Financial Education Basics
By Diane Morton
We all know that the country is in the midst of a recession and that Clark County is one of the foreclosure leaders. There are very few things we can do individually to impact the current economics; however, we can use this time to further our personal economic education and keep from making future mistakes with our handling of money.
Advertisers will tell us to save money by spending money, by buying a new car (that will use less gas,) by replacing our air conditioner (to use less electricity,) or to eat at a new restaurant (they have specials.) We all have to learn that they way out of economic problems is not by spending more but by living within our means. We need to learn simple tests for determining where to spend our money, and how to live happily within our means.
By determining our cost per month for basic living, we can determine where to spend our discretionary income, and how to enjoy it most.
I hope to bring you an article every issue with basic financial concepts that hopefully will bore most of you, it will mean that you understand the basics of finance. I am not a financial expert, while I have been an active student for years, and I have taken several classes, and read many articles, the following are ideas that have worked for me, and ideas I have read and appreciated from many experts.
When we look back at the generations that made America great they have three things in common: they saved money to pay for things before they bought them, they valued education and independence, they knew that family and people were more important than things. If we can follow those basic tenets, we can make ourselves and America great again.
For those of us who are currently unemployed, we are cutting back wherever we can, living off of unemployment , savings and borrowing. It is a very good time to determine between needs and wants. It is amazing what we can live without if we compare it with our basic life needs. Unfortunately, we often choose the wrong things to do without. We cannot do without basic health care, a roof over our heads, or healthy food. We can do without cable TV, cell phones, and designer clothes. We can share a car, share the rent, and even try doing some things ourselves (the cooking, the yard work, the painting.)
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