There are a lot of people out there in debt right now, and our hearts definitely go out to them. In this cooled-off economy, it’s hard to find work that pays, which in turn means that it’s harder to pay off debt. But what if you actually do have a regular job and you are making payments? Believe it or not, you’re really not out of the woods yet. This is because there are plenty of distractions while paying off debt.
It might be the holidays, where you feel pressured to perform financially. There’s always someone that want sot throw a holiday party, and they want you to bring something. That can lead to a lot of money walking out of the door if you aren’t careful. You need to weigh all of your options and decide what’s going to make you happiest. Sometimes staying at home is the best choice, because it means that you get to keep all of your money. Now then, what about when you’re thinking on expenses for the kids? You need to realize that it’s okay to tell your children no once in a while. Sure, they might feel hurt, or worried about the future because they don’t have all of the shiny stuff that the other children have. Trust me — they’ll get over it. It’s more important to keep the lights on and the water hot for showers than it is for them to have overpriced shoes and jeans.
They will grow up for the better knowing that their parents gave them all of their needs, and only some of their wants. Kids are very resourceful, and they will quickly learn that if they really want something, they’re going to have to go out and earn it for themselves. This approach means that they rely on you a lot less, but they also gain skills that they’ll be able to rely on forever. It’s this attitude that can make the difference between children that understand personal finance on a deeper level, and children that turn into young adults who can’t understand credit.
You might even feel the need to spend more to impress your neighbors. The truth is that the people who live around you may be going through quite the struggle. It’s not like they’re going to openly admit it to you, so why even ask them? You can just assume that if they live around you, they could be affected by the economy just as much as you. A lot of people, especially when faced with difficult times, fall back on a lot of grandstanding in order to make everyone feel like they have something good going on in their lives.
It’s never a bad time to feel empowered, but you do need to make sure that you are gaining energy from the right sources. Spending willy-nilly with no regard for the future is a bad idea. You need to be stronger than your basic urges to have all of the “good stuff” in life. Can’t you wait until you get out of debt? We’re not saying that you should punish yourself, but you do need to think about your real priorities in life and then act accordingly.
Get out there and take care of your finances. Once you really face your debts and start paying them off, you’ll see things go down. Start with the most expensive card in terms of interest, and then work your way down. You have to get the high interest cards out of the way, because they will get more and more expensive with time.