Blog Posts by Good Housekeeping

Have you already given up on your New Year's resolutions? Depending on what survey you follow, anywhere from a third to three-quarters of resolutions don't make it to Valentine's Day. But it's not too late to reassert yourself! And StickK.com may be just the tool to get you back on track.

Related: How to Go on a Spending Diet

This clever website, created by Yale professors, encourages you to make a "commitment contract" -- and even put your money where your promise is. (The site is founded on principles of behavioral economics.)

Related: 5 Most Common Money Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

How it works:

You create an account, commit to your goal and time frame, add your stakes (that's the money part -- more on that in a moment), elect a referee (so you won't cheat!), and nominate supporters to cheerlead your efforts. Setting stakes isn't required, but this incentive is really the magic of the site - you opt to forfeit a set amount of money (via your credit card,

Read More »from Stick with Your Resolutions or Pay

Did you know there's free money out there you could be earning, both online and in stores? Just a little extra effort can save you money. Here's how.

Earn Rewards By Logging In
You've probably heard of UPromise, the rewards-for-shopping program that can help earn savings for college. It's really great, but if you don't have an education to fund, consider:

Related: How to Get Things for Free

• Loyalese.com
  Sign up with your e-mail address or sign in through your Facebook account to start earning cash back (yes, cash!) whenever you shop in its "online mall" of 1,000-plus e-tailers (such as Walmart.com, Target.com, and BarnesandNoble.com). Even better: If you get a friend to join and she makes a purchase, you earn rewards because she shopped through the site. (Don't worry, she's not sharing her bonus - the company just takes a smaller cut of the commission it earns from the retailer for referring shoppers.) A product search lets you check to see if what you

Read More »from 4 Tech-Savvy Ways to Earn Shopping Rewards

If you're a softie with your kids (but wish you weren't), it's not too late to get an authoritative backbone. Here's how.

1. Admit Your Mistakes
The first step is acknowledging your part in the problem, says behavior specialist Betsy Brown Braun, author of You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your 4- to 12-Year-Old Child - to both yourself and to your children. Be honest about the fact that you've let them dodge chores or mouth off in the past. "Don't turn it into a finger-wagging session," she says. "It's not about blame; it's about you saying, 'I've allowed you to talk to me that way or not help with the dishes for years, but now that's over.' You're giving kids a heads-up and letting them know what changes are ahead."

Related: 125 Ways to Be a Better Parent

Where you have "the talk" makes a difference, says Michael J. Bradley, Ed.D., author of When Things Get Crazy With Your Teen. "To signal that a sea change is under way, break it to them in a different venue," says Bradley.

Read More »from 5 Ways to Stop Being a Pushover Parent

I've never really been a spring cleaner; I'm more of a winter cleaner. At the beginning of each year, I make sure to scour my apartment from top to bottom to get rid of "last year's" dirt. During this year's ritual cleaning, I noticed many places and items that I've neglected to clean. Here are five grimy things you may also overlook.

1: Vacuum Cleaner Brushes and Attachments You clean out the dust container or replace the bag routinely but when was the last time you cleaned the vacuum upholstery tool or brush roll? Check your manual for the how-to. Using scissors, cut off any carpet fibers or hair entangled around the brush.

Related: Get the full list of 10 Germy Spots in Your Home

2: Handbags Spot clean fabric bags with a gentle detergent solution like Woolite and flip the purse inside out to wipe down the inner lining. On finished leather purses, use a leather conditioning cleaner - I love Guardsman Leather Wipes. And, if you place your purse on the floor in a restaurant or even

Read More »from 5 Germiest Spots in Your Home

A while back, I signed up for Mint.com, the site that keeps track of your finances for you. My fiscally responsible (or wannabe responsible) New York friends were raving about how it really helped them get a handle on their spending - and even helped them save a little (yes, even in this pricey city). So, I signed up, plugged in my account numbers (don't worry, it's totally safe!), and even clicked around a bit... and then basically forgot about it.

However, while I'm generally pretty careful with my cash, I would like to boost my savings account a bit in 2011. So, I logged in again, and set my savings goal and my budgets for how I'll (hopefully) achieve it.

Without getting into the minutia of my specific plan, here are a few guidelines I will follow:

1. Use a credit card for any purchase over $10. Yes, you read that right - but, note that I'll be using just one single card. I've always paid my balance off in full every month, and it's much easier for me to see where my money

Read More »from 4 Ways to Go on a Spending Diet

Gwyneth Paltrow opened up to Good Housekeeping about raising two spirited kids, her new movie Country Strong, her battle with postpartum depression, life as Mrs. Martin, and the loss of her dad. Read an excerpt from our interview.

On motherhood:
"I've learned so much from being a mom about the kind of person I want to be, the kind of woman I want to be. Motherhood has taught me mindfulness. If you just parent on instinct, you'll screw your kid up for life. You have to be so mindful."

Related: Read the Full Interview with Gwyneth

On the loss of her father:
"He'd always been so full of fire, but all his wisdom and gentility came out." She looks away as tears fill her eyes. "I feel so sad my children won't ever experience his expressive, hands-on kind of love."

On her marriage to Chris Martin:
"Marriage is hard. Chris and I have had our ups and downs, big-time. Marriage is way more complicated than just Who gets to control the remote? But hopefully we keep heading in the same Read More »from Gwyneth Paltrow Battled Postpartum Depression

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute looks back on the year and shares some favorite beauty products.

10. Redken Time Reset Youth Revitalizer ($14 for 8.5 ounces) This deep conditioner leaves hair really soft and manageable.

9. Boots No7 Advanced Renewal Anti-ageing Glycolic Peel Kit ($25) Our Anti-Aging Award Winner in the at-home peel category, it give results comparable to those you'd pay big bucks for in a doctor's office. Look to it to improve your skin tone and make your face feel smooth and soft.

8. Conair U Curl ($45): With its tapered, clamp-free design, it creates natural looking curls.

Related: Biggest Fashion Trends of 2010

7. Chanel Ultra Correction Lift Lifting Firming Day Cream SPF 15 ($150) Winner of the Anti Aging Award for Day Creams with SPF. We absolutely love, love, love its texture, fragrance, and most of all, the way it makes our skin look. Yes, it's a splurge, but totally worth it!

6. Laura Mercier Eyelash Curler ($16) This compact

Read More »from 10 Best Beauty Products of 2010

If you typically make New Year's resolutions on January 1 and give up on them later that day, it may not be that you totally lack discipline. It's just that you don't sufficiently appreciate what's going on in your brain, explains Joseph Shrand, M.D., an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Self-restraint is a rational desire, which means it lives in the front of the brain, the section that's most recently evolved and most vulnerable to being overruled by survival instincts. Pleasure resides in the brain's most primitive part, which has spent millions of years learning to reward us with a deeply satisfying jolt of dopamine when we give in to these kinds of urges. And while that brain circuitry evolved to encourage life-prolonging desires like eating and sex, says Dr. Shrand, we now get a rush from giving in to anything we want, whether it's an illicit drug, chocolate, or buying expensive purple peep-toe boots, even when the more evolved part of our brain tells us

Read More »from 5 Tips to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Really Stick