Have you ever wondered what emotional debt is? Does emotional debt exist? To see if emotional debt exists for your personal finances, it is as simple as examining your bills, spending, and where your money is going and who - your money is going too.
Do you like to help people financially? For most - the answer is yes. It feels good to give money or buy things that someone needs. We like to feel that we are helping others out of their problems. But are we creating problems for our finances - by helping others?
Many families suffer from emotional debt. How many parents have their adult children on their health or vehicle insurance policies? How many parents finance their adult children vehicles, homes, personal loans, and other items that require credit - that adult children haven't established on their own yet?
This emotional debt can increase stress, family conflicts, create financial hardships, plummet credit scores - instead of - improving them and leads to a chaotic train wreck. For emotional debt does not teach the adult child how to become a self-sustaining financial independent.
Anyone who has ever researched and applied new information to increase their credit score knows that it takes time, effort, and lots of hard work with financial control to improve and increase a credit score. This requires patience. How many consider using patience as a tool when managing money or home budgets? Most do not. Why?
Because most are impulsive buyers. We see a loved one has an immediate need. We want to fill the need. We don't want anyone around us to suffer. So we immediately leap - before thinking of the consequences. We never consider the lessons we are teaching. But we will harp and bark all day long about the stresses of our finances because we chose to help - not realizing - the methods of our help are just good intentions without effective and positive long lasting results.
The hardest part of managing money is to consider the long term lesson - before - acting upon the immediate feel good.
Is it better to teach someone how to control their own money, be patient with their money, and use self-control to manage money or is it better to help them while teaching them nothing?
I believe the answer speaks for itself. Emotional debt is a huge problem in America. Yes, wages are lower compared to the increase costs of living. However, when our NET incomes state that is the only money we have - then it is up to each of us - to spend within that NET income to do the most with it.
We can't keep being emotional debt spenders. For we keep stress in our current generation and we do nothing to teach future generations how to control money - instead of - letting money control us!
It has been said that money is the root of all evil. When one considers all the bad, negative, and horrible emotions, feelings, and criminal actions that gaining money unlawfully can provoke - money does appear to be evil.
But imagine if money isn't the enemy - but self is? Self has zero patience, zero control, zero discipline, and zero boundaries to the realistic values that money can buy and what money can not buy.
Unrealistic expectations of money taint the rich - as it does the poor. Divorce rates, broken homes, child support payments, and increasing medical debt prove how unhealthy most people are because they allow money to control them and they do not try to learn how money impacts their emotional status.
Telling anyone - no - that you can not afford to do something can be humiliating, feel shameful, and be very uncomfortable. But like with any healthy habit - it takes time to bring others on board to the good you are doing in your life. The more you say no - the easier it becomes. Sometimes, saying the word - No - will also reveal who is real and genuine to you and who never was. For real respect of others is built upon the foundation of the words - yes and no - used together. Not just the word - yes.
Many people use others for their money, resources, and what they can buy you or do for you. But once the emotional debt stops being spent - then the real problems come to light that show how money was not and never was the problem.
Greed. Selfishness. Lack of caring. Lack of sincerity. Impulsiveness. Immaturity. Irresponsibility. These are just a few problems that people have internally - when they are told no - that you will not give into their financial demands anymore. Their actions and reactions prove if they are spoiled by emotional debt and dependents upon others - instead of - being financially independent.
Money becomes complicated because of our emotions. But when the math of your money reveals the truth - believe the math first. Why?
Because emotions can be used to manipulate others and to justify self for one's selfishness and to pardon bad or negative financial habits. Math and money requires respect because it produces logic and truth.
So consider what is wise spending and mature budgeting and what is simply emotional debt. Even stopping the minimal wasting of $20 here and $20 there on emotional debt will improve finances. But that's something you'll have to apply personally and not just take my word for it.
One maybe perceived as being a horrible person when saying no to emotional debt. However, to have peace with finances and money and feel secure with your NET income of what it can do and what it can not do is a truth that any financial situation will always survive and thrive through - regardless - of what the economy, taxes, and government do! They don't live in your home. You do! So don't let your own emotions manipulate you into financial chaos that you can learn to stop and prevent.
