Finances & Money

My One Money Advice (MOMA)

Gather Little By Little tagged me on a meme (I need to look that word up) to ask “What is your one money advice?”. Apparently, Moolanomy is keeping track of these things. I’m not sure I can summarize all of my advice into a single statement AND make it different from the 40 or so other bloggers, but I’ll give it a shot:

The MOMA Meme question?: If you can give one advice, tip, or story related to money, what would you share?

My Answer: If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.

And I don’t mean “can’t afford until your next paycheck”. This goes for the little things like throwing a pack of gum on a credit card, to buying a house with a payment that leaves almost no breathing room, and even having kids. In reality, buying anything with a loan means you can’t afford it, but loans make the world-go-round.

If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, you probably can’t afford much of anything until you get yourself out of your spending hole (if you’re in one) or find other streams of income. I know, I know, easier said than done, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying.