When growing up you probably looked up to your parents, teachers, older siblings, or other mentors that were in your life.  You may have even tried to imitate them, just as I did my older sister (except for that blue lipstick phase she went through – she was on her own).  It’s no surprise that we learn most of our spending and saving habits from those we surround ourselves with.

My Dad is good with money and I think that is where I get a lot of my personal finance passion from.  I love seeing money grow by investments and trying to calculate out the future value of a dollar.  I know, I know – I’m a strange duck.  But that’s okay!

It’s important before going out on your own, or if you are out on your own before making mistakes to learn from others about their personal finances.  Now, I am not stating that you need to go digging into your boss’ bills or expense records because that would be wrong, very wrong.  But what I am saying is ask questions and then listen to the answers.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

– approximately how much do you save out of your paychecks?

– do you follow a monthly budget?

– how did you create your budget?

– do you see a financial planner?  (FYI – I always recommend seeing a financial planner, this is their job and it is what they are trained to do!)

– what are your life goals?

From there just let the conversation flow.  Learn from people around you when it comes to finances, or any area.  People would be willing to talk about what works and what didn’t work for their families.