Family Finances

In class we discussed family finances and we read the booklet One for the Money, Guide to Family Finance, by Elder Marvin J. Ashton. I thought that it was really useful and gave a lot of wonderful insights. Some really important things that stood out to me where....
1. Get out of debt and stay out of debt. The only time it is reasonable to go into debt is to buy a modest home or to complete your education. And still, debt should be paid off as soon as possible. In the gospel library on lds.org under the definition of debt it says, "Since the early days of the Church, the Lord's prophets have repeatedly warned against the bondage of debt. One of the great dangers of debt is the interest that accompanies it. When it is necessary to incur debt, such as a reasonable amount to purchase a modest home or to complete one's education, the debt should be repaid as quickly as possible." 
2. We do not spend that which we do not have. We should never be spending money that we do not have. That gets us into debt. It is important to budget your money and spend wisely.
3. Have savings. It is so important for everyone to have a savings account. My parents taught me that when I was much younger and I was always so excited to save my money. Once I put money in my savings account I was not allowed to touch it until I was 18. It taught me to save my money for when I will really need it someday, and now I am so glad that I started saving at a young age. It is important to save money when you have a family because you never know what something will happen where you will need it. For example, loosing a job, a medical emergency, or even your car breaking.
4. Be involved in food storage. My family was not LDS so they did not have very much food storage and did not realize the importance of it. Now I realize how good it is to have though. It is not just for a natural disaster that will probably never happen. Food storage is most used for when money is tight. If you have food storage you will still have plenty of food to live off of for a while.