The Own It! Financial Planner is the perfect companion to the Own It! For First time Home Buyers workbook.Managing your money is the first step toward financial management. Finance includes money, as well as investments. Investments? Yes, investments. You may not have them now, but you can have them. Money management is a discipline. You have to want to do it. You have to decide to do it. And then you have to do it. No one can do it for you.Make the commitment now to do it. It's the best thing you can do for yourself. It won't be easy. Breaking bad habits never is. Creating good habits to replace bad one ones will reward you with the financial freedom you've always craved. You'll have money to spend. You'll have money saved. You can also have money to invest. Most importantly, you'll have control over your spending.My 89 year old Aunt loves telling the story about her first job. It was in the early 1940's. She was a teenager... She was paid five dollars a week. Form the first week, her mother (my grandmother) would take three dollars a week from her. That left her with two dollars for the week. My Aunt learned at an early age how to spend her money wisely. This was my grandmother's intent.This helped my Aunt and Uncle to buy their first and only home. They had a combined income of about one hundred and ten dollars. My Aunt was able to run her house and save money. They bought their house for eighteen thousand dollars - all cash. Of course, with today's prices that would be an almost insurmountable task. Managing your money wisely will lead you and help you achieve many, if not all, of your financial goals.While I was doing the research for the Own It! Workbook, I learned a good deal about what was the current state of the economy. There were some frightening things. My greatest realization was that the economy was headed for a major crash. And it did. We had the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.I don't have a degree in Economics. I do have what I like to think is common sense. In 2004 the mortgage industry leant out three hundred and eighty four trillion dollars. Their risk factor was about 3%. That means they believed that 3% of those could be foreclosed on. That 3% equals about twelve trillion dollars. No economy could take a hit like that. Ours couldn't - and didn't!Home Buyers bear some responsibility. How can the Home Buyers be responsible? Many of these foreclosures were avoidable. Many. Not all. Responsible financial management on the part of the Home Buyers would have helped avoid many of the foreclosures and resulting economic mess.Home Buyers bought homes with no money down. There were a lot of piggy back loans; meaning Buyers financed their down payments. Most of them qualified with Adjustable Rate Mortgages. They knew going into buying their home that their mortgage payments would double or triple in three to five years. They didn't sweat it. They would worry about it when the time came. I'm sure most, if not all, believe they could refinance to a fixed rate mortgage before then. They probably also believed their salaries would increase over that time helping them make the higher payments or helping them to qualify for that fixed rate mortgage. The problem was that before they bought their home they were living pay check to pay check; and after their purchase they were living pay check to pay check. They continued with the same spending habits, resulting in disaster.Developing responsible spending habits puts you in control. Sound money management and financial skills can give you a prosperous life that you can enjoy. It will give you the ability to build a strong future for you and your family. These are skills I believe we all need.Own It! Financial Planner has the forms can help you build better spending habits. And you'll benefit from teaching yourself responsible financial management. It's one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.
About the Author: William E Keeler has over eighteen years of experience in New York real estate as both a Salesperson and Broker in residential and commercial real estate rentals and sales. He was a member of the Long Island Multiple Listing Service, Long Island Board of Realtors, the New York State Association of Realtors and The National Association of Realtors. He studied real estate appraisal with the Columbia Society of Real Estate Appraisers. He was also a Certified Phase I Environmental Inspector with the National Environmental Association.