Post 1 – 8 Excuses Broke People Believe

What is the difference in being broke or being poor?
It’s two different ways of looking at the same situation, no money.

Poor is an attitude. It says you can’t get ahead and you’ll never win with money. Just stay where you are and sulk in your bad luck forever.

Broke on the other hand is something you’re just passing through.

We’ve all messed up by believing some of the prevailing money myths in our culture. The turning point comes, however, when you’re willing to own up, claw your way out, and never live in the lie again. My goal is to show you how to change your attitude, to change your life and start on the true path toward financial peace and prosperity. To help folks build a life they don’t need a vacation from.

I want to share with you the 8 most common excuses for debt that folks use who are up to their eyeballs in debt and are unwilling to change their situation. Instead of the temporarily broke mentality they have, the dooms day, woe is me, attitude of I’m poor and it’s out of my control.

If you find yourself struggling with any of these 8 excuses, my goal is to show you how to change your attitude, to change your life and start on the true path toward financial peace and prosperity.

I’m going to start by sharing with you the 8 excuses for debt and then over the next few posts I will break them down a little bit and dive a bit deeper.

8 excuses for debt

But . . . I Just Can’t Save Excuses.

These include things like:

• I’ll save next year when I’m making more money.
• At my age, it’s too late anyway.
• Why save money? You can’t take it with you when you die.

Cars Are the Exception to Debt Excuses.

These folks like to say:

• Old cars just aren’t as safe.
• What’s wrong with a 72-month car payment?
• My car is an investment.
• Buying used is just inheriting someone else’s problems.

Family Comes First Excuses.

Some of these include:

• Whatever you want, dear.
• I just want my kids to have it better than I did.
• But, that new RV will help our family bond.

I’ll Do It Later or the I Promise Excuses.

Some of these reasons to procrastinate include:

• We’ll pay it off when the tax return comes in.
• I’ll start my budget next month.
• I’ll worry about the future when it gets here.

Debt’s Not So Bad, Right? Excuses.

This group of folks believe:

• If everyone stopped borrowing money, the economy would fail.
• I must be able to afford it if I was approved for the loan.
• I need a house payment for tax purposes.

I Earned This Excuses.

Some of these selfish reasons include:

• You’re only young once, right?
• But we’re on vacation.
• I work hard. I deserve it.

Poor, Pitiful Me Excuses.

These woe is me reasons include:

• Why make more money? Uncle Sam will just take it all away.
• The little man can’t get ahead.
• If I earn too much I’ll lose my public assistance.

No Worries or I’m Covered Excuses.

These folks think:

• My rich grandparents are going to leave me money.
• I can’t afford insurance. But hey, my weed eater has a three-year extended warranty.
• It’s okay. I have overdraft protection.

So let’s start today with the But . . . I Just Can’t Save excuses.

Some of the attitudes toward debt and saving that people hold when they belong to the “I Just Can’t Save” group is first of all, procrastination. They say, “I’ll save next year when I’m making more money.” They may hold that attitude of denial, “At my age, it’s too late anyway.” Or the attitude of desperation or whats the use, “Why save money? You can’t take it with you when you die.”

In Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover he breaks the path to financial peace down to seven steps, he calls them baby steps, and these steps are designed to give you little wins along the way that help encourage you and to slowly change the attitude from “what’s the point, I cant save anyway” to slowly change it to maybe this will work, maybe I can do it. As you go through those steps and follow the process those little wins strengthen the “I can attitude” little by little.

The very first step to winning with money and getting out of debt is to establish an emergency fund. Without this first step, you won’t accomplish your money goals. The sense of empowerment, the sense of satisfaction that you have once you have that emergency fund is amazing. Especially when that first emergency comes up and you realize, wow, I can actually take care of this. I don’t have to borrow the money from somewhere. I don’t have to juggle the bills. I can actually get my car fixed, or fix the plumbing issue, or whatever the emergency is. It doesn’t bust your budget and you don’t have the anxiety you used to get when something did go wrong.

Saving for that emergency fund also teaches you to make saving a priority, and it gives you the cushion you need to stop using credit and to start paying off debt.

Depending on how much experience you have saving money, saving for an emergency fund could be a piece of cake—or it could feel downright impossible.

So how do you save money fast?

Well first of all you have to work with what you have. You must develop a good budget and cut back on spending. You may think that ‘This will take forever!’ but within a few weeks of staying at home, eating only at home, and sticking to a budget you can be well on your way. You can’t save any money without creating a budget first. Creating a budget tells you exactly where every penny goes. You’ll see how much money you waste every month. You will realize just how much you spend on those Grande lattes, or those convenient fast food lunches, or those big gulp sodas every month. Once you see just how much you are wasting, you’ll get to $1,000 in no time.

Others tricks to get that emergency fund funded that others have done could include some of the following:

• Stashing away every $5 bill you received or maybe saving all dollar bills and loose change at the end of the day. That might not add up to $1,000 in one month, but it sure can help you get there.
• Avoiding dining out is a very good way of cutting back on expenses.
• Use cash when you purchase things. It really helps you see and feel the money you’re spending.
• Bring in More Money
• Sell stuff. Garage sale, eBay, Craigs List, Facebook Marketplace. Sell “stuff” to make money and get rid of things you don’t need at the same time! If you’re not up for a garage sale, sell some of your old gold or silver jewelry. That can help you easily make hundreds of dollars fast.
• If your job allows it then working overtime is another great way to bring in extra money. If that isn’t an option, consider using your skills or talents to earn additional cash by finding a part-time job.
• You can start your own business. For example you can clean someone’s house for an afternoon, walk dogs, or show someone how to use a computer. Teach someone how to cook or teach them how to organize files. Even if it seems like just pennies now, don’t take it for granted.

  There are some great income tax savings you can get that will save you money when starting a business in addition to the additional income that it brings in to you. It all adds up! In fact this is one of the methods that I have used to generate more cash and save taxes.

  If you need an idea of a business to start, I can show you how you can start a business with no financial investment, no pyramid that requires a monthly auto shipment that cost you money every month instead of creating money, and no selling of lotions, or potions or pills, or quick magic diet aids that melt away inches in minutes or other such scam promotions. 

• Save Money by Making a Few Phone Calls

  Make the wise move of cashing out whole life insurance policies and switch to term. Get whatever cash is available from the policies to apply toward your emergency or your debt snowball. Switching to term life insurance will greatly reduce your monthly premium cost so you can then take the money you are saving in monthly premium charges and apply that toward your emergency fund or debt snowball.

  Additionally, you might be able to save money each month by shopping around for better deals on life, health, home and auto insurance.

• A lot of people use their income tax refunds to build their emergency funds. That’s a great use of this year’s refund, but if you’re consistently getting large refunds at tax time, you should change your tax withholding so you bring more money home in your weakly paycheck. That way there’s no waiting and no giving the government a free loan!

No matter what methods you use or how much money you can dig up, you won’t hit a savings goal if you don’t picture yourself reaching it. You have to BELIEVE you can save money fast. Acknowledge you have to do it. And then, get to it!

Now is the best time to start taking control of your money! I’ll be covering many topics to teach and encourage saving and debt freedom. Be sure to subscribe to my blog at ProsperityRx.com or to my podcast ProsperityRx to learn how to save money, make a budget, pay off your debt, reduce your taxes and invest for your future.

Also if you want to learn more about how to create extra income by starting a home business that requires no start up capital, no pyramid that requires a monthly auto shipment that cost you money every month instead of creating money, and no selling of lotions, or potions or pills, or quick magic diet aids that melt away inches in minutes or other such scam promotions visit http://AIMHighForSuccess.com.

Start Today!