I have 2 advice that are worth a read too.For anyone looking for specific advice or actions steps, go to the below website and search for "debt". He has written many articles on how to get out and stay out of debt.
Not if you are not desperate to have that sense of mentally "owning" the place you live in. I do not know about US but where I live it's way, way more efficient to live in rent but the huge majority of people take credits because of that "owning" pleasure and a lot of social pressure to "be in line with everybody". Rarely does such a decision pay off financially.but some stuff like a mortgage is pretty unavoidable
But there is a way bigger problem with cars. It is extremely inefficient to buy a new car because it has 50% depreciation in the first 3 years especially if it's an above average price car. The car you buy will be sold one day, you will not keep it forever. So in the period a car is in your possession let's say from year 3 to year 10 the car is practically 5% worse than when it was new, especially since there has been almost no inovation in the car industry recently to count moral depreciation in. The car is offering the same conffort, maybe 5% less. It does not matter that the car will not resist as much as a new one because you are going to sell it and you are practically paying a rent for the car. Also a new car is, contrary to popular belief, more expensive to maintain because of the mandatory overpriced revisions. Add to this the fact that a diesel version witch is 50% more expensive new has the same price as a petrol version when second hand + car brands that are not german are half the price of already heavily depreciated german cars where I live. So if you chose wisely you will save A FORTUNE in this field. Many people pay 4-5 times more than needed for the same thing justifying this with the desire to feel that "new" smell of a new car. Quite a lot of money to pay for a smell. Numbers may be different in other countries but I am sure overall things are the same. People should take advantage of this. Only time when a new car is better financially is if you are a businessman. But even with this advantage+been more wealthy, businessman are well known for almost always having very cheap second-hand cars because they are more greedy/responsible with their money. The more wealthy you are, the less you feel the need to show off.
These 2 advice, especially the one about cars, is gona save people a fortune in the future. It did that for me.
EDIT: right-wheel cars are 2,5x times cheaper second hand than already extremely depreciated cars I was speaking above. This is due to the small market for such cars and the incredible rate at witch UK people change their cars. Buying a new car and keeping it for 5 years is the worst thing you can possibly do, not the best.
Also, we have debit cards instead of credit cards over here. That mean's the card is like a wallet where money goes in and out but you can not borrow by the simple press of a button. If you want a credit card, you have to specifficaly apply for one, you don't get it by default. Usually If you borrow money from the bank you will get a credit card to pay the credit without going to the bank and that's how people get them. Borrowing money directly from such a credit card is rarely done because it has a very big interest and can only be used for small, usually unnecessary loans. When you need a big loan, you have to go to the bank not just take it from the credit card.
