Silence you inner 5 year old!

I want, I want, I want!  Sounds like something you'd here a 5 year old screaming throughout a toy store.  Well, those 5 year olds are now 25+ still screaming, "I want, I want, I want!"  Now instead of Tonka trucks, baby dolls, and video games, they're screaming for cars, computers, and houses.

There's nothing wrong with wanting, for it ignites drive, determination, and motivation.  The issue lies in the inability to patiently wait for what you want.  Children are impulsive, so when they want something they want it NOW! As we grow and mature that impulsiveness is controlled, to an extent.  Sometime in adults that impulsiveness manifests itself in the overly extended, ever growing, limit exceeding consumer debt.  Today so many people are stressed, stuck, and unhappy due to the debts they've incurred buying "stuff", stuff they could've purchased in time without the incurred debt.  How many of your coworkers, peers, friends, and family members are stuck in jobs they don't want because of debt?

Tips to Avoid the Debt Trap

• Avoid emotionally driven impulse spending.  
• Appreciate what you have today.
• Understand that it's the job of marketers and advertisers to leave you feeling inadequate without their product, trust me you don't need it!
• Begin using a cash based budget.
• Don't accrue anymore debt.
• Don't fall in the trap of spending money in order to save money! 
• Seek fulfillment and wholeness outside of material possessions.  1 pair, yet another 20 pair will be enough to make you feel whole inside.  
• Determine a want vs. need.
• Set goals for your finances.

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Debt is dumb!

The title sounds harsh but it's a reality.  Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt.  The average US household has $6,600 in credit card debt ($15,799 for households actively using credit).  This number may seem small but coupled with mortgage, automobile and student loan debt this number sky rockets. You may be unaffected by those numbers until life happens and a job is lost, or maybe interests rates increase.   More often than not small shifts in a families income can quickly explode the overextended household budget.  I can go on and on about the woes of debt, but that's not my purpose today.  Below are a few sites to help you get on track and control your debt.

Man Vs. Debt (This website offers some realistic views on paying down your debt)
Dave Ramsey (The same advice your grandmother would give you.)
Suze Orman (Host of national debt talk show)

"The man who never has money enough to pay his debts has too much of something else." - James Basford

"Running into debt isn't so bad, it's running into creditors that hurts." - Unknown

"Never spend your money before you have it." - Thomas Jefferson

"No man's credit is as good as his money." E. W. Howe

"You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt." Daniel Hannan

"Debt is dumb; Cash is king." Dave Ramsey

"It takes as much imagination to create debt as to create income." Leonard Orr


Follow me on twitter for tons of debt quotes!

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