Let's take the classic A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, and find the spots where it's good to be like Scrooge.

A Christmas Carol Is A Lesson On Money?

Tommy Steele Returns To London Palladium In Scrooge - Photocall
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On this week's Good Money Moves, Jenna Taubel from First Alliance Credit Union used Ebenezer Scrooge to show us some good things to think about when it comes to planning our future money-wise.

In case you don't know, the story is about mean ol' Ebenezer Scrooge being mean-mean-mean to everyone, then on Christmas Eve, he's visited by four ghosts that help him see what a jerk he's been, and he...well, I won't spoil it for you.

Tommy Steele Returns To London Palladium In Scrooge - Photocall
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Finances play a big part in the story and while Charles Dickens didn't give Scrooge many admirable traits at the beginning of the story, he did do one thing we could all learn from.

Have A Financial Goal!

Ice hockey net, goal on black
A hockey goal, which could be your financial goal, too. pialhovik
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Taubel says, "(Scrooge)...has a clear financial goal in mind. Granted, “get as much money as possible” isn’t the noblest goal in the world, but it’s not that different from someone setting money aside for their retirement fund or someone saving up for their child’s college expenses."

Jenna went on to say a lot of financial struggles come from not having a clear goal. And without a clear goal, we don't put our money toward something, we just spend it on things that don't satisfy our long-term plans,

"Take some time this December to think about what you’d like to do in the next couple of months or even the next year," says Taubel, "You can think about goals like traveling, buying a house, or furthering your education."

A Christmas Carol
circa 1900: The Ghost of Christmas Present appears to the miserly Scrooge with a lavish Christmas spread, in a scene from Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. 'Scrooge's Third Visitor', by J Leech. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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More lessons from A Christmas Carol about being careful with what you have, figuring out what matters to you, and more are just a PLAY BUTTON tap away...

If you would LOVE some time away with your sweetie-pie, but you don't want to wander too far from Rochester, Minnesota, these are five great options!

Five Rochester Minnesota Airbnb's Perfect for a Romantic Getaway

There are many many wonderful places to stay in and out of Rochester, Minnesota. These are five I found that have something special about them...they'd be great for a Friday / Saturday night away not too far from the kids.

Of course, if the kids are teens, then you don't have to tell them you'll be in Rochester...and do a spot check. Click on the images to get the link to that particular listing.

As always, if you have a comment, complaint, or concern about something I wrote here, please let me know: james.rabe@townsquaremedia.com

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Sledding on a perfect carpet of snow that just fell is a gorgeous sight in the midwest. That's the fun part of winter. With the snow though comes with a whole lot of ugly! If you've never experienced a midwest winter, here's a glimpse of what people in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin hate the most about the coldest season of the year.

11 Things Normal for Iowa, But Weird for Everyone Else