Financial Headache

I keep saying in this blog that the bill for all of this credit spending is about to come due. Credit spending is when you are using credit to live from day to day. You are buying gas and groceries, paying utility bills, mortgages, etc. with your credit cards. You are spending more than you make every month without fully thinking about the consequences of repayment. The government spends more than it takes in in revenues, so it is the biggest culprit of all. That is why they say the government is running a deficit. In fact, are there any governments in this country (on the state or local level too) that are not running in the red?

Living on credit is not good. If you are consistently spending more than you make, then something is very wrong with your finances. You need to sit down and figure out exactly how much revenue is coming in and how you are spending that money. What are your expenses on a daily basis? Food, gas, lunch, etc. What are your expenses on a weekly basis? Monthly basis? Food, mortgage payment, insurance, property taxes, etc. You must keep track of every dollar that you spend for a month or two. Then you look at the list and see if there is any expense that you can eliminate. Do you really need to buy coffee everyday? Lunch? Then you look to see if there is anything that you can reduce. Can you get a cheaper cell phone plan? Find cheaper insurance? Get the interest rates on your credit cards lowered? After that, if you are still spending more than you make you need to get professional help from a financial advisor/credit counselor.

Most people will find, though, that after looking closely at their finances, they just did not really know where their money was going. You have to be vigilant. You have to be scared. Read this. This should frighten you. If it doesn't, then you are either extremely stupid or extremely wealthy. Because this could happen to almost anyone.