We’re all about living a financially healthy lifestyle, but no one is perfect and we feel that one of the best ways to get inspired to spend well, save money, and not get so overwhelmed about your financial situation that you go totally haywire is to commiserate with others. Hence the emergence of a new series where we speak to real New Yorkers about their financial woes and how they’re dealing in a city that doesn’t bode well on the pocket.

Reflecting on the past is necessary in order to move forward and make positive changes. With that idea in mind, we’ve kicked off the new year with lofty goals for the site and new ideas for future series and events. And keeping in tradition with the start of each new month, we’ve taken a look back at our top posts for the January edition of the Monthly Mashup. Scroll on down for a few of LifeStyler’s most popular articles this month and our Editor’s favorite January postings and other newsworthy articles from the depths of the blogging realm.

I’ve been reading more and more stories lately on how the high interest loans are putting an extraordinary burden on recent graduates paying off what they thought were federally controlled student loans. These loans were extended via private companies, but carried variable interest rates that, like a lot of mortgages, fluctuate with current interest rates. The ending result? Sky rocketing interest rates on loans for tens of thousands of dollars and none of the benefits you get with federal student loans like deferment and locked-in rates.