need a baseline of skills. But employers are looking for a good fit for the firm, at which point they will invest in training the new hire.

So, new graduates should definitely make sure to brush up on their people skills–like improving communications skills. And those who have acquired more skills and have been working longer? Well, it can’t hurt.

Check out more from LearnVest:

Tips to Nail That Lunch Interview

The 10 Worst Interview Questions (and the 5 Best)

Follow Up on a Job Application With These 5 Steps

The 2-Minute Secret to Acing That Interview

Couponing can seem overwhelming, but it's so rewarding. LearnVest shares the inside scoop from an avid couponer.

We've always been intrigued by the idea of couponing.

Extreme Couponers make it look rewarding and fun. We had a mom try it who reported back that it was time-consuming. But we wanted to ask someone who actually knows how to do couponing right.

So we found an expert who spends just a couple hours a week couponing, and saves anywhere from 50 to 70 percent off her groceries. Oh, and did we mention this expert is only 20 years old?

Related: How to Combine Coupons (and Save Big!)

Brandi LaBarre is a student at University of Maryland who runs the blog Savvy Student Shopper, where she shares her saving insights and coupons with families and other money savers like her. Best of all, she's not a crazy couponer — just a girl on a tight budget!

Read on for more.

Small start-ups are great to work for, but LearnVest shares why it might be better for your wallet to work for a larger company.

We’re big fans of the start-up culture here at LearnVest, obviously.

But here’s something to consider next time you’re choosing between the big corporation and the scrappy mom-and-pop: The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest report shows that, on average, a larger company will pay better than a small one.

RELATED: 5 Tips For Re-Entering the Workforce

At a company with 500 employees or more, the average compensation is a whopping $42.39 per hour, while companies with fewer than 50 workers pay on average just $22.96 per hour. That’s almost half!

Read on for more.

Retirement might be a long-term financial responsibility, but it should not be overlooked. LearnVest warns us about these lies we tell ourselves when it comes to saving for the future.

Retirement is one of our biggest financial challenges for three reasons:

1. The sum we have to save for retirement is bigger than for any other financial goal.

2. When we prioritize our desires, retirement never wins on urgency, making it easy to keep putting off.

3. Saving for retirement is the financial equivalent of an ultramarathon. (Any of you run an ultramarathon, recently?) When saving to buy a house or to pay for your child’s college education, you might save for five or 15 years, but for retirement, you have to save decade over decade.

RELATED: Why Retirement Is Harder For Women

If just reading that list is making you sweat, we understand.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by LearnVest and Chase Blueprint, Americans’ number one financial worry is whether or not we’ll be able to save enough for retirement. About one-third of men and women cite that as their top concern over, for instance, paying down debt, having enough money to live comfortably and having enough to provide for their children.

Read on for more.

Women and men differ when it comes to negotiating salary depending on the context. LearnVest takes a closer look at the results of a recent study.

Gosh, women would earn what men earn if we would just buck up and negotiate!

OK, the reality is a little bit more complicated than that. But one of the reasons that we and other publications often point out when trying to parse the persistent wage gap is the fact (opinion?) that women are less likely than men to negotiate their pay.

The Atlantic reports that Researchers from Australia’s Monash University and the University of Chicago decided to find out if this was true, by following 2,500 U.S. job seekers applying for an administrative assistant position. What they discovered was surprising.

RELATED: Looking For a Raise? The Cards May Be Stacked Against Women

The working paper reported that although, overall, there was no difference in the likelihood that a male or female applicant would negotiate their salary, it actually was all about context:

Read on for more.

With the holidays nearly upon us, it's time to get shopping. LearnVest has a few tips on paying for all of those holiday gifts.

We don't have to tell you: you already know the holidays are expensive.

But what's the best way to tackle them with your emergency fund intact and your credit card debt not out of control? (Because no one likes having a financial hangover in January.)

RELATED: 4 Steps to Budgeting For the Holidays Now

The first step is to create your holiday budget today — and use our amazing how-much-can-you-spend-on-each-person gift calculator.

But we're not saints.

With Thanksgiving hardly a month away and holiday fun following closely behind, if you haven't started saving already, time may be running out.

Read on for more.