The Four Principles of Economic Security

150 years ago, our great grand parents thought debt was a sin. Our grand parents thought debt was stupid, and borrowed as little as possible. Our parents borrowed a little bit more than our grandparents, but now we are borrowing more money than ever, and it's hurting us. Compound interest is an unstoppable force of wealth building, but you have to make sure it's on your side. If you're paying the bank with compound interest for extended periods of time, you're in a bad situation. Consumer debt is staggering, it's reached over $10,000 per household and is an epidemic in this country.

Depending on which country or locality you live in, there will be a number of different mechanical steps that you'll want to take to get out of debt, it various from area to area. There are a number of good different systems to follow which will help you rid yourself of the debt that you face. Even if you follow those and are lucky enough to find your self debt free, what's to stop you from jumping back in? It seems only after we face a dire situation do we change, and then often that change is only temporary. In order to stay out of debt and be economically secure, you need principles in your financial life, not just reactionary changes. Here are some of the principles that you should follow in order to sure long term personal economic security.

Live within a budget. It is not enough just to write your budget, you actually have to follow it. A lot of people write budgets and never stick to them, this totally defeats the point of budgeting. First, make sure that you allocate enough money for food, utilities, rent / mortgage, clothing and gasoline. Everything else is secondary. After that pay for your insurances and save money for retirement, and then maybe you will have some time to play with some of your money.