How can I become financially stable?

I'm 21 yrs old. I did college part time while I worked part time. I've been working since I was a sophomore in High School. I decided that college wasn't for me.. well at least not now. I've gotten about $3.5K in debt and I'm going through the hiring/application process to become a correctional officer here in Texas. If I do get hired *keeping my fingers crossed_ the first thing I'd do is pay off my debt. Then pay off my $4k I still owe on my car. Anyways... after my debt is fully paid for... I'd like some good advice on how to save money, and I dont' know ANYTHING ON INVESTMENTS AND STOCKS and all that mumbo jumbo. I hear it works well, and you can turn a small amount of money into a large sum... but I just don't know like how to even start!!! thanks-

Preparing for a stable future means writing down your goals that you can reasonably achieve. Like will you live as debt-free as possible which is best for being financially stable.
1. Credit cards and loans with interest rates above 0% should be used for emergencies and home loan. Not cars, jewlery, tools, funiture, toys, gifts, etc... Except for major items, for added insurance benifit, that can be paid off within 1-3 months.
2. Get short & long term disability.
3. Get good health insurance.
4. Education is a good investment to increase your income.
5. Budgetting your money for for everything NEEDED can be as good as another source of income of a few hundred a month.
6. Clipping coupons and buying things needed on sale or price matching is good way to save.
7. Save up to 6 months or more of income for emergency like getting sick, losing job or being out of work for extended period.
8. Find jobs with good 401k plan. Invest up to matching %, then invest in Roth IRA, then go back to 401k invest up to max.
9. You should have fun while you review all financial goals and decisions that enable you to achieve them.
10. Have a seperate savings accounts for the things you want to buy or emergency. Like gifts, cars(expenses), home impovements(repairs) and other items. Never go in debt for gifts. If you can't pay for gifts with cash then you can't afford them.

I hope this helps you achieve your individual goals while being able to save and invest up to 25% of your income. As for more tips and investing here are some websites and thoughts.
http://finance.yahoo.com/how-to-guide/ba...
http://finance.yahoo.com/education


When you eat out, instead of ordering tea, soda, etc.. order water. The cost of drinks can average $1.50 or more even in stores. If you buy 25 in a month it adds up to $37.50 a month, $450 a year easily. Honestly being $7,500 in debt you can't afford drinks, right now. Paying just $37.50 a month extra toward your debts would save from paying more interest on top of interest and so on.
The best tip I could give you is learn the basics of investing. And that will be your best investment ever. And always have fun, fun, fun, while learning how to manage and invest the money you work hard for. And use that info for your 401k and Roth IRA accounts, first. And then if you have any extra to invest paper trade your picks and if you can get over 75% right out of 50 picks then think about investing the extra for real. Open a demo and see how you would do if it was your real money. It could help your decisions for your 401k and Roth.
http://simulator.zacks.com/zacks/default...
http://simulator.investopedia.com/

Here are my favorite sites.

http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.

https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.

http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.

http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.

http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.

http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.

http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.

http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.

Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/

After you really get your feet wet in learning if you want you can email me any questions.

Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley

Find a rich boyfriend haha! just kidding

If you know about stocks then get into it. In stocks, if you dont know then you will loose as fast as you can earn or may be even faster.

Stop spending money on stuff

Save save save.

Then invest, in stable growing companies.

Read "Investing For Dummies" - a great intro book.

Seems like you have to put your priorities in order to alleviate your situation. You can invest (do some research first) where you can turn a small amount of money into worthwhile profits.
Please contact me and I will send you some programs working well for me.
Wish you well!!


richson
http://traceurl.com/rdS?r=1113&l=25

The best investment advice I can give you, is begin investing in DRIP Plans.

Go to : low-cost-stock-recommendations

.com

Click on the "DRIP's" Button at the bottom of the Navigation Bar.

Also, if you think you are interested, click on the advertisement that says "ING" , it is on the same page, you cant miss it. The ad will tell you how to pay $4 to purchase, instead of paying a broker a large amount.

Also, if the job you get hired for, offers a good retirement plan, it is always a great idea to fund it to the fullest amount possible every year. Check into that also.

Good Luck