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Cure Your Debt Addiction Now!

By Michael Redbourn

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 04Nov2009
Word count: 776
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It's no secret that tens of millions of Americans are in debt to the tune of close to $10,000 dollars of credit card debt, and I just was asking myself how it all came about, when I came across an article about California's debt problems, and I was shocked.

I knew of course that California was in bad shape financially, but I had no idea just how bad, and it would be hard to overstate its fiscal problems.

If California Were A Person It Would Be Bankrupt

The present shortfall in California's budget is $42 billion, and yes you read that right, billion and not million, and a billion is a thousand million.

I just checked the population of California, and the latest figures put out by the census bureau were 36,756,666 (try to ignore the 666 because it's must have changed by now), which means that every man woman and child would need to pay around $1,100 to cover the shortfall.

To cover this shortfall, the legislature enacted a package that included the largest state tax increases in American history, leaving California with the highest sales and personal income-tax rates in the country.

* Hawaii overtook California in May.

That Was The Good News

The state is now paying for goods and services with IOUs and California's fixed pension obligations are estimated at $300 billion or nearly $8,000 per man, woman and child, and this year the Treasury will put America itself another $1.4 trillion in debt, and nervous foreigners are now asking for higher rates of interest.

So Are Americans Addicted To Debt?

Since it's not just individuals in America that are staring bankruptcy in the face, but most states and the country too, it might be reasonable to ask if Americans have become addicted to debt, and I purposely wrote "debt" and not spending, because spending is not bad, but getting into debt is, if you don't have the wherewithal to repay it.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines addiction as,

"The state of being addicted to a habit or pursuit; esp. the state of dependence on a drug to the extent that it cannot be withdrawn without adverse effects".

Can You Control Your Personal Spending?

People with addictions clearly don't think about long term effects, because if they did then they wouldn't smoke, gamble or take on huge debts, without having any real idea of how they repay them.

Maybe the first thing that you need to ask yourself, is if you can control your spending, and then ponder what AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) has told alcoholics for years, "If you need to control your drinking then you're an alcoholic".

Put An End To Impulse Buying

If you really want to get out of debt, then impulse buying would seem like the first thing to get under control, but that can be hard.

The obvious way to put a stop to impulse buying is to make a list of things that you need before you go out, and not buy anything that isn't on the list.

The danger is that you will see a special offer in a store that's not on your list, and feel that it's a deal that's too good to miss out on, and the addicted mind will suggest that by buying this object that you will actually be saving money.

If this happens once in a while, and the purchase doesn't cause you major debt damage then don't be too hard on yourself, but if it becomes a regular thing then nip in the bud, and go back to only buying what's on your list.

Denial Is The Worst Thing

If you're addicted to spending, then take a look in the mirror and admit it to yourself, because denying it will only make things worse.

Make a mental note of places that cause you to spend money that you don't have, and don't go to them.

If it's your local shopping mall then avoid it, and if you want to go there with a friend, then only take enough money with you to buy a coffee or a snack.

And if you really need to buy something there, then take enough money out of ATM for the purchase, and then leave your credit cards at home before you go there.

If the above advice sounds horrible, and not only very difficult but also something that will make you miserable and cause you to suffer, then you're addicted to debt, so admit it.

Losing your house or car will make you miserable too, and life without them will be more than "difficult", and having debt collectors phoning and knocking on your door isn't a whole lot of fun either.

The author of this article was a film producer, and award winning film sound editor for many years. One of his primary interests is economics, and one of his websites -> Get Financial Help features a large number of extremely popular articles about the world's economy in general, and bad debt loans, debt consolidation, debt settlement, and bankruptcy in particular.

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