Money Matters

I want to talk about this country's problem with money management. I'm not talking about our government, that's a whole other issue. I'm talking about the regular folks, the "99%", if you will.

I've tried to write this several different ways now, and each time it ends up sounding kind of mean. At the risk of offending someone (but no one in particular, I'm not attacking), I'm going to write it anyways.

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to know everything about money management, or budgeting, or this country's problems. This is just my two cents on the subject.

I know some people, and of some people, that are so bad at managing their finances that it just makes you want to shake the shit out of them and scream "Are you really that stupid???" (See? Mean.) First, let me say that I do not talk to people about my finances. No one, except my husband, knows how much money we make and what kind of bills we pay each month or what we save, etc. But believe it or not, there are people who have no problem sharing this information. What's funny is that it's usually the people that are making the worst financial decisions that are eager to share their business with others.

I used to know someone who was never embarrassed to tell me that all five of their credit cards were maxed out and they only had $100 in the bank. If that's your situation then okay, do the best you can, but in the same breath they would say something like "oh yeah, we're going to the beach for a weekend getaway"....wait, what? With what money?? "Oh, did I say the credit cards were maxed out? We actually have $100 left on one so that will be plenty." I'm not making this stuff up. Some people really are that terrible at managing their money. The second they make a payment on the credit card they just turn around and spend it again. I can't even count the number of times that I offered to help them work out a budget so they could get out of debt and then save up for a vacation, or car, or whatever frivolous thing they were always spending money on. They were never interested in the responsible route... I know someone else who would talk about their $30k+ in debt one week, the new truck they just leased the next week, the collections calls about the credit cards the next week, and the fence they were installing in the backyard the next week. You. Idiot.

I'm not trying to tell people what they should or shouldn't spend their money on. One of the beauties of this country is that you can spend your money on whatever you want (well, most of it, but I digress). If you can afford it, then who am I to say you shouldn't go out and buy every season of Dawson's Creek on DVD to watch on the brand new 70" TV you just bought? Knock yourself out!! But the problem is that the people who can't afford it are continuously maxed out on their credit cards and struggling to make ends meet because they don't understand that you can't buy everything you want just because you have a few dollars of open credit on the MasterCard. You, my friends, are the reason this country is in such a terrible financial situation. Just because a credit card company is dumb enough to give you a $10,000 line of credit doesn't mean that you should be dumb enough to max it out when you know damn well you can't pay it back, at 20% interest no less! Use your heads people!

Don't even get me started on people buying houses with mortgages they can't afford just because the bank was greedy enough to loan them the money. Hello mortgage crisis.

Here is my point. I have a point! This country's situation is only going to get worse if people don't learn how to manage their money and get themselves out of debt rather than expecting the government to do it for them. It's not Obama's fault that you're an idiot. (I know, mean, the truth hurts)

End rant.

I would like to offer up a couple small pieces of advice as my contribution to society. It's not going to get anyone out debt next month, but it will certainly point them in the right direction.

1. Figure out where you can cut costs. I know that no one wants to live more frugally, but unfortunately it's a necessary evil. Reduce your cable package (or shut it off all together and pay $8/mo. for Hulu+). Call your insurance company to see if you qualify for any discounts or reductions (be careful, this back fired on me once and my rates went up when they ran a check and found a recent speeding ticket). Search coupons.com before you go to the grocery store for free coupons that you can print for the items that you usually buy. Reduce your cell phone minutes. You get my drift?

2. Call your credit card companies and ask them to lower your interest rate. This doesn't always work, but it has before. The worst thing they can do is tell you no.

3. Create a budget and stick to it. Your monthly budget should only include the things that you need to spend money on to get buy. Food (and I don't mean fancy dinners out), gas (and I don't mean weekend trips), utilities, etc. Everything thing that is leftover should be thrown at credit cards. Personally, I would make the minimum payment on the lower interest rate cards so that you can pay the higher interest rate cards off first. If they are all pretty much the same, split it up evenly or pay one off at a time.

And most importantly...

4. Learn how to to tell yourself no. I know it sounds fun to spend $100 every weekend at the bar. And I know it's hard to pass up that awesome sale at your favorite store or the sweet deal on a new car, or whatever it is that floats your boat. But, if you don't need it to get by, and you don't have the flexible income to buy it,  then you don't need it. Just say no and walk away.

SECOND DISCLAIMER: This post is not meant to ridicule anyone who is in debt and/or struggles to get by for the simple reason that life is expensive and the pay checks don't cover the bills. I get that.