Dave Ramsey’s got some good advice here about focusing on the most important things.

It is easier, however, to focus on the most important stuff when we’re not distracted with thoughts about how to pay for the not-the-most-important-stuff.

I’ve a lot of experience with the effects of impulse shopping and credit extensions set up to pay for those purchases.  Really, mom and dad’s advice is the best.

If you haven’t the money in the bank to pay for it, and have to borrow to get it (like pay for it on a credit card), don’t get it.

This especially includes things that you can’t touch after the purchase event is over.  Like vacations, holidays overseas, holiday gifts or even the “little” things like circus or movie tickets.  It also includes things we CAN touch like furniture, new appliances, and especially non-essential items (toys, games, etc).  This doesn’t mean we can’t get these things!  However if we have to use a credit card (i.e. borrow from someone else) to buy these things, we are cheating ourselves in the long run.  And this is a cheat that is a mean and unforgiving master when it’s time to pay up.

Things like car/appliance parts or other emergency purchases can go on a credit card but make a major effort to pay off the balance within six weeks – otherwise, you’ll forget and this will roll over to start biting you with increasing finance charges.

It’s tough to train one’s self to do this, but the peace of mind this discipline brings also strengthens your home and self-confidence.  Your family – kids/grandkids especially – will pick up on this and will know there’s stability at home.

You won’t be hunting around for extra hours to pay extra for things which you should have waited to pay cash for.

You won’t be stressed and freaked out when an appliance dies suddenly, because you’ve planned for this eventuality and have money in reserve for this (instead of using it up on the impulse purchase for the new TV with zero percent interest… but oops, couldn’t pay it off on time so now there’s a ton of loan payments to make now).

You won’t be missing out on the vital, life-shaping conversations with your loved ones because you will be focused on these instead of thinking about financial issues.

And, passing on this lifestyle will change the path your kids will take.  If your kids have just started working, they can be millionaires by the time they are in their mid-30s.  They don’t need a breakthrough job or need to “be lucky” to do this. They just need to understand how money works – not the stock market ventures, but how money moves around and what is the best way to pay for things.

I encourage each of us reading this to make an effort to understand these principles ourselves, use these in practice, and share the education with our loved ones.  We can help to create millionaires – ourselves, ideally, but if not ourselves, then our kids stand a chance.

And the best thing to do with our hard-earned, well-planned income?  After securing income to live off of after no one else is willing to pay us for our skills (i.e. retirement), we need to voluntarily spread the wealth.  Donate to causes that mean something to us personally.  This should include our family, neighbours, local community.

Sure, the federal (and in some places, state) tax man will want an ever-increasing amount – and will forcibly take a portion of our earnings to fund items we don’t agree upon.

But that’s what makes the voluntary donations all the more precious, and blessed.

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