Financial Advice

I've heard, on more than one occasion, that the first step to saving money is to pay off all debts (which reminds me of Steve Martin's advice on how to be a millionaire and never pay taxes, which is to first get a million dollars). The next thing to do is buy fewer lattes during the week. I have been doing the latter. I've been getting mochas instead. But the important part is to have someone else pay for them. That will help you to save money. So let’s say for the sake of a scenario that your family has a small cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and everyone in the family loves it and want to keep it. Now let’s say that the cabin is on Forest Service land and every January a lease for the land must be paid. Of course you would want to pay part of the lease to help ensure the cabin stays in the family etc. My advice is to get someone to by your coffee or get someone to pay your share of the lease, which might be $250.00 if you are one of four kids responsible – for example.