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Why Are You In Debt? (Part 2)
Posted by Gail | Filed under Debt Traps
People who are in debt often tell me they don’t really know how it happened. It just did. And it’s remarkable how many people who are making good money still manage to dig themselves a debt hole. If you think you make a reasonable income but are still walking around with a balance on your credit card or your line of credit, or dip into your overdraft, you should ask yourself these three questions:
Do you change your car every couple of years? Once upon a time, we saved up for a car, bought it, drove it, took care of it, and didn’t buy another one until the one we had died. Now people change their cars seasonally. I’ve worked with people who change their cars a couple times a year. OMG! And every time they move from car to car they increase their “negative equity” which is the latest euphemism for DEBT!
A car is a means of transportation. Sometimes you need more car (or truck) because of the kind of work you do. Some people like having more car around them for safety reasons – I would never feel save in a tiny car because of all the highway driving I have to do. But if you’re buying a new car every year, it may be that a) you’re trying to impress someone, or b) you’re trying to fill a hole in your sense of self. While I know that people judge us by what we wear and what we drive, that’s no reason to give in to those dopes. Anyone who thinks the clothes you put on your back and the rust bucket you drive has anything to do with who you actually are is a fool and you don’t need to worry about what they think. Sadly, people go broke trying to keep themselves in new model cars. Oy!
Do you rent, or have you bought, way more home than you need? Here’s another of those traps we’ve laid for ourselves and routinely fall into: The bigger my home, the richer I feel. Or the shinier my marble, the better taste I must have, so the better I must be. I worked with one couple who had only just moved into a home they could barely afford when they upgraded on impulse to bigger and better.
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