Things didn't change much when I grew into an adult. I got my paycheck and made sure that it was gone just as soon as I could get rid of it. Sometimes I even paid some bills.

It took me a long time to realize that some of your money is meant for tomorrow and what is meant for today has to cover your obligations first.

It would be easy to blame my folks for not teaching me right way to manage my money. It would be even easier to blame schools for not having a class for real life finances. The problem is that my folks or schools didn't pay price for me not learning these lessons. My wife and family did.

It's time that things change. We have gone generation after generation of having more debt and less knowledge of how to deal with it. We have to educate our kids, starting as soon as they know how to count, about necessity of saving and controlled spending.

I believe that, if we can afford it, we should consider giving out kids an allowance, not to ensure that they have money, but to pay them for what they do to help. Giving them money and not expecting anything in return is sending wrong message.

If you can't afford an allowance, encourage them to find ways to earn their own money. Running errands, babysitting, mowing lawns are all things that neighbors and friends would be willing to pay for.

Just as important as encouraging them to earn their own money is to emphasize importance of putting some of it away for things they want in future. Believe me, as a Father of 3 and a Grandfather of 6, they all have a big ticket item they have either seen on TV or that all their friends have that they just have to have.

Right now in US there are hundreds of companies downsizing or going out of business. In some cases this is due to economy. In others we have seen cases of very poor management and down right fraud. No matter what reason, people have lost their jobs and their income.

In a lot of cases this can't be prevented. If we can't prevent hard times, then just what can we do? Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

I know you have all probably heard that you should have at least six months income set aside in case you lose your income. Yeah, right! With things as expensive as they are today, you are lucky if you have six days income set aside.

If you don't have money saved for when these problems occur, then just what can you do? First and foremost, you need to have a plan in event this does happen.

Just sitting down with your budget and saying to yourself "What If" will help you know what you need to do to be prepared. Here are a few suggestions that will make it a little easier: