Poor Judgment: If You're Broke All The Time, There's Probably Good Reason

Here’s a news flash you probably already heard: You’re broke. OK, so maybe you have a few dollars to your name, but when you check your bank account, you have no savings account to speak of, you live paycheck to paycheck and at the end of the month, you have no leftover money. Sure, your bills are paid, but as far as being able to spend above and beyond expenses, you just aren’t at that point. And unless you make some serious changes, you’ll stay that way. Being short on cash and not being able to save money isn’t anything new when it comes to the average consumer. More than 50% of the population has no savings accounts, nor do they have any additional money left over after the bills are paid. But is there any way to avoid living this financial life for the rest of yours? Well, most who struggle with debt find themselves relatively trapped in a vicious cycle of bad money management and poor decisions. Those less than admirable decisions include using credit cards to pay bills or refusing to take a look at your debt, from big and bad to small and not quite as important, and making changes that are going to lead the kind of lifestyle that means money in your pocket. What ails most in this predicament is they decide to put saving money behind having fun or truly taking the time to put together a budget. For the first example, think about your finances. Are they prepared to handle an emergency money wise? If not, you should think twice about paying for a pricey vacation when you really don’t have the money. Yes, vacations are amazing but racking up more debt or spending money you don’t have just to hit the beach is just bad. In the end, it boils down to your priorities from a money management standpoint. Do you have a budget? Do you follow it? Do you really, seriously pay close attention to what you’re buying or is it just buy first and ask questions one you check out your online banking statement? You have to make getting out of that money pitfall a priority. Otherwise, you’ll be doomed to repeat the same mistakes as it relates to your finances, which simply means you’ll never get out from under that debt that continually plagues you one day, week, month and year at a time.