Don't Spend what you don't have

Growing up I always heard the simple yet profound advice from my grandpa, "Don't spend what you don't have".  In our world filled with credit cards and an extreme amount of debt maybe we could all apply this advice a little more carefully.  This statement from my Grandpa is one of the great lessons that I have learned about finance.  I want to add a few things that have helped me in some situations.  First of all, I know that some debt is unavoidable, but excessive debt is.  By only getting in debt for things  that we can support eventually, (like getting a decent home over an already beautiful one) ultimately we need to think about our income and how long it will take us to get out of debt and try everything that we can to get out of debt.
  The reason why I want to focus on finances in this post is because the problems caused from finances can cause extreme stress and conflict in marriages and families.  By controlling ourselves and exercising some basic wisdom a lot of this stress can be avoided.
A principle that has helped me is prioritizing the use of money.  As a student attending college I have learned that I need to pay my college costs and living costs first before splurging a little or I will most likely end up eating ramen for a good majority of my time here.  (Not that I don't like ramen... but diversity is good.)  If we can learn to accurately measure the difference between the things that we need and the things that we want we can more likely avoid potential difficulties that could arise from how we manage our money.
Another thing that has helped me manage my money has been a budget.  Now, I'l be the first to admit that I really don't like budgeting, but the money I have saved from doing it has been worth it.  By lining up all the costs and incomes for a month we can come up with a plan to have enough money to get by.  This part of the process requires communication between partners.  This opportunity can be a great chance to practice counseling with spouses and other relationships where money is shared.  By coming up with a plan together there will be a greater responsibility on both parties to continue with the plan and hold each other accountable.  By doing it this way we can avoid a lot of the communication problems that money causes when it is handled by one person in the relationship without much discussion.
Another principle that is particularly hard for me is saving money, but as we live our plan and prioritize it will become easier for everyone.  By putting aside a little bit of money from our income we will be better prepared for when crisis and surprises happen in our life.  Notice how I didn't say if.  These situations are going to happen to everyone, our cars might break down, there might be a medical emergency, or we might just need a little extra money to go to that party that we really want to.  Saving money and using it wisely can help us with all of these situations.
Now, I'm no professional at money, and quite frankly my own managing style can use a little work, but I know that as we use our money wisely and efficiently we will be able to cut a big stress out of our life.  Even if we haven't been living efficiently so far we can get there.  Start by making a plan for yourself and evaluate how it is going frequently.  I recommend reading the pamphlet "One For the Money" (you can download the pamphlet for free from this link.)
In this world that is filled with so much stress already, lets try to control this potential stress before it becomes a problem.  Have a great week!