Money Expert: Fail-Proof 2012 Goals

January is only halfway over and yet some of our new year resolutions are already up on a shelf. If this is going to be your year, however, the year when you finally reduce your debt or get that small business off the ground, then you don't want to give up on them just yet.

"A lot of the reason why we make new year resolutions on a Monday and then break them by Wednesday is because we don't know where we are in the change process," says Stacey Tisdale, financial expert and author of The True Cost of Happiness: The Real Story Behind Managing Your Money. "Change is a process, it's not an event," she says.

Similar to the changes required to see your healthy eating goals through, Tisdale says that getting a handle on your money in the new year is all about establishing the right environment for success.

"People who successfully stick to financial plans have three things in place," she adds. "They have their goals, they have an understanding of the influences that knock them off course and they have a financial plan." Here, Tisdale shares her tips for doing all three, and getting your money right in the process: