Aging is not for sissies. Not only will your body start reminding you of all of those merry days and nights when you ignored it, hoping faintly you could do so for ever and with impunity. Your income will change dramatically, too.

Now what? Well, you have a simple choice: accept it, sit down in your rocking chair and wait till death do us part. Or, on the other hand, you will NOT accept it and live life to the fullest. You will find that – theoretically, at least – you ought to have much more time to live life to the fullest now that you don't have to be in the office from nine to five. Guess what? You're barely coping.

That's called the Parkinson's Law effect: work (or any other activity, for that matter) fills the time that is available. (You should obtain a copy of the law in any good bookstore. You won't regret it. It will add more laugh wrinkles to your face, and these are the best wrinkles one can have.)

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Every month WalletPop searches the MLS listings for attractive homes at a reasonable cost. We've limited our picks to homes selling for less than $400K for a survey of homes that most people can afford. The average home price was $360,396 in November across Canada, and many of the properties we highlight are even less than that. With mortgage rates at record lows, there's no better time to go house hunting and lock in at a low rate.

Have a look and see if anything surprises you this month.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO LAUNCH GALLERY

Retailers and consumer products companies are on charging toward a touchdown on Super Bowl Sunday.

Consumer spending related to the big game Feb. 5 is expected to reach an all-time high this year, with the average watcher projected to shell out $63.87 on Super Bowl-related merchandise -- from team apparel and TVs to snacks -- up from $59.33 in 2011, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation's Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, conducted by BIGInsight.

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool
Yes, the New England Patriots and New York Giants will interrupt the entertainment to run some football plays, but everyone knows that the Super Bowl is really all about the commercials.

With advertisers spending a record average of $3.5 million this year for 30 seconds of pitch time, sponsors certainly seem to think that they'll be getting their money's worth. But will their shareholders feel the same way?

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By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Fans of John Hughes' classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off will have to keep waiting for a real sequel.

A teaser with Matthew Broderick reprising his role as the happy-go-lucky Bueller -- sort of -- is actually a taste of a Honda (HMC) commercial that will make its television debut during Sunday's Super Bowl.

Facebook, Twitter, and blogs were ablaze earlier this month with buzz that Broderick's middle-aged turn as Bueller wanting a day off from work was actually a precursor to a full-blown movie. The fact that Hughes died two years ago didn't seem to matter. The lack of production buzz in a day and age where few things in Hollywood can be kept secret didn't really register. The teaser pointing to Feb. 5 -- commercial-intensive Super Bowl Sunday -- didn't tip off faithful fans of the coming-of-age comedy.

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By The Associated Press
About two-thirds of smartphone and tablet owners use their gadgets to do things like text or post on Twitter while watching TV, according to research firm Nielsen. So, for Sunday's game, companies from Coke (KO) to Chevy are trying to reach fans on all the "second screens" they have.

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My three year-old was recently given a piggy bank by his grandmother and has taken great interest in putting money into it, taking it out and looking at it. He's interested in organizing the money and when we recently went to the store and bought two freezies with his saved-up change, he was proud of making the exchange with the store owner. Until now, my son has accumulated money by finding change my husband and I leave lying around on the kitchen counter and on our dressers. (No more coffee change for me). But seeing his early interest in money made me wonder when is a good age to introduce your child to the value of a dollar and how. I approached Canadian parenting expert and author Kathy Lynn and asked her to share some tips on introducing your little ones to the big world of money.

The First Step
You can show a toddler dollars and coins but wait until the preschool age before giving him his own money, Lynn advises. The first step? Lynn says simply let him pay for something and then talk about the transaction.

Remember cute 12-year-old Haley Joel Osment in the film Pay It Forward? In case you missed it, the film is about a young boy who tries to make the world a better place by helping three people who, in turn, will help other people. This Hollywood film sets an excellent example for anyone who wants to succeed in life and in business.

On occasion we may hear stories about how a millionaire paid a financially struggling woman's late electric bill or a celebrity who left a 200% tip to a waitress. Kind gestures, indeed. But you don't need to have the wealth of Oprah and her 1% peers to make a positive change in someone's life.

Everyday people can and do make a big difference.

Save 25 per cent on full-priced items when you shop at Banana Republic. Just enter the code BRCSUPER at checkout. The offer is good until February 5.

By John Rosevear

Toyota (TM) may have lost the U.S. sales lead, but it still leads in one key survey -- and that lead should give fans of the automaker hope as it gears up to retake lost ground.

Toyota retained its crown in the latest edition of Consumer Reports' annual survey of auto-brand perception, a sign that many consumers remain loyal to the company despite its struggles in recent years.

But the survey also showed that homegrown competitor Ford (F) is rapidly closing the gap. And other brands aren't far behind.

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