Today is the day after Christmas. How do you feel?
Did you indulge in the power-shopping at the malls and stores prior to Christmas? Did you whip out the credit cards at Best Buy and say “charge it!” Did you hang out at home, sipping brewed coffee, comfortably shopping online at Amazon, having all your gifts shipped as you “spent” hundreds of dollars of money you never had? (”borrowed” is a more accurate word).
How do you feel today?
Excited? Is it a good day to go shopping for after-Christmas sales? Borrow and spend even more?
Depressed? Feeling like you overdid it and wondering how you’re going to repay those loans?
Avoiding? Not thinking about it? After all.. you won’t get billed for another few weeks.
What are those balances up to now? How long will it take for you to pay off those loans at the rate you pay them?
“But it’s Christmas! My family deserves nice gifts!”
Your family deserves to have money saved for college.
Your family deserves to have money saved for an eventual downturn in income.
Your family deserves to have money saved for retirement.
All of those happen from saving, not borrowing. All of your extra money is going to go to pay down debt. How much will be left for you to save?
How will you live when you retire?
What is going to be different in your budgeting and spending and borrowing patterns between now and then?
When do you change to avoid the collision course?
Just a cookie stick to stir into your $4 latte.
Bankruptcy Advice | 04-Feb-08 at 11:40 am | Permalink
Yes, American’s are definitely in debt trouble. But so is the rest of the world. I just received two articles this morning stating that Scotland and Wales had double the bankruptcy filings in the past 7 years. This is turning into an international crises.
Flexeril used for. | 08-Aug-08 at 11:51 am | Permalink
Flexeril….
Flexeril….