Debt addiction makes you feel good about buying things that you know you can live without
Debt addiction is a silent monster that sneaks up on you like a thief in the night. It stays awake twenty four hours a day, never taking a break. It can strike at any time and leave you holding more debt than you can handle. It isn't threatening or violent. As a matter of fact, it portrays itself as your friend, encouraging you to spend yourself into oblivion.
By the time you come to realize that debt is really your enemy, it is too late because it has already taken a huge bite out of your financial health. Then it weighs down on you like a ton of bricks, crushing you to the point that you can't seem to throw it off.
Debt addiction causes you to get behind on your bills, lose your home through foreclosure, have your car repossessed, stop making your credit card payments on time, and worst of all, it may cause you to file bankruptcy. It drives down your FICO score and causes your credit to look bad. Even if you don't get behind on your bills, it causes anxiety. It makes you worry about how you are going to live if by something bad happens like losing your job or getting sick and becoming unable to work.
How does this happen? It's easy. Debt addiction is everywhere, lurking in your heart and mind. It's a smooth, crafty operator. It attaches itself to you and causes you to buy things that you know you can live without, things you know you don't really need, and all the while making you feel good about the purchases. It tugs at your feelings, telling you that you can buy anything you want. Just write a check or pull out your credit cards.
Can you conquer your debt addiction. Of course you can. But you have to be willing and able to give up your bad spending habits. Shopping is an addiction for some people. They can't break the cycle of spending and continue to create debt without realizing how destructive it is until it's too late. Like alcoholics and drug addicts, many people need serious counseling and tough love to overcome their addiction to debt.
To defeat your debt addiction, you have to stop, look, and listen to the warning signs that, believe it or not, are always there. First of all, you have to get serious about your debt by not taking on any more. You have to admit that you have a problem controlling your spending habits and that you have an addiction that is covering you like a blanket.
You have to be strong enough to throw your addiction to debt to the curb and make it disappear forever. If not, it will keep coming back, breaking your will power, making you weak, and then taking control of your spending habits again. You can't let your addiction to spending regain control. You have to pay strict attention to how you spend your money by keeping your debt monster in it's cage. Don't let it influence the way you look at debt and credit.
Make a budget that is realistic and sensible and stick to it. You should start a serious savings account and stop making minimum payments on your credit cards. Keep your check book balanced at all times along with records of everything you buy. Don't buy things simply because they are on sale, especially items that you can live without and whatever you do, try to pay cash when you do have to buy something. The idea of paying cash will help you see how much real money you are actually spending.
Give your addiction to spending a permanent leave of absence and give yourself a vacation from high debt balances and bad credit.