I deserve this

The phrase “I deserve this” is a lie if you're using a credit card.

You don't deserve anything you can't pay for in full. Don't ask the person next to you if they think this is wrong. You know the answer. Trust yourself. You answer to the person who pays your bills, not to the person who gives you the answer you want to hear.

Pay cash. You may have less, but I promise you will owe less.
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Make more money or reduce your expenses

If the problem is that there isn't enough money to pay your expenses then you either need to make more money or reduce your expenses. It really is that simple.

As you look for income opportunities, remember to be very wary, very afraid of scammers. They just want your money!


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Be up front about debt

Don't let frustrated creditors send you to collections.

Be up front about your money problems with those you owe. More can be solved by engaging them in conversation than can be accomplished ignoring the problem.

Know your rights before the creditors abuse them. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is required reading. Know it, study it, use it. You still owe the money but you can control the situation.
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Ask it often

"Will it matter 20 years from now?"

This question pertains to every aspect of your personal finances, to every decision you'll ever make about them. Ask it often.
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Be realistic

Be realistic when you calculate the amount needed in your emergency fund for monthly living expenses. Don’t factor in the lattes.

Sit down and list what you really need. Dave Ramsey calls them the four walls: Food, Utilities, Housing, and Transportation.

Cable, booze, cigarettes, concert tickets, internet, and clothes shouldn't be on the list.

Get real. If you're in emergency mode, you aren't eating out.
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Finances - simple vs. complicated

$120.00 - That's the minimum amount you agree to pay for putting $100 on a credit card at 20%. If you only pay the 2.5% minimum payment each month it will cost you over $300.

Finances are complicated when you factor in interest, double cycle billing, grace periods, transfer fees, APR's, APY's, amortization, monthly payments, etc.

Finances are simple when you don't spend what you don't have and use cash.
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Romans 13:8

Romans 13:8 explains it this way: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

Love is one debt that's never paid off. No matter how much we have loved, we are obligated to keep loving one another and, more importantly, God for all He has done through His love for us.

However, FINANCIAL debt should not remain outstanding.
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