Roadmap to the Poorhouse
Posted: Friday, October 23, 2009
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
Many people find themselves financially strapped through no fault of their own. Some of these situations include job layoffs, theft, and catastrophic medical problems. However, others literally send themselves to the poorhouse due to their own bad decisions and disregard for personal responsibility and self discipline.
The directions below (in no particular order) are those which many people have taken on their way to the poorhouse. They can get you there in a hurry as well.
1) Be a compulsive shopper.3) Drink too much.
4) Become a pack-a-day smoker.
5) Shower your kids with material gifts (or at least buy them everything they ask for).
6) Try to keep up with the Joneses.
7) Live well above your means.
8) Believe everything you hear in TV infomercials.
9) Don't buy health insurance until you absolutely need it.
10) Chase "hot" stock tips.
11) Never put a penny in savings.
12) Max out your credit cards and pay only the minimum payment each month.
13) Take exotic vacations on a regular basis.
14) Never pay off the loan on any car. Instead, make sure you trade it on a new one while you still owe on it.
15) Borrow from payday lenders.
16) Experiment with every kind of illegal drug.
17) Produce out-of-wedlock offspring.
18) Drop out of school.
19) Show up at your job whenever you want, and do as little as you can possibly get by with when you get there.
20) Treat lottery tickets like an investment.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Yeah those directions you point out Terry will get you to the poor house alright. In a hurry!Hi David, I'm glad you agree. :-)
I'm wondering if we know some of the same people. Seriously Terry, your article is full of common sense, but there are a lot of people out there who are lacking in that.If they could just eliminate even a few of the habits you've listed they would slowly move ahead, it just takes discipline. Great article and very timely!Brianna, thanks for reading and thanks for the kind words
Great points - we are finally debt free and probably could have been sooner with this list! MarijoHi Marijo, thanks for reading. Better late than never. :-)
Hi, Terry!You are right on with this list. While the economy really went south this last year and is a great excuse for money cash flow problems, if one was practicing things on your list - they were in trouble regardless of the economy. In my surroundings, number 15 on your list totally financially destroyed one of my friends in less than two months. Some of those loan institutions can take a small $200 loan and with double digit or triple digit interest (fees) suddenly arrive at unpayable debt levels for the borrower. Thanks for sharing your list. It has real world value.Cecil, thanks for reading. I'm glad you liked it.
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