There are a lot of excuses on why we’re in debt. The environment around us says, “SPEND MONEY, BUY STUFF.” Here are some of the lamest I’ve heard.
Lame Scapegoat #1: It’s the media’s fault that I’m in debt. The media hypes every product imaginable and it makes me buy crap I don’t need.
What can we do? We can try to numb ourselves to advertising. Let’s fast forward the commercials using our TIVOs. Better yet, let’s turn the TV off. Don’t use the web. We won’t know the news so we’ll have to talk to “real” people to find out what’s going on in the world.
Lame Scapegoat #2: I get peer pressure from my friends. All of my friends have iPods. They all dress in fancy outfits. They all want to go out every night. If I don’t pay the fee, I’ll be stuck at home with no friends.
What can we do? Go out only once in a while. We don’t have to go to Friday’s happy hour every week. Our real friends will still hang out with us despite our lameness and free t-shirts. On top of that, let’s grab some additional friends who like doing things for free. Hopefully they’ll like things like running, writing, hanging out with the family, and other lame stuff.
Lame Scapegoat #3: Nobody taught me about money when I was younger. The public education system failed to teach me how to balance a checkbook or make a budget.
What can we do? Now is a great time to learn about finance. The best thing we can do now is learn all we can to get us out of the hole and pass that on to our children. We don’t want them to make the same mistakes we did.
Real Reason: I lack self-control.
No one’s twisting our arms to use our credit cards. We’re given this wonderful flexibility and we’re using it to destroy ourselves. When we have choices to either waste money or not, we need to make the right choice. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.