As part of my checking up on couples to see how their money systems have fared over the last year, I tracked down Dan and Kellie Mercurio, who had since moved from North Carolina to Massachusetts and had a baby girl, now 9-months-old. Dan has a new job overseeing bank branches and Kellie is a full-time mom to their daughter. Back in North Carolina, when both Dan, 30, and Kellie, 29, were working, they kept separate accounts for personal expenses, such as manicures or clothes. At the time, Dan explained,  "Having multiple accounts that serve different purposes is a good way to segment out record-keeping." Plus, they didn't need to check in with each other before making little splurges.

Today's guest post comes from Odysseas Papadimitriou, founder and chief executive officer of Evolution Finance, which is the parent company for Wallet Blog and Card Hub.

I've always liked the idea of outsourcing certain domestic duties. Sure, it's more expensive to pay someone to clean your home than to do it yourself, but if your energy would be better used elsewhere, then it can be worth it. When I put out a call on Twitter for people who choose to outsource their chores, I heard from others who feel the same way, including Madame X of My Open Wallet. When she lived in a Brooklyn apartment building without washers and dryers, she had to do her laundry at the laundromat around the corner. As anyone who has used a laundromat knows, walking back and forth and waiting for yoru clothes can be a time consuming process.

Michael Jackson's money struggles were well-known: He owed some $300 million to Barclays Bank, and sold part of his stake in the rights to Beatles songs in 2005 in an attempt to shore up his finances. Even though he earned an estimated $1 billion over his lifetime, he may have spent just as much -- on his Neverland Ranch, security, medical treatments, and legal troubles, leaving his estate essentially broke. (It will likely take years to work out the details of his estate, including who gets what.)

Today’s guest post comes from Matt Bell, a personal finance speaker and author of two books, including Money, Purpose, Joy. I asked him to explain the role religion plays in his financial life.

For most of my growing up years I didn’t think money and faith had anything to do with each other. The only time I saw the two topics coming together were on the rare occasions when I went to church. There was always that awkward time in the service when they would pass the plate and people would throw a few bucks in as it came their way.

In The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family, Jeremy Adam Smith explores the lives of fathers who decide to become primary caregivers to their children. Smith himself opted to scale back his own work schedule so he could be home with his then-one-year-old son, and felt like the odd person out on the local playground until he met other stay-at-home dads. I recently spoke with Smith about why more fathers are making the decision to prioritize caregiving over their careers, and how they are treated by others. Excerpts:

Today's guest post is by Sharon Reed Abboud, author of All Moms Work: Short-Term Career Strategies for Long-Range Success:

To work or not to work…many new moms grapple with that issue. Some moms decide to stay home for months or years, if it is economically feasible. Others continue to work full-time. Still others decide to reduce their hours to part-time, and remain on their career path, although possibly on a slower schedule.

I recently checked back in with two of the couples that I profiled in two stories on relationships and money -- specifically, whether it makes more sense to keep money separate or combine it. Now that more than a year has passed, I wanted to know: Were they still keeping their money separate? Had they made any adjustments to their approach?

The reasons for keeping at least some money separate are pretty obvious: Some couples enjoy the independence of their own "fun money" account, so they can splurge on golf or a pricey hair cut without checking in with their significant other. But marriage counselors, and some couples, often say that sharing everything suggests a joint approach that reflects well on the couples' ability to handle conflict and disagreements.

Over the weekend, I spoke with WTOP in Washington about my recent story on how to prepare for the end of Social Security. One idea: Save more now, on your own.

I've been following the tweets of Dr. Taffy Wagner for a while now, and I always enjoy her perspective on managing money within marriage. She recently reminded her Twitter followers, "Discussions about money should not be a power struggle. You are in the marriage together." She also asked, "If you knew then what you know now about money and marriage, would you have said 'I Do'?"

As an ordained minister and personal finance educator, Wagner often incorporates her faith into her work. Wagner, an Air Force veteran, is also open about her past struggles with debt in her own marriage, and how she manages today as a working mom of 7-year-old twins. I recently spoke with Wagner about her work and advice. Excerpts:

Nan Mooney, author of (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents, has long pointed out the financial stresses that 20, 30 and 40-somethings face: Wages haven't risen along with expenses, from housing to child care to college tuition. "A lot of us now are in two-income families yet still can't seem to support our families in the way that single-income families used to," she says.

George Papadopoulos, a certified financial planner, recently forwarded me a letter that he wrote to a 21-year-old friend of his who had asked for his thoughts on how to be financially secure. I liked his advice; here are some excerpts:

Buried towards the end of President Obama's 85-page financial reform plan lies a relatively simple solution to banking complexities: He proposes that banks should provide online calculators that would make it easy for people to figure out how much money they owe and how long it will take them to pay back debts.

Today, President Obama announced his proposal for big changes to financial regulation, including a brand new organization, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. It would be charged with protecting people from misleading or otherwise harmful financial products, including credit cards and mortgages.

Today's guest post comes from Jeremy Simon, a reporter for www.CreditCards.com.

While your credit card still requires the old swipe through a card reader, businesses are testing technology that would let you make payments with nothing more than a wave or a tap -- and often don't require the presence of a card at all.

I first got the idea to write about whether the Social Security system is fair to young people back in October, when the Social Security Administration announced that current beneficiaries would receive a 5.8 percent cost of living increase for 2009, the largest bump since 1982. The reason? The high inflation of 2008, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

I spent the morning at the Youth Entitlements Summit on Capitol Hill, where 20-somethings quizzed economists about the future of Social Security, Medicare, and the financial security of our country. I left feeling like young people have a lot to worry about.

Not only are they facing one of the worst job markets right now, which means they're having trouble getting the early experience they need to build future careers, but they also seem likely to pay higher taxes and perhaps receive lower benefits from these entitlement programs. The Social Security trust fund, for example, is scheduled to run out in 2037. After that point, if no changes are made, there will only be enough money from tax revenue to pay about 75 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits.

Over on Slate's new Double X website for women, writer Sara Mosle issues a pretty severe takedown of Etsy.com, the e-commerce site that lets individuals sell and buy crafty items. (I've bought turquoise earrings on there, among other small items, and can attest to the quality of the website.) Mosle argues that Etsy "peddles a false feminist fantasy" that women (since the site's users are mostly women) can make a living off of selling their artwork, when in reality, most probably can't earn more than pocket change.

Sean Hannon, now 34, has been investing since his mid-20s. As soon as he paid off his student loans, he redirected the money he had been putting towards those debt payments into the stock market. When he first started, he was drawn to trendy stocks like Amazon, which were shooting up during the Internet bubble. After losing about $10,000 that way, he switched to a more fundamental approach. He picked household names that he thought were undervalued, bought shares, and then sold them when they reached the price he thought was fair.

I last interviewed Cindy and Gary Smith and their daughter and son-in-law Katy and Keith Hewson, about a year and a half ago, while I was researching a story on how adult kids increasingly rely on their parents for financial support. In the Smith and Hewsons' case, the financial benefit goes both ways: At the time, both couples lived together in the Smiths' Houston townhouse, where the Smiths covered the mortgage and the Hewsons paid for the utilities, cable, and other bills. Plus, they enjoyed each other's company, so it was a win-win situation. At the time, they expected the arrangement to last another year or so, or until the Hewsons has saved enough money to buy a home of their own.

Tim Ferriss, 31, sprang to fame when he published The 4-Hour Workweek, which has become the go-to guide for entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to improve efficiency -- and their lifestyles. Ferriss says most of us think about our careers the wrong way. Instead of working hard for 40 years and then retiring, we should consider a series of mini-retirements interspersed throughout our working lives. He argues that by outsourcing, disconnecting from E-mail more, and setting our own schedules instead of responding to others' "crises," we can be more successful while also living more fully. I spoke with Ferriss about how his philosophy can apply to younger workers. Excerpts:

Today’s guest post comes from personal finance author and speaker Matt Bell, who runs the Money Purpose Joy web site.

Whenever I teach financial workshops I ask people, “If a budget were a person, who would it be?” Answers typically include “Scrooge” and “the Grinch.” One person even said, “the devil.” Clearly, budgets have an image problem. However, in recent years several free online budget sites have emerged, taking much of the pain out of the money-tracking process.

Over the weekend, I spoke with WTOP in Washington about whether people should be concerned if their bank was among those receiving bailout funds. The bottom line is that you probably won't notice, although you should keep an eye out for any fee hikes.

With so many stories out there about 20 and 30-somethings drowning in credit card and student loan debt, I set out to find someone who was entirely debt-free. I succeeded: Gregory Go, 31, cofounder of the personal finance site Wise Bread, has carried no debt whatsoever since paying off $10,000 in credit card debt in his early 20s. (That debt came from funding his college living expenses.)

Last year, I interviewed Get Rich Slowly blogger J.D. Roth, who writes candidly about paying off debt and managing his money. At the time, he also shared one of his biggest investing mistakes. He put almost all of his 2007 Roth IRA contributions into Sharper Image shortly before the company filed for bankruptcy, which meant he lost around $3,500.

I caught up with Roth to ask him what he learned from that debacle and what investment strategy he follows now. He says:

On Slate's The Big Money, author Lauren Sandler argues that there is an overlooked line of business blossoming in the recession: The birth control industry. She reports that sales of condoms and morning-after pills are rising, along with interest in vasectomies. Since a single child born to middle-income parents costs, on average, $11,000 a year for the first couple years of his life, one can understand parents' reluctance to procreate.

The saga of a first-time homebuyer continues.

After visiting about a dozen homes, my husband and I found one that we liked. It has a great location, renovated kitchen, and even a screened-in porch, which was on our wish-list. So on Monday, we decided to make an offer.

There's been a lot of concern over the money that the federal government has been giving to banks. Since most big banks have received the funds, chances are your bank got a piece of the pie. (To find out for sure, check out this complete listing.) But does it matter to the average consumer who's just hoping to continue making deposits and taking withdrawals? Probably not.

Over the weekend, Nadya Suleman inked a deal with a British production company to start filming a reality television show, which will focus on key milestones in her kids' lives. Outsiders have long speculated, on this blog and elsewhere, that the so-called "Octo-mom" would seek some kind of television deal in order to pay for the high cost of raising 14 children. (She gave birth to 8 babies at once earlier this year and already had 6 older children.)

Sharon Reed Abboud, author of All Moms Work: Short-Term Career Strategies for Long-Range Success, writes about what US News calls "the new mommy track," or the trend towards mothers finding creative ways of combining work and family after their children are born. Abboud says telecommuting, freelancing, and owning your own business are all ways to make it possible.