How can I manage my personal financial situation when nobody taught me how?

I’m just a regular mom and a wife; my husband works all the time just to keep our heads above water with all these bills.    School never taught me how to handle finances and my parents didn’t know eider. I guess I’m on my own, I need to figure this out if we want to see the light of day.

It’s obvious looking at this picture and caption that this mom may be a little overwhelmed with her finances. She should do something about it and can if she wants to. To actively participate effectively in a free society and a free enterprise system, a man or a woman needs to have the ability to make wise financial decisions in every endeavor of their lives. Particularly when making a major purchase like buying a home, a car, or investing in real estate or the markets. It is crucial to have a reasonable understanding of personal finance to make wise decisions. Also, it is vitally important to understand how debt impacts their lives in more than one way. 

Financial literacy is pivotal in a person's life. How to use credit properly. Should you use your savings for a significant purchase or finance it and how. It’s the difference between going broke and being prepared for life's mishaps. Like needing a car for your 17-year-old kid. An unexpected medical bill or a considerable repair to your home or your car. What about the possibility of the loss of a job. Unexpected expenses like these can set you back for a couple of years. The truth of the matter is that today in 2024 26% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and 56% cannot come up with $1000.00 for an emergency. That’s sad because we live in one of the richest countries in the world. Consumers, today, are being nickel and dime every single day for one reason or another. In these times, more than ever credit has infiltrated every part of our lives, starting when you graduated high school or start college. In Communist China, they have created a social credit system, it’s an awful way to live under such surveillance totalitarian system. If your social score is not in favor of what the government thinks it should be you may be banned from traveling or take away other freedoms like borrowing from a bank. In the United States we no longer live in a free society as much as people like to believe. We are also living under constant surveillance. Try going across any borough in New York city without having 20 pictures taken of you and your car. We also live in a similar surveillance system. On the financial and personal side of things, we are being scored, similarly to China's population, by a system known as the “FICO credit score”. FICO and the national credit bureaus created a scoring model that ranges from 300 to 850, 850 being optimal, this indicates to creditors a greater likelihood that a consumer is more creditworthy. The credit scoring system has been used more widely by credit bureaus since 1989. Today, banks use credit scores to make loans when you’re buying a home or a car. The scoring system is also used by businesses offering credit. Landlords use credit scores to calculate the risk level and trust worthiness before they rent an apartment. The credit scoring system that has been created affects every aspect of our lives. Bank loans and credit cards interest rates are determined by the FICO score. The closer the FICO number is to 300, the higher your interest rate will be. Hence, your cost-of-living increases besides the governments inflicted inflation, another form of hidden tax. Today more than ever, “Financial Literacy” is not considered a luxury, it’s another tool in your arsenal of knowledge. It is necessary for financial survival and the success of an individual or a family. Knowing how to handle money properly should be a requirement, otherwise, you will be effectively sidelined on the road of life from a financial standpoint. Think of credit as a hammer, and you are the nail. When you spend more than what you earn, the outstanding balance must be covered by a credit card. Otherwise, spending above your means. When credit cards are used, think of that hammer pounding on the head of that nail. The nail goes in deeper. The balance of the credit cards never sees 0 due to high interest rates being charged. This is the way the banking system is set up in the USA to keep people in debt on purpose. The banks don't want you to learn how money and credit work. By keeping you in debt you secure their future.

Now, when you gain control of credit card spending, and start paying down the debt, it’s like reversing the same hammer and using the claws to pull that nail out and free it up. A burden lifted off your back. When you have credit available at your disposal, think of that credit as potential debt. Credit is not always a good thing. In time credit turns to debt, for the average person or family, it's not a good thing. Developing a systematic plan, making payments on time. Have the discipline to stick with the plan you may even profit from the credit cards. When credit is used in an appropriate manner, credit is financial leverage. Credit can be a useful tool to obtain the things you need and want. However, if credit is not used properly and responsibly it will weigh you down, crushing your dreams and goals. When you are ready to tackle those credit issues let us know, we can help.