Is There a Right Time to Spend When You’re in Debt
Debt is something that complicates the rest of our lives. Just when we think that we have things under control, debt shows back up to remind us who’s really the boss here. It’s a hard thing to deal with, but you have to confront it. You have to stare it down and realize that you can overcome your debt problem. You just need to find the strength to do it.
What about spending? After all, your bills are going to keep going. And there are going to be things that you need along the way. So here’s our thoughts on the matter.
If you know that you’re not going to be able to stick to a hard line budget, then you definitely want to take “baby steps”. Cut down expenses gradually. Generally, humans do not do well with deprivation. It tends to make us absolutely crazy. It’s going to be a better idea if you actually take the time to figure out what you need and what you want.
Spending can refer to either. You should be spending on the essentials you need, and only going with some of your wants. That’s the real way to make things easier as time goes along. You might even find that your tastes change at time passes. This is just part of the process. It’s never a bad idea to just see where you go. Don’t punish yourself or use negative language. You can beat yourself up about the debt, or you can figure out how to make it better for your own purposes. What is your choice really going to be?
Another point — you want to think about the purchases you need to make in order to keep bigger problems from happening. For example, you might need to fix your car. While the repairs you make aren’t necessary now, they will definitely be necessary later. You also want to make sure that you’re paying the essentials like property taxes and any other taxes that need to be paid. Otherwise you’re going to run into some big problems in terms of penalties. If your local government fines aren’t paid, you could even have a warrant issued for your arrest. Definitely not what you want to look forward to at all!
There is a right time and a right place to spend, and you’ll learn how to balance these two things over time. Good luck!