This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Ready to live differently?
1. Living above your means and overspending.
Bottom line: If you’re living above your means, you will never have enough money. You can’t spend more than you make and expect to build wealth; this is insane thinking.
Unless you’re strategically leveraging a deficit to create wealth, which most people aren’t doing, you will be digging yourself further into a hole as you continue to spend money.
2. Providing for others unnecessarily (aka no boundaries).
Family, friends, your significant other, coworkers, dating partners, and people you may not even know are all potential people who could use and abuse your money if you’re not careful.
Always have firm boundaries with your money, or it will fly away.
Allow others the opportunity to learn how to provide for themselves financially so that they can build wealth for themselves.
Of course, we should provide and help the people we love and care about, but we should never allow them to be the reason that drives us into further debt. You should also never give something you don’t have. If you don’t have the money, then don’t give the money. You don’t need to impress anybody. Impress yourself by taking care of yourself financially.
3. Not investing, saving, and maintaining an emergency.
If you’re not investing and saving, what are you doing????
The reason most people remain in debt all their lives, aside from living above their means, is because they don’t ever put anything aside in their savings and investments.
What do you think is the result if you don’t have any savings when an emergency happens? More debt.
Most people barely have any cash, which means they’re using credit cards, payday loans, car title loans, or whatever form of debt they can get their hands on to cover the expense.
As this cycle continues, debt accumulates, and you financially spiral downward.
4. Lack of education.
I was born into a family that was ignorant about money. Yet, somehow my parents were able to introduce me to ROTH IRAs at the age of 14.
Not only that, my parents had us read personal finance books like Dave Ramsey and Robert T. Kiyosaki at the dinner table, which kickstarted my personal finance journey for the long haul.
The more educated you are about money, the better you do. Knowledge is key to elevating yourself out of poverty, lack, debt, and financial strain.
I will never stop educating myself about personal finance, and the more I continue to educate myself, the more my financial situation will improve.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.