I'm going to try and keep this short. But I've been working with a couple that my wife and I are very close with to help with the finances. A little background on them. Both college educated, but first generation college grads. Combined income of right at $90k. No children.

Both sets of parents are divorced, never managed money well themselves, and essentially passed on these poor habits to their children. For instance, a bonus check would come in and they'd trade in a lease early for a newer model. In the day to day life, it was about instant gratification (gifts for every holiday, occasion, etc.).

Here's an example of what our friends have done/did before I got involved:

- Leased a vehicle with a 1,000 mile/mo. average for the term. When they live 20 miles from work and take multiple trips home (1,300 mi one way drive) to visit family. So now they rent a car for the trips home, get suckered into the full coverage and don't shop for the best deal. Just go down the street to the Enterprise or Hertz and tell them they need a car.

- Moved from a 1 BR apartment to a 2BR at the same complex because the 2BR had hardwood instead of carpet and the dogs were tearing up the carpet. This is a $120/mo increase on a 12 month lease when the maximum damage deposit was $750.

- Got a second dog (from breeder) when they were already struggling to pay for vet care for the first when it had some issues.

- Parents took out student loan in their name to pay for college tuiton with no explanation to their son at the responsibilites involved in repaying them. Crazy high rates that he ultimately defaulted on.

- Refused to work OT even when available because it would interfere with his team's NFL, NBA, etc. games. She was unwilling to find a second job to pay down the debt because it would interfere with their time a home together (they both work non-traditional hours).

I can keep going, but you get the idea. I know they didn't have $1k available before I started helping them straighten their shite out.