You ll need to save for these. One way to make this easier is to have money automatically transferred from your paycheck to a savings account. Resist the urge to sign up for every credit card available, carry only one credit card for emergencies, and use a debit card or cash for routine purchases. Financial expert, author, and radio host Dave Ramsey recommends a debt snowball. This method reallocates payments for retired debts to existing loans until the payments become large enough to consume all debts.
Most people spend far beyond their ability to pay.
By controlling your spending, you ll prosper. In The Millionaire Next Door , researchers note that most millionaires are just average people earning average salaries. The first of seven qualities that made them wealthy was, they live well below their means. They get a job and the first thing they buy is a nice new car that locks them into high payments for the next four or five years. The cheapest car you ll ever own is the one you re driving now.