Debt Can Make You Feel Hopeless
Debt can get people into serious financial trouble, particularly when it becomes unmanageable. There is a tendency to ignore debt problems as they develop, treating them as a temporary problem. Far too many people live in denial of their debt problem until it reaches a crisis point and they are unable to meet their minimum payments. Suddenly they're being dunned by debt collectors and are in danger of having their vehicles repossessed and their home foreclosed upon to satisfy their debts in arrears.
Do not let your debt problems reach that point. It is easy to blame a failure to take responsibility for one's finances, but often people are in denial because they see it as too embarrassing to admit that they are not wealthy enough to maintain the appearances they regard as necessary for to support their social status. For instance, one young couple who were trying a well known financial guru's get out of debt program ran into trouble within weeks after they began. Some friends suggested they go out to dinner. Although the restaurant was more than they could really afford, they felt uncomfortable about declining or trying to suggest a cheaper alternative because they were afraid it would make them look poor in their friends' eyes. Although they got the cheapest thing on the menu, once they covered drinks and tip, it still blew their budget for the week. All because they felt it too embarrassing to admit that they couldn't afford to go there.
If you want to find freedom from the endless stress of debt, you'll need to be willing to face the embarrassment of having to admit to your friends that you can't afford to do something with them. You may have to risk looking like a cheapskate when you cut back on discretionary spending here and there. You may even have to cut back on the parts of your lifestyle that others see and remark upon, and deal with their comments. You may discover that some of your friends weren't all that much of friends and you're just as well off without them.
You'll also have to make sacrifices of a more material kind. You've gotten in the habit of spending beyond your means, and now there's a lot of lost ground you're going to have to regain. It's not enough to just spend within your means. If you're going to have to spend below your means for a significant period of time to free up the funds to repay your debts and break free of the cycle of indebtedness. That will mean doing without certain things you've become accustomed to enjoying.
However, this should not be taken to mean giving up all the joy in the life. Far from it, you need some small pleasures to keep yourself from despairing as you struggle through the privations that come with cutting your spending back. So you need to find things that will bring you joy for relatively little money. Most communities have a variety of low-cost activities that often are overlooked because people don't think beyond the obvious, and often expensive. For instance, many high schools have plays, concerts and sports events that are open to the public at a nominal price.
Just a few changes in your spending habits can enable you to make big changes in your financial situation. However, it won't happen overnight. Unless your debts are the result of a sudden and catastrophic expense like a medical emergency, you didn't get into this hole overnight either. It's going to require persistence and self-discipline to undo the damage of years or even decades of financial mistakes.
However, the results will be worth it. You'll no longer be living under a crushing burden of debt, feeling helpless to change your situation and hopeless for a future not blighted by the endless stream of bills that you have to stretch your money across.
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