[KiwiHopeful]

Probably the best bit of advice I've ever received I'll pass on to all of you:

Live below your means.

I will grant you, I'm not particularly good at it myself, so my wife and I force ourselves to do that by putting away 15% of our income and adding money each month to our mortgage payments and to our other loans. (Our only loans were student loans--which I just paid off the last of a month ago--and our 2 cars, one of which was purchased used. I couldn't afford to pay cash for the cars because the first was bought when my first son was born and I had to give up my 7-year-old pickup truck, and the second was bought when my wife and I were both in graduate school!)

One important point from the other money related discussion that could be made here is that those people who most of us think of as 'rich' are usually just folks living way beyond their means. I strongly recommend the book 'The Millionaire Next Door' to everyone, especially if you have teenagers who are beginning to get the wrong ideas about money.