This year I’m going to be doing more posts about money, so I figured I’d start with a video from Saturday Night Live featuring Steve Martin, Amy Poehler, and Chris Parnell called “Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford”.

This is some of the best financial advice you can get, delivered in so simple and straightforward a way, that it’s funny.

This is my favorite part:

Husband: I think I got it. I buy something I want, and then hope that I can pay for it right?

Spokesman: No. You make sure you have money, then you buy it.

Husband: Oh, THEN you buy it. But shouldn’t you buy it before you have the money?

Spokesman: No-o-o-o.

Unfortunately, the reason this is funny is because it hits so close to home for so many.

“Don’t buy stuff you cannot afford” is great financial advice, but in order to know what you can afford, you have to know how much you have, and in order to know how much you have, you have to know how much your expenses are.

Do you know how much you make, how much you spend, and therefore how much money you have, in order to make informed decisions on potential purchases?