What was your BEST financial decision ever??

[minnie1928]

I'll do my top 3:
1. Taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course through work for $25. I always disliked debt, now I hate it.
2. Having my employer pay for my college. I worked FT and went to school FT, took 5 years but I walked out with a BS in Accounting with a minor in Finance. My student loan balance was less than $10,000 for 5 years of school (I paid it off early).
3. Watching my parents as examples, but not in the way that skydivingchic did. My parents are financial nightmares. I was actually told as a child to answer the phone because bill collectors wouldn't talk to kids then. How's that for a childhood memory! I decided a LONG time ago that I would not put myself in that financial position.

[umarider]

Big Picture: Always seeking more education/information on personal finance and working to implement the applicable things.

Individual Item: Starting a "Freedom Account" where I set aside money not only for periodic expenses like insurance, etc. but also save for vacations and short-term goals. For once I don't panic when one of our cars needs work, because the money is already set aside. Same goes for kids' activities/camps, Christmas, etc. I didn't realize how much stress those expenses were causing until I no-longer needed to worry about "finding" the money.

[snafu]

Three choices with the most impact were pay myself first, 10% off the top goes to my non retirement investment plan, avoid paying interest on items whose value decreases, marrying the right guy.

[cschin4]

1. Choosing the right career - I could have taken many career paths, but was fortunate in the career that I have chosen offers me a good income and flexibility of scheduling.

2. Staying Out of Debt - My dad informed me when I was starting out how to use a CC (as in if you don't already have the money in the bank to pay for the charge, don't use it. And, don't use a CC unless you can pay off the balance in full each and every month). I do use CC's and I have paid off the balance in full every month for the last 20+ yrs so I have never paid a finance charge.

3. Paying off my Mortage - Early in the mortgage we threw any and all extra money at the mortgage. We paid off our home in 5 yrs.

[KatieNK]

Well my mom raised me to not be inclined to spend a lot so I never really had to make a big decision to change but I have made the choice to not buy a bunch of unneccesary stuff and to watch my spending.

[fruitbowlk]

Pay yourself first.

[Aleta]

My best financial decision happened one night while I was watching TV about a plan to BECOME DEBT FREE. We followed through on the course and the budget to become debt free.

The 2nd best financial decision I made was not listening to a financial advisor in the year 2000 advising us to get a a mortgage on my house to invest in the stock market. My husband was leaning towards this man's suggestion, but I couldn't do it. The stock market fell through that year and we would have been paying another mortgage now. You should not invest money if you have to borrow it. I heard that from Larry Burkett.

[Snodog]

The day I started tracking my expenses was by far the best move I've made.

Ditto! We found another $1500/month just by tracking every penny. Wish we had started sooner than 3 years ago.

[Caoineag]

Best financial decision I have ever made was to always educate myself. That led to the college degree and learning how to handle the finances and to the paralegal certificate (paid for by my employer) that makes me more marketable.

Second best was marrying my husband. He may not be able to tell me no but at least he's not a spender like me. He was more than willing to learn how to budget and help me stay within our limits. And he is smart and well able to contribute to the household income (currently makes more than me but we figure that will fluctuate through the years).

[Ima saver]

I always saved at least 10% of my income even when I was a child. (went to work at age 12) I bought a new house at age 21 and had it paid off by age 31. Since then, I have traded up in houses 4 times and never had a mortgage.
I also started reading some financial "how to" books and took the leap in mutual funds and the stock market. I proved that you did not have to make much money to be able to save money. Slow and steady wins the race.!

[Russell]

Moving to an areas with a lower cost of living.

Over the course of our life we will save anywhere from six to seven figures. I still do not understand why most people we know back home consider it such a drastic move (we moved merely 2 hours away. Wouldn't trade it for nothing. Life is twice as luxurious and half as difficult, all at the same time).

Where did you move from/to? I'm familiar with most of NorCal. In which area do you find the lower cost of living while still being in NorCal.

[Russell]

1. My career that allows me to earn a very comfortable living
2. Living way below my means
3. Never taking on any debt or paying in full when I do - excluding mortgage
4. Last but not least giving a damn about my finances, savings and long term goals

[irmanator]

buying my house and finding this website. (that I am addicted to)

[ScrimpAndSave]

Paying myself first.

[Bimmer]

Taking my lunch to work everyday. When I realized the savings vs. eating out, I started looking at the rest of my financial picture. Changes for the better followed. (and I got better health out of it, too).