People who work as debt management experts go to school for that sort of thing. Many spend four years or more getting college degrees that identify them as experts in the money and debt management fields. And they are experts, there’s no doubt about it.

The best of the debt management experts and debt management teachers, however, are those who have learned to manage their personal finances and their personal debts, and then passed that knowledge along to their children.

Those who actually do it are the experts, and they are the ones that we need to learn from to avoid having to visit with a well-educated debt management expert because we have gotten ourselves into financial hot water.

As I look around at expert debt managers (those who successfully manage their own finances) I find that they have many things in common. They don’t all do things exactly the same way, of course, but the structure in which they manage their finances is basically the same.

1. They save first. Those people who know how to save very rarely get into financial trouble. Sure, they can. Life can throw some pretty hard curve balls….the loss of a job or a major illness. But unless their financial trouble is caused by an outside force they will not get themselves in debt up to their eyeballs.

2. They live within their means. They do not base their spending upon what their friends have. The neighbors might buy a new car, but that will have no bearing upon whether they do or not.

3. They all have budgets. Not only do they have budgets, but they live within the constraints of that budget. They do not make impulse buys. If asked, they could tell you how much is spent each month on food, shelter, clothing, utilities, and transportation.

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