You need to build your dreams on a solid financial foundation.
When I was 32 years old, I learned how important this really is. My husband, 37 at the time, almost died of septic shock following a surgery that went horribly wrong. He was in a coma for a week, away from home in the hospital and rehabilitation for a month, and unable to work for over a year.
We had two young boys at that time — a 4-year-old in preschool, and an 8-year-old in third grade. Suddenly our income went way down, our expenses went way up, and our life was completely turned upside down. Having insurance, living below our means, and having an emergency fund saved us from bankruptcy.
When you're watching your husband's oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate on a monitor in the ICU, listening to a ventilator breathe for him, and wondering how you would tell your kids that their father died — the last thing you want to worry about is money.
Unfortunately, bad things happen to ordinary people every day. No one thinks they're going to lose their dream home and everything in it in a fire in the middle of the night. They don't think they'll get cancer, get into a car accident, become disabled… bad things happen to other people, right?
No, they happen to everyone. They can happen to you. They can happen to your spouse, and your kids. They can happen even if you're healthy, careful, and a good person. And if they do happen, the last thing you'll want to be concerned with is money.
So how do you set a solid financial foundation? You pay off non-mortgage debt. You save an emergency fund, so you'll have money in case of a job loss, medical emergency, or roof collapse. And you put proper insurance in place — like car, home/renters, life, disability, and health insurance.
This solid financial foundation is the stepping stone to your dreams.