I think we just spent $150 on groceries, and the most expensive item was $5.

Sorry to criticize your list of platitudes, but if you don't understand these things, you've got bigger fish to fry than your debt problem.

That's all common sense to me, except not so common amongst too many people I know. I guess that means it's not common at all. *sigh*

I don't see how some of them are even possible until people get over their entitlement issues.

Also, for the very poor, it can be hard to save when rent, health care, and anything approaching decent food eats up the entire paycheque. Money begets money, and a lack of a starting foundation is the problem for a lot of people who might otherwise have a chance.

@dee1313: I spend more money on groceries now that we're trying to eat healthier, but I still regularly save 20-30% per bill. Before, I was saving more like 30-40%, but we were also eating fattier meats, fewer fresh veggies/fruits, and lower-fiber starches -- so I guess I'll save on medical bills in the long run? Anyway, I keep an even closer eye on sales and coupons because of the higher cost of good food -- you really have to.

"Beware of False Economies" might be good to add to this list. I have a sort of mental list of things that are better to spend some money on (laundry detergent, for instance) because the quality does tell. If you do buy cheaper stuff (like me and 90%-Old-Navy wardrobe) you have to be prepared to use it until it literally falls apart, and then use the pieces for something else; otherwise, you're not really getting your money's worth.

Must Read:
"Rich Dad Poor Dad"
"Millionaire Next Door"
"Richest Man in Babylon"

Not necessarily in that order.

I've known plenty of 20-somethings who have quickly generated over 10k in credit card debt (trips, restaurants, etc.). This list will not help them. They don't really care about these things, as others have pointed out. Lists like these only reassures those of us who already follow common sense and need to feel that we're not suckers.

@CumaeanSibyl:
Another "False Economy" is gambling. Do not expect more from your money than is typical. This includes the stock market.

I really wish I didn't have to graduate with debt. The thought actually gives me nightmares. I've began to save up a bit anyway, not just for emergency funds, but to have something to start paying off the loans with when I graduate.

A lot of these are common sense. It's sad that people often need reminders of these.

@CumaeanSibyl: I am working very hard at getting over the false economy of buying cheap purses. I have a couple really nice purses but one was a floor sample and the other was a gift. They're both small and I need a big one -- I know my nice ones held up a lot better, but it's really, really hard for me to jump the mental hurdle and spend that much money on a purse, even though I know it'll last long enough to outlast however much I'd spend on $25 purses at Target that kept falling apart. (Not that Target purses aren't adorable!)

I've picked out a Fossil (not even THAT expensive, as purses go), I just need to pull the freaking trigger!

@dallasmay:

I've read rich dad poor dad - I found it not very helpful, and while you feel good when you finish reading it, it doesn't really help you.

Millionaire next door on the other hand shows that most millionaires AREN'T famous celebrities, but rather regular people who didn't blow their money on unneeded items and invested wisely.

I haven't read richest man in babylon.

Another decent book is "the automatic millionaire"

Many of these books are simply the same thing over and over - spend less than you make, invest wisely, don't buy crappy products, etc.

@dallasmay:

You are joking right?! That rich dad poor dad is a proven fraud. Have you ever googled him & his documented BS. He was a financial failure until the scAmway network started using his book. Anyone that recomends his crap is either a shill or a rube.

"Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it."

That simple statement covers every job anyone will ever have, every home they will rent or buy, every car, every meal, everything.

People get hung up on what they think something is worth but the truth is the buyer has to agree to the worth or no transaction takes place.

This title should actually be: "What we should have been doing out of grammar/high school".

Even if I'd known this back then, most 18 to 20-somethings usually don't have the WISDOM to understand and put this list into effect. I probably would have acknowledged that is was a very good idea and then went out to eat fast food with my boyfriend. I would have payed more attention to what and how I was ordering, but without the wisdom to put it into effect it was just an interesting list I kept in mind for maybe half an hour.

No, I'm not blonde. I was just happy to have money I could spend on myself and my friends when our family seemed to never have any money and I had $10 for allowance each week (back in the early '80's).

#6 Wait as long as possible to have children.

@wvFrugan: I don't really care if he is actually a fraud. his advice is good, if not mostly theoretical. I loved his discussion on Wealthy vs. Middle class vs. Poor and have passed that knowledge onto my high school students. I have also bought the book for my brother and my sister.

Oh, and I forgot about Automatic Millionaire. Definitely another great book.

@dallasmay: "his advice is good" You mean, like his advice to make money in the stock market by insider trading?

@CreativeLinks: or simply, wait to have children until you can afford them.

It's tiresome to read the predictably strutting comments about how people who don't religiously follow all of these are dumbass losers, unlike us smart people who spend our productive time bragging on the Internet about our financial smarts.

#4 is a problem because it assumes that the effects of the same amount of debt are different if your motivations for getting it are pure. $100K for a "career-making degree" is not something you can turn back in if the "career" doesn't turn up, and you can't discharge it in bankruptcy. That is exactly what leads to the 'debt slavery' of working at a job you hate because it's in the field that is tangentially related to your debt.

That's a great list! But where's the item to cover what to do when the mortgage, COBRA, and car insurance are more than the incoming cash per month, and utilities, food and gas still need to be purchased? Is there a platitude for that?

@dallasmay:

You should be ashamed of yourself for a total lack of due dilligence with spreading his BS to your students without appropriate disclosure, as you apparently are a shill, or are you that big a dullard? If an educator ever pulled this stunt with one of my foster kids, I'd serve their head up to the board. If you were my sibling, I'd kick any relationship with you to the curb, after kicking something else.

@nsv: if anybody in the house has a uncommon chronic illness that you REALLY need the COBRA to cover, contact the national organization for rare disorders to see if you qualify for their program for help making the COBRA premiums.
also, check into American recovery and Reinvestment act about COBRA assistance:
[www.cms.hhs.gov]

Power of compounding is a big lie. When you are young, you'll be bamboozled by people who promise you gaudy returns if you give them your money. They'll say you'll have millions to retire if you lock up your money so you can't use it. Yes, on paper it works, but the scenarios never happen in the real world. In my entire working life, the S&P 500 broke even, a 0% return on investment, and that was before the 2008 crash.

"3. Avoid Lifestyle Inflation: More money should mean more saving, not more spending. When you get a raise, resist the urge to live a better life, because once you start, it's impossible to go back."

While I agree with this in principle - I also question the practicality of it. Not that I advocate going hog-wild with your newly earned dough, but what fun is life if you can't live a better lifestyle after you get a raise? Isn't that the point? I agree that you should save more, but let's cut people some slack and let them have a few nicer things when they get a raise or a promotion.

@wrjohnston19283: I would add "Your Money or Your Life", with the caveat that actually pursuing the steps to so-called "financial freedom" isn't for everyone. The perspective is solid, though - if you can shift your thinking, you'll be less likely to blow your cash on crap that doesn't align with your priorities.

Nobody here questions 18.9% per MONTH interest?

@kaceetheconsumer: I think that's the problem with a lot of financial advice out there for the "working poor." What do you do if you are living with in your means, but you're still living paycheck to paycheck? I really just want to smack that Suzie Ormand chick in the face sometimes when she says I should have $40,000 in saving for emergency.

Really? That almost double my yearly income... so I'm just supposed to stop living for several years so I can feel better about my "portfolio?"

How about someone make a list of how normal people who don't feel comfortable living out of the Goodwill make it in a world based on the temptation of debt? Well, not only the temptation of debt, the necessity of debt!

@starzshine: We make good money, live frugally, and do not have $40,000 in savings. If we hadn't had to pay so much out of pocket in medical expenses (and that's WITH insurance...it's expensive to have fertility problems!), we'd be getting close to $40,000, but like I said, my husband is well-paid. We are quite a bit above poverty level, and I've always believed there are more people below poverty level than government statisticians care to admit.

Suzie Ormand is creepy. Hell, all of those TV financial types are. That's why it rocked when Jon Stewart took them all to task for their bogus crap.

I've been poor enough to have to decide each week if I could afford milk or meat, because I couldn't have both. My pay covered my one-bedroom basement apartment, gas for the ancient car I inherited from my grandfather when he could no longer drive, and very basic food. No eating out. I only had internet because I'd paid for a year in advance before my hours had been cut. No cable tv. And even then, I only avoided debt because I lived in Canada and didn't have to worry about health care costs. I would have absolutely had to go in debt even for basic care as it costs me INSURED in the US, and deeper without insurance. I tried to save money in every way I could, but there just wasn't any to save.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I'm having to work hard at it lately with food. I'm finding it tough to get over my frugality when processed, nutritionally bankrupt food is more filling and cheaper than properly grown, organic, pasture-raised, etc food. The way I'm making it work in my mind right now is going on the studies cited by Michael Pollan in his books that, in particular, pasture-raised beef and chicken have less bad stuff and more good stuff, so I'm rationalizing the cost as being a "get what you pay for" sort of thing.

And yes, I know that the cheap stuff is government subsidized by tax dollars and takes a toll on the environment and thus isn't truly cheap, but that's a harder thing to get over on a gut level, you know?

@genegemperline: "3. Avoid Lifestyle Inflation:"

"While I agree with this in principle - I also question the practicality of it.... but let's cut people some slack and let them have a few nicer things when they get a raise or a promotion."

I can speak to this one personally. My wife and I work for ourselves and for a couple of years we were making more than twice what we needed for our normally frugal lifestyle.
First, we paid off the debts from a previous disaster much bigger than the small emergency fund we had. Then we treated ourselves to some things we wanted [some art, a slightly sportier car than we normally would have bought (used-bought with cash), took a real vacation for the first time in many years, went out to eat more often]. These "lifestyle upgrades" were all one time purchases with little additional continuing expense. Most of the extra money went into paying down the mortgage and into an emergency fund. The next few years after that were VERY lean for the business - the lower (refinanced) mortgage and the emergency fund saved us from going bankrupt. When things went back to "normal," we increased the mortgage payments back to what they used to be even though we had a lower minimum payment.

My view with any windfall or (short term income increase) - do the "right" thing with 90 percent of it and have fun with the other 10 percent.

Same thing with a permanent raise - with 75/25 to 60/40 "right thing"/lifestyle upgrade ratio.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I need to introduce you to my wife. She has an addiction to Coach purses.

@TWSS: Your money or your life!