First of all, remember, it's YOUR MONEY!

So often, we as consumers forget that the time and effort we put into getting an education, working, developing relationships and building our lives is all about our own choices. But we seldom stop to think that every minute of every day, we are spending our own valuable resources in some way -- maybe time, maybe money, maybe energy.

Consider this:

You work at a rather low paying, part-time job, to help pay for your college education. Let's assume you make $8 per hour.

You want to take a trip on spring break with your friends. You want to buy some new clothes to take on this trip, plus a beach towel and sun screen, and of course you'll need money for food and a place to stay. Say it all adds up to $300.

How many hours of your hard work at $8 per hour will it take to make this happen?

Wow... almost two weeks at that 20-hour per week job just to take this trip! Lots of time and money and hard work for one trip! And that doesn't even take into consideration gas for the car and other expenses you may have between today and the day you leave for the beach!

Now relate this same scenario to all of life and you will begin to get a better picture of what all consumers are up against these days. You will do well to begin today getting a good grip on nine powerful things to know and do for YOUR MONEY.