What motivates you to manage your money? If you are just beginning to manage your money and to get your debt under control was there a specific experience that brought you to that point? Or if you have always managed your money, saved, and avoided debt, why do you think you do this? Do your parents have an affect on the way that you handle your money?
I think that my biggest motivating factor is seeing the stress that money has caused other people. I also have plans for my retirement. I want to travel and help others. I know that in order to do this, I will need to have a significant amount of money save. Another motivating factor is my children. I want them to be happy, and I want their needs to be met.
Since these are my factors, I base my priorities around them. I want to avoid debt, since it can be crippling. There is nothing scarier than realizing that you can not meet all your payments, or to learn that your mortgage check bounced. It can be difficult to provide all that your family needs if a significant portion of your income is going towards them.
My next priority is saving. It is empowering to have money saved and available to you if you need it. It really takes a lot of your worries away, because if anything happens you know you have it covered. Saving for retirement is extremely important as well. Since retirement savings snowball, the sooner you start the better.
My third priority is finding a balance in my lifestyle. I want to make sure that my children are well cared for, while teaching them the importance of working hard and money management. The most important thing I can do is model the behavior for them. I also plan on giving them lots of opportunities to work hard and earn money.
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