There's a good reason we call our currency funny money and it's not because it usually makes us laugh. Like Eskimos and snow, we have many words for it because it's important in our culture. Moolah, dough, bread, Benjamins...however you stack your paper, chances are you have some mixed feelings about bean counting. In order to take control of your finances (and if you're broke like us, it's probably about time), you need to do a little bit of that head shrinking business. Whether on your own, with professional help, or with your support network, get to thinking hard about how you to relate the old smackaroos.

Most of us have heard statistics about HPV, HIV, gonorrhea, pregnancy (!) ... the list goes on and on. Let us break it down for you: sex is fun, but you can't afford to expose yourself to major risks. The LA Times just reported about the growing proclivity of those in early adulthood to have more partners. Protect yourself as much as possible. Let's face it, STDs and unintended conception are just not that much fun, and can lead to unwanted expenses.

We've all been hearing that sharing is caring line since kindergarten. It may feel cliche, but there's another aspect to the concept of sharing when you're low on funds: namely that borrowed, traded, and gifted stuff doesn't cost you anything. Additionally, other people's stuff is always cooler than yours. A pretty slick trick is to scout out which friends have the best stuff. It's a good bet that your handy construction worker buddy probably has a hammer. But what if you don't have a construction worker buddy? Then this is the article for you.

Earlier this week the power went out in my apartment. Seems there was some confusion at the DWP about the last tenant not paying his bills and they cut the power without warning. This could happen to you. Here's what you can do to prepare yourself in the event of losing power. If you're poor and haven't paid your bills, or if there's an outage or catastrophe, or if the DWP screws up, you'll be all set.

Budgeting isn't just about setting arbitrary "I think I will spend this" numbers, making it balance and letting it ride, thinking that you are now in control of your money. You need to track your expenses on a daily basis, and the most important task is analyzing what those numbers are telling you at the end of the month, and taking action on what they're telling you. Here is my 10-step process for how to bust out a budget and analyze it at the end of the month, along with some brief guidelines on what you should be aiming for.

Your pearly whites are critical for slipping past a doorman without paying a cover, negotiating a business deal, and charming your coffee gal into a free grande upgrade. You never want to look straight out of the UK, but oops! Your dental insurance went out the window in the last budget cut. A new, benefits-laden job is nowhere on the horizon, so what's a broke candy-muncher like you to do? Get it for free, of course. Duh.

These days it's tough not to let the world get you down. More and more I'm hearing "Do you know a good therapist?" or "God, I've had the worst day...it's just never going to get better..." People are having panic attacks over the crappy job market, dead end jobs, and bad relationships. The quarter-century folk are afraid of getting bogged down in a job they don't lurve while the older-than-that bunch already feel stuck in a rut. And hell, a significant number of us barely have enough to get by as it is. Do we really have more cash to drop on therapy?

People need to eat. But food costs money. And money is…shall we say tight? Enter the magical miracle of ramen! For under a dollar, you can eat warm goodness packed with noodles, freeze-dried veggies, and something pretending to be a protein. This is not a mockery; this is an ode.

What could be better than finding yourself in the possession of free flowers? Nothing! That’s what I say, at least. Imagine my surprise when I come to find my car inexplicably decorated one morning with what looked like the floral fallout from one crazy quinceañera.  No one knows where they came from, but this broke bum is not going to look a gift arrangement in the mouth. And neither should you.

As my manicurist once told me, "of course you can't go to a job interview with your nails all raggedy." I might be paraphrasing, but you get the idea. Knowing this town, you can sabotage the interview you've been dying for with jagged cuticles.  Problem: Having spent the last couple months chewing them off, how's a bum to get presentable nails without blowing two weeks of grocery money?