How did I get this far in debt? That is a question that too many have to ask themselves.
The scary thing about debt is that it creeps up on people. I remember the first credit card debt that I started accumulating. It was my first year in college. I started paying for a meal here, an emergency purchase there, but the minimum payments were so low that I didn't really think about it. But, by the time I graduated from college, I had about $2,000 in credit card debt.
I think that this is a common experience people have. They get in the habit of not paying their credit card balances in full every month, and then 12 months later they realize that they owe a lot of money.
Discipline is one of the hardest habits to possess, and financial discipline might be the hardest area to have discipline. There are many reasons why people get into debt, e.g. by not paying for health insurance, losing a job and not having an emergency fund. But, the biggest reason is excessive spending.
Excessive spending is the number one reason why people find themselves in debt. We like to buy houses that we can't afford, cars that we can't afford, collectibles, comic books, Longaberger baskets, the list goes on and on.
The problem with excessive spending is that it compounds into other problems. A lot of people say that they can't afford health insurance, but is it that they don't earn enough to afford it or are they spending too much on other things? Don't get me wrong, I know that health insurance is expensive, but many people just spend too much on less important things like new cars. Then, a health crisis occurs and they get destroyed by debt.
Understanding what is causing you to get over your head in debt is important. You might come up with lots of reasons, but I bet excessive spending is one of them.
Related posts:
subscribe to the 
follow The Debt Hawk on
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yup, bad habits.
It’s all about having the right process. With the right process, we’ll all be broke or rich eventually. Which one do you want to be?
Stand strong!
FS
It really is amazing how quickly you can amass debt. And you get in debt much quicker than you can get out of it. The key is setting up priorities, and then sticking to them.