Decided to pay ourselves first

Most people think that when they get their paycheck, the first thing they should do is pay all their bills and then if there is anything left over, they can save a few dollars. In other wards pay everyone else first and yourself last. Our parents taught us that to really get ahead of the game, you have to turn this around. Put aside a few dollars for yourself, then pay all your other bills.

The truth is we had to learn how to save our money. In the beginning, we tried to put ourselves on a budget, but somehow the numbers never added up and we started fighting a lot. One day I called my mom, upset because of a money fight we had and she told me that budgeting did not work. She said she and my dad had tried it and all it had led to was endless arguments. So they decided to toss budget and instead take 10 percent of their pay out of their paychecks and put it in a savings account before they ever saw it or had a chance to spend it on anything. You would be surprised how quickly you get used to doing without that 10 percent. And meanwhile it is piling up in the bank. The secret, she explained, is that you cannot spend what you do not see.

We originally started by putting aside just 4 percent of our income and slowly increased the amount. Today, we save 15 percent, but on average we always saved about 10 percent.

A lot of companies had pension plans that allowed you to contribute extra money if you wanted to. Most of our friends did not bother. But we did.

The best investments they had ever made that nothing gives you freedom and security like owning a home. But the key was owing it free and clear. In other words, you pay off that mortgage as quickly as you can.

While our friends were busy splurging on decorating their apartments and eating lunch out every day, we should be watching our spending and saving as much as we could. They made a big print about how so many people waste big money on small things.

You know, the trick to getting ahead financially is not being cheap and boring. It is watching the small stuff, little spending habits you have that you did probably be better off without. In our case, we realized that one of the main small stuff things we were spending too much money on were cigarettes. We both smoked about a pack a day and our parents hated it. And they pointed out that if we stopped wasting money on cigarettes we could probably save enough in two years to make a down payment on a home. And we would be saving our health in the process.