What's Your Personal Financial Philosophy?

What would you do if you knew that you had $5,000 of credit card debt hanging out on your Visa card?

Who cares? I’ll get to it when I can, but it’s not like my credit score matters anyway.

Freak out! I’m so stressed even thinking about this debt that I can barely sleep.

Make a plan to pay it back as quickly as possible while still staying within my budget.

Work a side job to pay it off ASAP, then cut up my credit cards into tiny pieces so this will never happen again.

What are your views on homeownership?

Why does everyone care so much about owning a home? I don’t need to own a home to be financially stable.

The idea of having that much debt scares me, but I’d consider it to have a house of my own.

I’d consider a traditional mortgage, but might try to pay it off early if possible. I think home ownership is important to building wealth.

I’d prefer to pay for a house with cash, even if it means I have to live with my parents for year to save enough.

You have a choice between a job that will give you a regular paycheck or working for yourself with an unpredictable income stream. You think…

I’d rather be working for myself, and if that means unpredictable income, so be it.

Regular paychecks please! The idea of not knowing if I’ll have enough to cover my bills this month terrifies me.

I’d rather have the steady paycheck, but if I wanted to pursue my own career, I would save ahead of time to make sure I could afford it.

I’d do both if it meant I could be done working in ten years. The short-term sacrifice is worth it.

At what age would you hope to retire?

I’m not sure: Saving for retirement sounds complex and tiresome.

55 - 65 years old, but longer if I need to as long as I know for sure I’ll be able to afford my retirement without worrying about money every month.

55-65 years old: I’m happy to work, as long as I know that I’ll be able to enjoy a fulfilling retirement afterwards.

ASAP: I’ll work and save as much as I can now to know that I can have a long enjoyable retirement and never work again.

When I think about taking a vacation, I think...

I’ll pay for my vacation with a credit card even if I don’t have the money right now. YOLO!

If I can’t afford a vacation I won’t take it.

I will squirrel away money for a reasonable vacation that I can afford to take.

My early retirement will mean a lifelong vacation, so I’ll gladly forego any vacation plans until then.

It’s September 26th and you have $50 left in your budget for the next four days. Your friends invite you out for dinner and you say…

Count me in!

Why don’t we stay in and split a pizza to save money?

Sure, but can we go somewhere cheap?

I’ll come out, but I’ll eat ahead of time. If I’m going to retire in 5 years, I need to save as much money as possible.

My philosophy on spending is...

The cost is secondary to the lifestyle. Happiness comes first, and we can figure out the finances later.

I get nervous about spending and would prefer to have a large amount in my saving account to bail me out if needed.

I try to budget for the month and stay as close to that as possible even if that means cutting out somethings on my wish list.

I prefer keep my expenses as low as humanly possibly. Today’s sacrifice is tomorrow’s payoff.

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