Read enough financial self-improvement books, and pretty soon you'll find yourself stringing together the many similarities which run thoughout all of them.

What follows is my conglomeration of all the meaningful tenets and guidelines I've come across in my reading — and in my experience. (Not that I have all that much of it.) Certainly more can be added over time, because building one's financial strength is a neverending process.

If you would like a printable version of these guidelines, you can get it in PDF format.

Of all the ideas here, this one shouldn't require much explanation.   Consider this:

How much good could you accomplish if you just stopped doing something bad?

...and optimism is not a business plan. Oh sure — hope carries value. Hope is vital. Hope is your gasoline. Your financial-improvement SUV won't be going anywhere without fuel, but on its own, that fuel won't move you inch one. It takes much more than hope and optimism to improve your financial situation. You're also going to need support, information, tools, motivation, and about 27 other requisite niceties. In short, positive impact comes only from action. Behaviors must be precisely targeted, discarded, and/or developed. Big changes must be made, and you must initiate them.

The first step toward financial freedom is recognition — recognition of your current situation, obstacles, and capabilities. If you've been relying on others to get you where you want to go, then stop. If you think a hefty inheritance or winning lottery stub will come along and bail you out someday, it won't. If you've been blaming others for the negative positions you might find yourself currently in, then stop. No one will execute your personal interests better than you. So take control of your life. Stomp on the gas. Be the driving force.

Humans can be a negatively-charged lot. Consider that society has trained the majority of people out there (myself included) to think in terms of "Well, I can't do this because . . .", and their minds revert to this whenever they're confronted with a task or goal that seems even a little bit formidable. So, starting now, direct your thought processes into a U-turn. Live with the words, "I will do this because . . .." Write them down. Those five words are how big accomplishments get off the ground.

Even the greatest accomplishments start out small. If you're looking ahead and getting frustrated because all you can see is how daunting your tasks/goals are, then break them down. Divide your work into steps. Make them smaller, more manageable. But keep them big enough to still be tangible and fulfilling when they're accomplished. With each completed step, that sense of progress you'll feel is what will keep you going. Anything can be accomplished if it is done a little bit at a time.

Know who Benjamin Franklin is?   Thomas Edison?   The Wright brothers?   Bill Gates?   Exactly.   History remembers the "doers," not the doubters.

Money problems — when they happen — aren't caused by the money you make (or the lack of it). They're caused by the way you spend the money you make. So the next time you hear someone blame their financial situation on "low wages," you'll know better:   They're making excuses. Responsibility begins with the person. Where it ends is a matter of effort.

One absolute truth:   Debt is a stranglehold on your family's future. So if you have it — well, perhaps other than mortgage debt — get it paid off. Do this as fast as you can. You owe it to no one more than yourself. Lose debt; gain freedom.

It's the mantra of the Discouraged Consumer, usually heard at bill-paying time: "If only I made more money." But without a change in mindset and a strict financial discipline, the "more money" that occurs every so often via a raise in pay, or an inheritance windfall, or whatever, will always be accompanied by a proportionate rise in expenditures. Thus the saying:   "All I want is to make ends meet — but someone keeps moving the other end."

More money will not solve the problem. Discipline, drive, and financial intelligence will.

The majority of people go through life without truly understanding the difference between assets and liabilities. The rich got where they are by purchasing assets. Low- and middle-class people got where they are (and stay there) by buying liabilities.