1. Be aware of what you and your partner want for yourselves and what you want from the relationship.
2. Let one another know what your needs are.
3. Realize that your partner will not be able to meet all of your needs. Some of these needs will have to be met outside the relationship.
4. Be willing to negotiate and compromise on the things you want from one another.
5. Do not demand that a partner change to meet all your expectations. Work to accept the differences that you see between your ideal and the reality.
6. Try to see things from the other’s point of view. This doesn’t mean that you must agree with one another, but rather that you can expect yourself and your partner to understand and respect your differences, your points of view and your separate needs.
7. Where critical differences exist in your expectations, needs, opinions or views, try to negotiate. This implies that you both will need to be flexible and open to each other’s ideas.

Seek advice. Tight finances means stress, depression and hopelessness can set in. Step back to assess your situation and determine a strategy that will help you feel in control of your finances. You don’t want to take desperate measures you’ll regret down the road.

You have options beyond bankruptcy or ignoring your bills and creditors. Look to your company or community for recommendations on confidential services and resources that can help. From salary advances and one-time assistance funds to devising a financial plan, these groups can help you get back on your feet.

Here are some reputable organizations that can help at little or no cost:

• National Foundation for Credit Counseling
• Consumer Credit Counseling Services
• U.S. Government
• United Way

Take it slow. Follow the debt roll-down principle to conquer your debt. Pay as much as you can toward the debt on your highest interest rate loan or credit card. Once that’s paid off, add that payment to your next highest interest debt. Continue until all your debt is paid off.

As you pay your loans, communicate with companies you borrow from. In many cases, they’ll work with you if they know you’re trying to pay them back. A credit-counseling agency can help you negotiate lower interest rates and monthly payments.

Also, create a budget and focus on allocating your money to necessary living expenses – leave the luxury items for what’s left over. If you’re still spending more than you bring in each month, look to other options to increase your income such as overtime and second jobs.

Just because it’s colder outside and there are fewer hours of sunlight, that doesn’t mean ultraviolet rays can’t severely damage your skin.

Although the risks are greatest when you’re spending time outside, it’s important to remember that ultraviolet (UV) rays can penetrate glass windows and cause damage when you’re sitting near a window in your house or car.

Develop a routine of slathering sunscreen on exposed body parts when you’ll be participating in outdoor activities – and even when you’re not. UV rays can cause premature aging, sunburn and skin cancer.

Get into a year-round habit of using a broad-spectrum protection – not just on sunny days but every day. Your skin will thank you for it.

To learn more, check out wellnessjunction.com and insidermedicine.com.

Here are ideas to get you back on track in 2012:

1. Survey the damage. Get a clear picture of your financial situation. Start with listing your regular monthly expenses, including household, transportation, child care and clothing. Then list your outstanding debt, such as credit cards and loans. Now list your income sources, including wages, interest and child support. Compare the income with your monthly expenses and debt to size up the situation.
2. What can you go without? Allocate money first for necessary living items. Then use a small portion of what’s left for things you want. Save the rest.
3. Increase your income. Look for opportunities in your current job to earn more money. These might include job advancement or voluntary overtime. Consider taking a second job.
4. Sock some away for a rainy day. Make and stick with a budget that includes money for a savings cushion – a “just-in-case” account.
5. Contact your creditors. Contact credit card companies and lenders to negotiate a better interest rate or minimum payment or request a short-term reprieve.
6. Ask for help. A reputable not-for-profit consumer credit counseling agency can work with you and your creditors to determine a workable budget.

You can recover from a holiday-debt crisis. Assess your situation, make a plan and take action. When you redirect your activities in a positive way, you can overcome today’s challenge and focus on the future.

1. Convenience. It’s easy to talk yourself out of a trip to the gym if you must drive a half-hour to get there. Find a gym that’s close either to work or to home. And make sure it’s open during the hours and days of the week you prefer.
2. Cost. How much you pay for a membership is not always simple. Low-cost gyms sometimes equal lengthy waits for machines and full classes. Is there an initiation fee? Is there a lower fee for a daytime membership? Does your employer underwrite part of the cost as part of its wellness program? Do special features and classes cost extra? Ask questions!
3. Current members. If friends frequent the gym you choose, your chances of spending time there increase. At the very least, you’ll want to feel comfortable among the others using your gym.
4. Maintenance. Take a thorough tour before joining and pay close attention to cleanliness and equipment maintenance.
5. Features. Don’t assume all gyms offer a similar experience. Educate yourself about the classes and types of equipment available, not to mention details such as child-care services, lockers, towel service and such.

Attend to the details now, and you can focus on getting in shape when it’s time to put your resolutions into action.

If every family did something as simple as reduce use of purchased wrapping paper, that would save enough non-recyclable paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

Follow these tips to be kinder to the Earth and your pocketbook during the holidays:

1. Give consumable gifts such as baked goods. Consider gifts of your time or expertise. Give memberships in green or other cause-related organizations. Or, give gift certificates for restaurants, movies or cultural events.
2. When you give material gifts, avoid the current fads and opt for durable and reusable items and those made from recyclable materials. Accompany electronic gifts with rechargeable batteries and a battery charger.
3. Replace your conventional holiday lights with LED lights, which use more than 90 percent less energy, contain fewer toxic chemicals, emit almost no heat and last longer than conventional lights. LED lights can save you up to $50 on your energy bills. Use a programmable timer for your lights so they aren’t accidentally left on during the day or overnight.
4. Buy in bulk. Plan your holiday meals in advance and purchase ingredients in larger quantities – enough for several meals during the holiday season. This will eliminate extra trips to the grocery store and minimize packaging waste.
5. For holiday parties and family dinners, avoid using disposable tableware. Bring out the reusable tableware and cloth napkins.
6. Send electronic greeting cards or cards made of recycled paper. Americans buy nearly 2.65 billion holiday cards each year. That’s enough to stack 10 stories high on a football field.
7. Make the wrap part of the gift. Give your homemade baked goods in a reusable tin. Wrap kitchen items a nice vintage dish towel. Arrange tools for the garden in a flowerpot or planter. Make gift tags from last year’s greeting cards.
8. After receiving new gifts, donate old items to a charity rather than throwing them away.

For more ideas on green giving and how to make your holidays more environmentally friendly visit these websites:

• Sierra Club
• Discovery Channel
• Green Living Ideas

Here are easy tips to bake healthy. Most people won’t even taste the difference. The best part? Less guilt when you indulge (at least in theory).

Substituting Ingredients
Remember, when overall fat in a recipe is reduced, the resulting product can be dry. But by adding a moist ingredient, you keep the baked treat satisfying.

• Try subbing 1 to 4 tablespoons of a liquid ingredient in place of 1 to 4 tablespoons of butter. Applesauce and pureed prunes (think baby food) are good fat substitutes in most recipes. For maximum texture and flavor, replace no more than half the amount of the fat listed in the recipe. For instance, if a recipe calls for ½ cup of butter, you can substitute ¼ cup of applesauce.
• Mashed ripe bananas work well as fat substitutes in carrot or banana cake or muffins. Again, replace no more than half the fat listed in the recipe.
• Replace 1 whole egg in a recipe with ¼ cup fat-free, cholesterol-free egg product (such as Egg Beaters®) or two egg whites and you’ll save both fat and calories.

Keep these easy tips in mind and approach the substitutions as an experiment. After all, baking is a science and while results may not be perfect, they still will be tasty. Start with your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe or muffin recipe and see what happens!

Although people approach loss differently, experts agree that “you can’t go around it” to cope; you must go through the grief process, one way or another.

One person who loses a spouse might deal with it alone, perhaps depending on spiritual resources. Another might attend grief support groups, read books about bereavement, and spend time journaling and talking with friends and family.

Although grief often makes it difficult to concentrate, it might be helpful to try to focus on activities such as work and physical exercise.

Where to Turn
You may feel like old friends don’t stay in touch like you would expect. It could be that they don’t have much experience with grief, and you may need to let them know how they can help. 

Though it’s natural to wonder why a loss happened and why things couldn’t be different, it’s generally not helpful to continually ask “what if?” That won’t change things and may cause more pain.

The many support resources available include books such as “Safe Passage: Words to Help the Grieving” by Molly Fumia. This series of contemplative readings describes the stages of grief, from near disbelief and denial to acceptance and growth.

Widownet.org offers information and self-help resources for and by widows and widowers, including a message board that serves as an online support group.

When a loved one dies, you somehow need to keep going and work through the grief process. Eventually, you’ll find healing and hope.

But does the use of reusable shopping bags have implications on the health front? Maybe, is the answer from a 2010 study conducted by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University.

Random interviews revealed that consumers seldom wash their reusable bags. Additionally, random testing found large numbers of bacteria in almost all of consumers’ bags, most likely from cross-contamination from foods.

Before you abandon toting reusable bags to the store, consider that the same study also found that machine- or hand-washing reusable bags with soap and hot water reduced the presence of bacteria by more than 99.9 percent.

The solution is simple. Use common sense and treat bags as you would any other matter of personal hygiene:

• Regularly wash reusable bags in soap and hot water. Hand washing extends the life of the bag, but machine washing is also effective
• Don’t put food in the same bags you use carry your dirty clothes to the Laundromat or your sports gear to the gym
• Designate a specific bag for carrying meat and don’t put fresh fruits and vegetables in the same bag

Next time you shop, go ahead and tote that reusable bag. Just consider washing it before you put it away.

It’s up to parents to teach children – from birth through adolescence – ways to choose a healthy lifestyle. Children watch and learn from their parents, so be aware of the verbal and non-verbal messages you send.

Snack Healthfully and Exercise
It’s hard for parents to say “no” to an evening of TV and fatty snacks if their children watch them do this. Look at your eating habits and adjust, if necessary. Model healthful snacking with fruits and other nutritious foods. Also, incorporate exercise into your daily routine and actively guide your children to do the same.

Marketing strategies now target our children as consumers. Think about all the messages bombarding children – TV, billboards, cereal boxes. This makes it hard to keep your children on a healthy life track. Parents need to actively guide children toward healthful foods and encourage active play. Be sure to educate kids about the variety of foods their bodies need to grow and be strong.

Remember to catch your children being good – anytime they make a healthy choice, recognize and reinforce that action.

Fast Food: Set Limits
Convenience is a part of modern life, so be sure to make healthy foods easily available so you and your children are more likely to choose them. Fast food restaurants are a fact of life, but you should set limits and choose healthful options.

Participation in sports helps children build confidence, self-esteem and discipline. Athletes, such as soccer star Hope Solo and swimming sensation Ryan Lochte, can be role models for proper diet and exercise. Plus, activity and physical exertion help children positively release feelings of frustration, anger and anxiety.