Stupid ideas come in all sorts of packages. Bad debt, various loans, purchase decisions, and
delayed savings. Most people reach the age of 65 with little or no savings. They live off social
security and what little else they have. It is no wonder the golden arches are filled with workers in their golden years.
Anything that wastes your money and prevents you from becoming debt free can be a stupid idea.
The only way to save and invest money is to not send it to creditors each month. Only when it is
yours to keep can you put it aside to work for you as hard as you have worked for it.
It is not your job in life to make your creditors rich. The goal is to make you rich. If you are going to make that happen, stay away from bad decisions. Decisions made in the absence of good, or even any, information. Time pressured, desperate decisions are seldom made with enough information.
Anything that slows down spending and requires you to think twice before parting with your
money is a good idea. Fill out a Purchase Checklist for any decision that requires spending more than what you have in your pocket. Some questions you need to answer: Cost; is it on sale; can you pay cash; where will the money come from; do you know the cost of credit if you don’t pay cash; with that cost added in is it still worth buying; is this a need or a want; could you justify this purchase to another person; and would you accept these reasons from someone else?
Stupid ideas abound when ignorance, greed and pride, (definitely not the common sense triplets) form the basis of your decisions. Ignorance is simply an absence of knowledge or information.
Greed is nothing but wanting more than you should. Pride is caring what your neighbor. or
someone you don’t even know, in an advertisement, thinks of you.
So, understanding there is no winner in the contest to see who is the most stupid, here are some things
to avoid in your financial life.
Bad Debt. Defined as any debt other than a home mortgage, education loans and some business
debt. Bad debt should be avoided. If you have it, getting rid of it should be your number one
priority. Then get rid of your other debt. The more money you can put away as opposed to
sending to your creditors will make a dramatic difference in your financial progress.
These particular types of bad debt need to be avoided at all costs.
Auto title Loans
Payday Loans
Rent To Own Stores
125 Loans
Credit Cards
Pawn Brokers
If you find yourself even considering using any of these call a friend and have them talk you out of it.
Other bad ideas include some of our habits. This is not moralizing here, just a hard look at how
bad habits drain your financial resources. Smoking, alcohol consumption, buying coffee and a
donut on the way to work, lunches at work, and anything else which has become a habit can cost
you a tremendous amount of money per month. Money you could be putting away. Make a fast
calculation of what you spend each day on these habits. Then times it by the number of working
days in a month (usually around 22). This is the money you waste each month. You need to put it
in your pocket not someone else’s. And let’s face it, you will feel better too.
There are plenty of people willing to benefit from your stupid ideas and bad decisions. If you find you have already embraced some of these stupid ideas, change your choices. Don’t compound your mistake. If you make a stupid decision, you don’t need to stick with it. Learn from it and move on. Decide if you are going to have some burned fingers or a ruined life. Live and learn from the burned fingers, let someone else ruin their life.
David Wilding
http://www.debtattack.comTake Care Of Your Debt Before
It Takes Care Of You
About the Author
Article courtesy of David Wilding at http://www.debtattack.com. Visit for other ideas to combat debt. Print out and use our Purchase Agreement to save you from further debt. Contact us at info@debtattack.com. Copyright 2004 debtattack.com
