Personal Finance Resources

Need free debt problems advice? Keep reading as I will divulge to you the problems people have with regard to debt, and advice about solving the debt issue, all completely free of charge. The problem with debt boils down to 2 main issues - the first is that as children, we grow up in families that are debt ridden, spend way too much, and have no discipline with their personal finances. They expect to have it all, and have it all right now. Therefore, they spend money they do not have, in order to “keep up with the Jones’s” and fall further and further behind on their payments. This is a miserable life, as they cannot afford to lose their job at any time, or they could lose everything - house, car, and any other possessions that were purchased with debt. The second issue, is that credit cards and other debt vehicles are so easy to acquire, and loan companies are very generous in their upper limits of credit use (eg large maximum balances). So why do people keep falling into this trap?

Attitude Toward Debt
The first issue I mentioned was child rearing. Children, on up to adulthood, are not taught the dangers of debt, and the problems surrounding too much debt. There is an attitude of apathy, and people say things like “Aww, just file for bankruptcy, you’ll be good to go in 7 years.” There is no sense of financial responsibility, thus bankruptcy continues to increase. We need to change our mindset to one of debt avoidance at all costs. We need to ask ourselves questions like “Do I really need that new car?” and ”Why pay $1 for a soda, when I can buy a 12 pack at the grocery store for $3.65?” Asking ourselves continual questions like these will help us to become frugal spenders.
Delay Gratification
We need to deny our selfish impulses for the things that we want, at least for “”right now”", or early on in life when money is tight. Look to the future, invest young, and the end results will be staggering. Investing bears exponential growth over time, so just a couple of years of delay can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars later. Forget about the Jones’s, you’re likely not to catch them anyway. Stay focused, have a little patience, and you can get there.

These are the harsh truths about debt problems, and advice on how to fix them. We must re-train our minds with regard to debt, and stop following in the footsteps of our parents who know nothing about finance. When you get to a point that it stings to buy a happy meal at McDonald’s, you are on the track to financial freedom. Stay tuned for more great personal finance help and sign up for my RSS feed to get the latest updates on everything here at THE Personal Finance Blog.