With the arrival of September, many have taken to Twitter to proclaim things like, “the beginning of fall,” and “cooler weather – finally!” and blah, blah, blah…

But where I come from, it’s still hot, hot, hot. Around here, September doesn’t symbolize the beginning of fall. It doesn’t symbolize anything, really. It’s just one long formless month of suck before the holidays arrive.

So I decided that September needs some redefinition. Luckily, I have these finance articles to help me out.

September: The Month for Being Cranky

Let’s face it, when the holidays come around you’ll have to wear lots of smiles for all those parties and pictures. You may as well use September to get all your crankies out.

However, it’s hard to be cranky after reading these articles. These are the editor’s picks.

• Sale shopping fun. Or, I try to beat my former record of obtaining a piece of clothing for a ridiculously small amount of money submitted by Helen of Bettencourt Chase. I was amazed to see how she bought 16 cute pieces of clothing for $79 by taking advantage of sales and thrift stores.

• Melissa at Mom’s Plans presents several outside of the box tips in 10 Ways to Buy Organic Food on a Budget. I often dismiss organic foods as being way out of my budget range. Melissa makes a good case for the contrary.

• Light bulbs are a topic near and dear to my heart. CFLs and LEDs have yet to float my boat, but Dough Roller almost convinces me otherwise in An Energy Saving Light Bulb That Lasts 45.6 Years.

• If you’re looking to start buying stock, but don’t know where to begin, Glen Craig at Free From Broke is here to help with his article, The Best Online Discount Brokerages for Cheap Trades.

September: The Month to Finally Buy Those Gold Pants

After the onslaught of the holidays, you’ll have no interest in spending money whatsoever. September may be your last chance to get in those final splurges.

• Fashion guru of the personal finance world, Annabelle from Shopping Detox, tells us How to be frugal and fashion-forward. My favorite tip: wear different things with different things. Simple. Genius. She probably has a tip about not buying gold pants too.

• For those of us conscious of avoiding lifestyle inflation, splurges can result in frugal confusion. Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff searches for a solution in her article, A Splurge May Turn into Lifestyle Inflation.

• Maybe you can even get a deal on those gold pants if you “like” the shop’s Facebook page. Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff shares an article about doing just that in Facebook As A Shopping Tool.

September: The Month To GSD

Or, “Get Stuff Done,” In the words of Kramer from Seinfeld. October, November and December are going to be busy months, full of baking cookies and racing around shopping malls.

Take September to get other stuff done, like dealing with those pesky banks, budgets, and credit cards.

• I’m sure all of us have a merchant credit card we need to shut down. Meghan from Credit Donkey gives us the lowdown on the smart way to do so in How to Cancel a Credit Card.

• Jon the Saver from Free Money Wisdom presents Keep Your Sanity, Use Cash, making the case that spending cash is more psychologically painful than using a debit card.

• Flexo at Consumerism Commentary presents 10 Tips for Avoiding Overdraft Fees, so you can beat those banks at their own games. Number 5 is my favorite tip.

• Excuses, excuses. Kelly from Frugal Living helps you put those budget excuses aside in Popular Budgeting Myths Debunked.

• If you’re in the market for some new plastic, check out Jake Gibson’s latest assessment of Credit Cards With No Annual Fee: List of The Best No Fee Credit Cards, posted at Nerd Wallet.

September: The Month for Eating Soup

Because everyone knows eating soup saves money, which is exactly what you want to do before the spend-fest of Christmas begins. The articles below offer several other great ways to save.

• Sustainable PF presents 7 Energy Saving Tips Beginning with the Letter ‘A’. My favorite: At lower temperature, wash your clothes. I’m looking forward to energy saving tips beginning with ‘B’, or maybe energy tips in the form of a haiku.

• Free Money Finance examines four changes that could potentially save a lot, in How to Save $2,000 in the Next Year (hint: one of them is cutting cable, and yes, it does save $800 per year).

• Sally from Wallet Watcher shares how you can whip up your own spa treatments in the kitchen, in Homemade Beauty Treats for Mum.

• For the brave, Kelsey from Money Mum presents The Basics of Giving Haircuts from Home.

• The Family Wallet presents Money Saving Ideas on the Weekend.

• We’ve all been a victim of the Forgotten Coupon Syndrome. Philip Taylor from PT Money Personal Finance presents a possible solution in the Complete Guide to Mobile Phone Coupons.

• Have you heard that Beyoncé is pregnant? I hope she can afford a doula. If not, this article from Heartland Living on a Budget may come in handy – How to Afford a Doula (Birth Assistant).

• Need a night out? Shawanda Greene from You Have More Than You Think offers tips on Where to Buy Movie Tickets For Cheap Online.

September: The Month for Eating Pancakes

Because eating pancakes is a random act, and everyone needs a good dose of randomness. The articles below represent a various array of finance topics to help us enjoy an aimless September.

• Matt from Living in Financial Excellence presents tips to Get Free Media Exposure for Your Business in his webcast (Podcast? Whatever it’s called, it involves pushing a play button).

• Boomer of Boomer and Echo questions the merit of selling by owner in Saving Real Estate Fees: Is It Worth It? (Boomer: I hope your neighbors from Hell are reading this!)

• Jo Robinson from Totally Money offers a solution for your overabundance of garden fruit, in The Good Life: Making Jam. It’s surprisingly easy!

• Deliver Away Debt offers 5 Tips to Help Pay Off Student Loans Faster. (<—Some good info in here.)

• Going abroad anytime soon? Odysseas from Wallet Blog presents Making the Most of Your Credit Card Overseas.

Thanks for the great submissions everyone! I’d love to hear how you define September.

Photo credits: Gold Pants, Soup, Pancakes