Maintaining a debt free life:

Now that you are out of debt, how do you stay out of debt? It isn’t as easy as you might think. Even if you have a strict monthly budget, if you run into an emergency you may find yourself falling back into debt.

You cannot protect yourself from an unforeseen emergency, so the best thing to do is to assume that one will eventually happen and prepare for it. Put aside enough money to keep you afloat for two to three months if anything should happen. It sounds like a lot when you think about it in a lump sum, but if you start saving a few hundred dollars a month, you will have a cushion set up in no time.

It has been said so often that it is almost cliché, but it is important to remember – you must pay yourself first! If you take that money out of your monthly income first, you will learn how to budget more carefully with the rest money you have left. Once the skill of saving has been mastered, you can use it in all types of financial situations – college for your children, paying off your mortgage early, even saving for retirement. Start to prepare now so that in the future you can maintain a debt free life.

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