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I don't know about you, but I’m about ready to say "uncle" to Old Man Winter. This year's record-breaking snowfalls, downed trees, roof collapses, mudslides, flooding and frozen pipes are leaving overwhelming clean-up and recovery in their wake. If you're thinking about hiring someone to help you dig out, keep these tips in mind:

Roughly one in six Savers has selected paying off consumer debts as their wealth-building goal. That does not come as a surprise since, along with modest incomes, large consumer debts are the most important financial reason that people have trouble saving and building wealth.The good news is that there is hope. With planning, discipline, patience, and maybe some outside help, almost anyone can reduce their debts and start to accumulate wealth.

Most of us appreciate a sturdy umbrella on a stormy day. We don’t always know when we’ll encounter rain, but unless we live in the desert, we know that eventually rain will fall. So we buy umbrellas, raincoats and boots to protect ourselves against the inevitable downpour. Rainy day funds, or emergency savings, protect us too. We can’t always predict when we’ll have a money emergency, but we know that eventually a financial crisis will arrive. Setting aside money in a rainy day fund shelters you from a financial storm.

Building an emergency savings fund is one of the top goals of Military Savers. Why Build an Emergency Fund This is a sound choice. Having an emergency savings fund may be the most important difference between those who manage to stay afloat and those who are sinking financially. That’s because maintaining emergency savings of $500 to $1,000 allows you to easily meet unexpected financial challenges such as:• repairing the brakes on your car;• buying your child a new pair of needed shoes;• replacing a broken window in your house;• paying for a parking ticket; or• flying to visit a sick parent.

Unexpected expenses come in many forms and can quickly get you into debt or push you further into debt. Prepare for these unexpected expenses with an emergency fund. Life happens when we are busy making other plans. It never fails, you wake up ready for a normal day when BAM you get a flat tire on the way to work. Your son comes home from school with a toothache. Your husband hurts his back performing his touchdown dance ritual during the big game. The unexpected is expensive.

Apps can provide hours of entertainment, keep you organized, and help you learn something new. Indeed, apps can be helpful, as long as they provide accurate information. But if you’re trying to analyze a serious medical condition with an app — like whether that mole on your back might be a sign of melanoma — talk with your doctor or another reliable medical professional first. As recent FTC cases show, some health apps make claims they can’t back up.

Set a goal, make a plan and save automatically -- words to live by from Military Saves. Military Saves Week begins today. Take the Military Saves Pledge and get lots of tips and support for your savings plan. Check out this video from SEAC Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mrs. Lisa Battaglia.

Military Saves Week 2015 is next week! Military Saves is part of the DoD Financial Readiness Campaign and a chance for servicemembers and their families to assess their own saving status and take financial action. Studies show that having a savings plan with specific goals can have beneficial financial effects, regardless of income level. The Military Saves Week theme ‘Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically.’ encourages individuals to do just that. This Military Saves Week, join the more than 180,000 people who have pledged to save by taking the Military Saves Pledge. Already taken the pledge? Military Saves encourages you to recommit to your savings goal and re-pledge today.

Imagine you’re at a coffee shop, sipping on a latte while working on your laptop. After all that coffee, you need to run to the loo. Would you leave your laptop for just a sec while you heed nature’s call?

Love is a powerful thing. So when a loved one calls or emails, saying they’re in trouble, you’d want to help, right? If they ask you to send cash immediately — should you follow your heart? The short answer is: no. Unfortunately, scammers pretend to be someone you know to trick you into sending money. They might pressure you to wire money quickly to help with an emergency — to get out of jail, pay a hospital bill, or leave a foreign country.