Getting in the right habit

If only you could just do your homework, learn all about personal finance, make your decisions once, and then never have to make them again. Wouldn’t that be good?

Unfortunately, mastering your personal finances is a bit more complicated than that. Making financial decisions is something you’ll be doing throughout your life. That’s why it’s so important to establish good habits early on.

For instance, if you make a habit of saving for a rainy day, then if your car breaks down, your roof springs a leak, or your dog gets sick, you’ll have the money on hand to deal with it. But if you don’t have money in reserve, you may need to borrow it, or worse, you may not be able to have that engine fixed, pay a roofer, or get your dog to the vet.

If you get into the habit of always putting what you want ahead of what you need and buying things that capture your fancy even if you don’t really need them, you’ll find yourself going through your pockets and hunting under the futon late in the month, trying to scrape up enough to pay for lunch and laundry until your next paycheck arrives.

The good news is you’ll find that good financial habits are mostly a question of planning things out. And if you get into this habit while you’re young, making well considered decisions about your money will become second nature.