First things learned

So far I've become very good at being sure to keep my budget, however I'm still working on becoming completely dept free. My aim is to reach this goal by the next paycheck, a goal which I have all intentions to reach.

So the first and most valuable rules and guidelines I have come across and started implementing myself are the following:

1. Pay yourself first. You can always survive with 10% less than what you earn. Put those 10% away to savings BEFORE you pay bills and make a budget.
   
2. Track your expenses. If you don't know how you are spending you can't make a budget. It's easy to SAY that you are gonna spend $10 on food in one month, but a totally different thing to actually do it. But when you know that you spend $150 on groceries and $70 on candy, you KNOW that you can cut off atleast the $70 on candy, and if you look at what does groceries are, maybe even more.
   
3. Start saving now. There is a BIG difference in starting to save when you're 20, than when starting when you're 30, or 40. The sooner the better and there is no excuse not to start now.
   
4. Do not buy things on credit.
   
5. Plan your spending. Make budgets. When not using credit, you must have the money to pay for the things you want. If you want a new car, save for it. Put aside a set of money each month, and eventually you can buy it. It will be more rewarding, and you will own the things you buy.
   

For me I think the hardest part is the planned spending. This is where you need to change your habits. Instead of just buying the new wii game, you must conciously set a goal to buy it and save for it (unless you already have a savings account set up for buying video games). But when you start do this, things will become so easy that you will find it stupid not to do it - things will just work out financially by themselves.