We learn a lot from our parents: what type of food to eat, how to behave in social settings, and what values are important are just a few. Sometimes parents don’t even realize what an impact they have on kids, but nonetheless, kids are always watching and always learning.

You probably learned a lot from your parents about personal finances. If you take a look at the way your parents handled their finances you may come to realize that it has great bearing on how you handle your personal finances as an adult. You might discover that your parents intentionally taught you very valuable lessons about handling money, or you might realize that the way your parents handled money really set you up to fail.

Here are some things to consider about how your parents handled their finances:

Did they use credit wisely, or did they use it with reckless abandon?

Were finances never really a problem, or were your parents constantly scrambling for money to pay the bills?

Did your parents intentionally teach you about personal finance, or did you enter adulthood with no idea about how to navigate personal finances?

If your parents prepared you for adulthood by giving you a comprehensive education in personal financial matters - while also leading by example and handling their own finances efficiently - then be sure to give mom an extra Mother’s Day hug.

If your parents didn’t handle finances well, or didn’t bother to teach you about the proper ways to manage your finances, then it’s time to realize that you don’t need to follow their example. It may not be easy to take on the task of getting your finances in order despite the ideas you have in your mind about how money should be handled. After all, coming to the realization that your parents may not have taught you something properly can sometimes be a rude awakening.

If you are in this position, realize that you’re a grown-up now. Break the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck and hiding from creditors. Now is the time to get your personal finances in order despite the bad example your parents may have exhibited.

Paying down your debt can take a great deal of stick-to-itiveness, especially if you have a lot of debt and not much income to throw at it.  When you do finally make the decision to pay off your debt once and for all you might wonder what the best plan of attack is.  Do you aggressively pay down one debt while only paying the minimum payments on other debt, or do you spread the extra payments out toward all your debt?

First and foremost, you should use whatever method you are most comfortable with.  The utmost mathematically sound method may not be the method you decide to use, but as long as you are comfortable with the method you choose and you are actually making some progress in paying down the debt, then you’re doing it right.

Here are some of the more popular methods for paying down debt:

1.  Pay your accounts down one at a time, concentrating on one account while paying the minimum payment on all the others.  Which account do you concentrate on first? Choose either the account with the highest interest rate or instead choose the account with the smallest balance so you experience small victories quicker, potentially motivating you further.

2.  Consolidate all your debt into one account, such as an equity line of credit, a personal loan, or a credit card with a very low introductory interest rate that will not expire until after your debt is paid off.  Once the debt is combined into one account, make large payments until it is paid off. 

3.  Aggressively attack all your debt at once, spreading the extra payments out to your various bills.  As accounts are paid off, put the extra money toward the other accounts.

You want to choose a method for paying down your debt that keeps you motivated while also allowing you to eliminate debt more quickly than if you didn’t have a plan in place. 

For many people, the hardest decision about paying down debt is actually deciding that it’s time to get serious.  It is all too easy to simply send in minimum payments and not dwell on the interest charges and fees you’re paying each month, so actually acknowledging that something needs to change is a huge step. Pat yourself on the back for making a smart decision, and then get to work paying off your debt using whatever method works best for you. 

While a lack of liquidity in the credit markets are providing a natural break in spending, many Americans are also tightening their belts with the prospects of recession on the horizon.  Consumer spending has slowed considerably over the last few months and it’s having a noticeable effect on the economy.

It is unfortunate that it takes this kind of situation for people to finally start thinking about saving money.  The amount of debt we have in our society is ridiculous.  For many people, their idea of budgeting is the limit on their credit cards.  The government is no better with the national debt at $9 trillion and rising.

It can be difficult to save money in our over commercialized society.  We are being constantly bombarded with marketing spam at every level, when you watch television or surf the web, we even get it from text messages on our cell phones now.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the current economic climate actually seems to encourage more debt.  Rising inflation and low interest rates greatly favors debtors rather than savers.  This can be misleading however, since our economy doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  With the dollar falling to record lows, the relative wealth of our economy compared to the other nations of the world is taking a serious beating.

It is really the savings rate of a society that builds up wealth over time for an economy.  Over the years, our society’s savings rate has dwindled and the accumulation of debt has grown to epic proportions.

As much it would help the economy for us to spend our way out of a recession, is that really the best thing for us as individuals or as a society?  Debt and credit can be powerful tools to help leverage your financial situation, too much of it however can be disastrous.  You need only look to our highly leveraged financial system to see how that is working out now.