But the thing is, [debt] is worse than obesity, because this is a problem that you can hide. It’s a problem that you can deny that you have. You can have a big fat lifestyle, and you can pretend you’re making a lot of money because you can just finance it and pretend that you’re […]

It is human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity. However, our culture teaches us to live for the now. “I want it!” we scream, and we can get it, if we are […]

One of the advantages of living a life of economic solvency is you don’t have to spend too much time in petty disputes with bank clerks.
— “Trail,” blog commenter, regarding an individual who was upset that her bank was reducing her HELOC

There are people who are addicted to shopping, and then there are people who just spend more than they make. More and more people every year fall into the latter category. According to a Roper survey, fewer Americans in 2004 than in the two previous years said they planned to cut back when it comes […]

The Edge is a miserable place to live. People who exist from paycheck to paycheck live there. They spend all they have. And when something unexpected happens, they must either take a flying leap into the darkness below or run to the credit cards, the finance company, or worse, the bankruptcy court.
— Mary Hunt, Debt-Proof […]

The single most significant decision you make on a daily basis is your choice of attitude.  It’s the difference between letting life happen to you or taking control and making it happen.  Debt-proofing your attitude is the difference between your financial situation controlling your life or you taking control of your finances.
— Mary Hunt, Debt-Proof […]

The devil you know is much better than the devil you don’t.  Make a complete list of your debts and creditors.  Some people panic at this point, as if committing this information to paper will breathe life into a dormant monster.  If you’re one of these, realize that there is nothing in this action that […]

All you have to do to begin your recovery and open the door to total freedom is avoid taking on any new debt today.  I don’t avoid debt tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year.  That’s too much to think about.  I just do it today, one day at a time.  And these days, […]

Actually, respect, approval, and admiration — even friendship and love — are given much more freely to people who are confident and secure in their personal finances, who are solvent and who’ve stopped debting, than they are to those who aren’t and who haven’t.
— Jerrold Mundis, How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of […]

Your height is a permanent condition.  So is the color of your eyes.  Your debt is not.  It’s a situation.  Situations are temporary.  A cold is a situation.  You didn’t always have it; you won’t have it forever.  Debt is nothing more than that.
— Jerrold Mundis, How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of […]

It may be ugly for you and things may be truly bleak, but you can always get ahead.  I am not going to insult you by telling you it will be easy.  At times, digging out of your mountain of debt to get ahead will be overwhelming.  But know this:  You can do it if […]

Affirmations are fine, but affirmations alone don’t change your life.  You can say, “I am rich, I am rich, I am rich” until your face turns the color of money, but until you stop doing stupid stuff with your money and start doing smart stuff with your money, you will still be broke.  Affirmation without […]

Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.
— Esther de Waal

I hear this all the time:  “But it [smart personal finance] is so hard.”  Well, it’s easier than you think, and it’s certainly easier than becoming a financial statistic.  Being a financial failure is what’s really hard.
— Tod Barnhart, The Five Rituals of Wealth

When advised to budget, most people respond: “But I just don’t have enough money.”  In fact, most of these individuals have a lot more money than they think; they just lack control of it.  Making more money is not the answer.  The sad truth is that if you’re out of control, no matter how much […]