M is for Money

Do people get into debt a few dollars at a time or do they dive into the deep end with a few high end purchases? Each theory has its own proponents, fans of the latte factor would say that many small expenses add up to big trouble. But many people reject this thinking, after all how many lattes can you possibly drink in a year. It has to be the big purchases, the new house and the new car, that causes the ultimate downfall. But in looking at my own debt history, it was a bit of both.

Living beyond your means is living beyond your means, whether it’s $5 a day or $500 once a month. In my opinion, debt often stems from a spending problem. When you have a problem controlling your spending, it extends to all aspects of your life. You spend more than you should on your daily expenses, things like eating out and buying new clothes. But you also spend too much on the big ticket items too, like new furniture or a nice vacation.

Most of my credit card debt came from the small things, gas and groceries, maybe the occasional shopping spree at Nordstroms. There were a few bigger ticket items in there as well, emergency surgery for one of the dogs and travel for a destination wedding for example. However most of that debt was made up of many little things, to the tune of $20,000! Of course that wasn’t the only debt I had, there were the big purchases as well. I also had a $28,000 car loan and a $340,000 mortgage. I had debts both large and small.

People get into debt in big ways and little ways. It may be a latte a day or one blowout vacation a year. Or for a lot of people like me, a bit of both!


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