Personal Finance Cheat Sheet posted a pretty interesting article: "6 Ways to Maintain a Debt-Free Lifestyle" Click here to read the article. Below is a review of their 6 Suggestions to maintain a debt free lifestyle.
1. Build a Large Savings. Makes sense to me. If you have a large enough savings, you won't have to pull out the pesky credit card or go to the bank to request a loan to purchase an expensive item. It also talks about saving money to pay for your children's education or new home.
2. Pay off Credit Card Transactions Immediately. If you have a credit card, pay it off right away when you use it. You can collect points to use in the future. Be aware though, if you don't pay off your credit card immediately, you'll get hit by those enormous interest rates and the debt will add up.
3. Buy a cheap used car. New cars depreciate in value the second you take it off the lot. If you purchase a new car with cash, it won't depreciate as much and you'll outright own the car and you can trade it in more easily in the future.
4. Go to Community College. Furthering your education will improve your hireability and desireability to an employer. You can go to community college for a lot less money and get some education that can really help you in the future.
5. Rent. I don't really agree with this one. Sure it'll keep you out of debt, but where is that money really going? It's going to pay off someone else's mortgage and you only get temporary housing that you cannot modify yourself to make it more personable. I say, if you have a steady job in a steady location, purchase a house you can afford.
6. Buy only what you need. I'll add 'and what you can afford'. My wife and I rarely follow this rule. We are very impulsive when it comes to shopping. I do believe we've gotten a lot better though, since we sat down and really talked through our finances. With large purchases, we generally wait a day and talk about it before acting on buying something large.
Source:
http://www.cheatsheet.com/personal-finance/6-ways-to-maintain-a-debt-free-lifestyle.html/?a=viewall, Chloe Della Costa, March 2015, Personal Finance: Cheat Sheet
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