Everything You Thought You Knew About Personal Finance Is Dead Wrong—Here's the Truth:

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12. Personal finance is actually fairly simple.

1) Understand how compound interest works - for debts but also for saving.
2) Save something from every paycheck, even if it is only $10.
3) Don't treat housing as an investment. Sometimes renting makes a lot more sense than owning - particularly for young people just getting started where job moves are likely. If you do buy, buy about half the house that the real estate broker says that you can afford.
4) Avoid revolving credit card debt as much as possible. If you do have large credit card debt, try to pay it off by making regular payments - but don't make the mistake of trying to pay off too much at once and leaving yourself cash poor. Do not touch credit card debt consolidation schemes - it is very easy to end up owing much more money even though the monthly payments may be lower.
5)Join a credit union if possible - fees tend to be much lower than banks for checking, etc and car loans are usually much cheaper than what you can get from a dealer. Forget the low interest deals from dealers - they are generally only available on selected new models and you usually pay more for the car than the best negotiated price you could get - anyway, generally a low mileage used car is a much better deal. Get a pre approved loan from the credit union for the monthly payment you can afford and then go the the dealer and pick out the car you can buy with that loan + the down payment you can afford. When the loan is paid off, keep paying the payment into your savings account and drive the car until it costs more to repair it than what it is worth.