We have all experienced loaning someone money and finding an immediate distancing in the relationship. … We don’t control how debt affects relationships; debt does that independently of what we want.  The borrower is servant to the lender, and you change the spiritual dynamic of relationships when you loan loved ones money.
— Dave Ramsey, Total Money […]

If the Red-Raced Kid (”I want it, and I want it now!”) rules your life, you will stay broke.
— Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover

Debt has been sold to us so aggressively, so loudly, and so often that to imagine living without debt requires myth-busting. Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can’t even envision a car without a payment … a house without a mortgage … a student without a loan … and credit without […]

It’s no fun traveling on the brink of financial devastation, fearful of any unexpected expense which could push you just over the edge.  Living from paycheck to paycheck keeps us on the edge, never having enough money to pay all of the bills and still have some left over; postdating a check or two; writing […]

People are simply amazed that I don’t use plastic. Some are actually “offended” by the fact that I don’t take advantage of the “float”. I’ve had more than one person tell me that I’m “crazy”. On the other hand, I’ve had a bunch of people say, “Man, I’d love to live that way. I use […]

For some reason we have come to accept that if the application is approved, the amount of the credit extended represents entitlement.  If the auto loan is approved it’s as if a mandate has come from on high assuring us that this is certainly an affordable purchase!  We are a nation controlled by debt.
— Mary Hunt, […]

Issuers of credit cards have only one agenda: to keep you permanently in debt.  Their goal in life is to put out the bait (issuing the card), jerk the hook (offering you some miniscule rebate or gift on the first use) and reel you in.  The rest is a piece of cake.  They know that […]

Every time you buy on credit you are converting optional purchases into essential expenses.  Think about it.  Every meal you pay for with plastic, every contract you sign at a health spa, a book club, a record club, a private school, a furniture store, a jewelry store, etc., is adding to your essential expenses list.
— Mary […]

Knowing what to do is not enough.  You must also do what you know.
— Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within

Too often people never even begin to pursue a goal out of their fear that they’ll fail.  Or worse, they start pursuing a goal, then give up too soon.  They may have been on track to achieve what they want, but they fail to maintain the patience of the stonecutter.  Because they’re not getting immediate […]

Be careful not to let the money you spend become a badge of your success.
— Suze Orman, The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life