LOVE without a LIMIT

I often times see materialistic things swallow our hoods like bad food. And a lot of us are digesting it all, and emptying our already empty pockets to do so.We shop, with no limit. We pull up to drive thrus and supersize each item, no limit. We purchase the latest smart phones, clothes, shoes, hairstyles...with no limit. And once our budget has met its limit, many of us keep on spending...with no damn limit.

Then we have credit cards that, like us, have reached their limit. We get back on our bills to the point of no catching up and we rely on borrowing a few bucks from others just to get us to the next paycheck. Point blank, we sometimes become careless with our finances and end up in the negative because we don't honor our limit. And sometimes, too often, our love for money and things is a love without a limit.

I believe, and I'm no Suze Orman, but I believe often times we have trouble saving because we have a bigger trouble spending. And that trouble can lead us down a spiraling road; sometimes depression, sometimes even homelessness. And that's when you no longer control the money because the money is busy controlling you.

Let's evaluate the nature of spending beyond our limit: Some of us are truly addicted to retail. And no men, it is not just my ladies that I am referring to with excessive shopping habits. Some of you have spending issues as well, so stop hiding behind the stererotypes. It's a universal issue that has caused a national crisis. And it's so funny to me that everyone blames the government for this recession...when many of us were in a recession long before George Bush annonced it to the public. A lot of us were dealing with a deficit years ago; and now we've gotten used to the life. But let me be the first to tell you, being broke and working every single day is insane. And many of us and our broken budgets are defining insanity

In order to save, know the importance of saving. Understand that it takes discipline and may be difficult, but entirely worth it. Being oblivious to what may come, good or bad, is an even greater reason to save. Learning to invest can better our lives, the lives of our children and their children as well. Too many lessons for our young people are blasting through our airwaves about the wrong ways to handle money and what money represents. This can explain why to most young people, cars and clothes are more important than college.

Money can make us do some crazy things. And the lack of makes us do crazier things than that. Nothing is wrong with spending and having nice things, especially if you work hard to earn those things. However, it is an important lesson to know your limit, save some of what you make, and budget wisely. After all, the money goes fast; your values stay with you.

Love,
Vee