Quotes from famous and successful people have a motivating effect that no financial management theory can provide. Debt quotes, specifically, teach us a lot about credit from people who know what they are talking about simply because they have been there themselves. This is probably why a lot of people research quotes and post them somewhere visible to help them get through tough times.
Learning about personal finance management is both easy and hard. There are two phases in your quest to learn how to manage your money wisely. The first involves the theories that will help you understand the principles behind proper financial management. This is usually the easy part. You just have to possess an open mind to accept what the theories are teaching you.
The second part is hard. It is the application of the theories that you just learned. This is where a lot of people struggle the most. You may have the best education about personal finance but if you fail to make the connection and apply it properly, then all will be lost. The reason why people find it hard to connect it because they cannot relate to its effectiveness. They feel that the theories are difficult to apply and they oftentimes lose the determination that it takes to completely solve their financial troubles.
This is where, personal finance or specifically debt quotes come into play. By hearing actual people say what they think or feel is the solution to debt or other financial situation, the principles and theories become more relatable and thus more sensible to apply.
Satirical quotes about debt
Earl Wilson, a columnist and author divided the American population into three types of consumers. He said, “Today, there are three kinds of people: the haves, the have-nots, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves.” It simply indicates that if your possessions are all purchased on credit and you have not yet paid them off, you are not really as affluent as you think you are.
Of all the personal finance quotes that can be found on the web, this article will be focusing on debt quotes. There is no financial issue that is more prominent today than debt. If you want to cure compulsive buying habits, the underlying reason for that is to avoid debt. If you want to save more, the reason is to build up your emergency fund so you get to prepare for unexpected expenses that would have put you in debt. In the end, proper financial habits are meant not just to make your life convenient, it is also meant to keep you out of debt.
Since curing financial habits is tough, we have compiled some satirical debt quotes that might help you realize just how silly being in debt really is. Sometimes, we need to poke fun at ourselves to make us realize that in most cases, taking on credit is not the best course to take to satisfy our financial needs. The irony and sarcasm will hopefully bring some light to your otherwise desperate situation.
Mad Magazine: The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.
Did you know that the American Dream is now referred to as the American Debt? Sad to say, the world perceives us as a nation that cannot reach their goals with our own resources. We always have to borrow money to afford certain transactions. Do we really want that type of reputation?
Bob Hope: A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.
This really explains the requirements of lenders perfectly. When you apply for a loan, one of the things that lenders will be looking for is your ability to pay it back – with interest. If you think about it, you will end up spending more on the purchase because of the interest. You get the same product – only with debt, you get to possess it earlier. But in truth, you can afford the purchase – you just have to wait until you have saved up enough money for it.
Doug Larson: People are living longer than ever before, a phenomenon undoubtedly made unnecessary by the 30-year mortgage.
Although this is meant to be funny, it is poking fun at the plight of baby boomers. Based on a study released by Securian back in April 2013 titled “Retirement time bomb: Mortgage debt,” 67% of pre-retirees are expecting to carry debt over in retirement. 59% of pre-retirees are sure that they will carry mortgage debt. This is the reason why a lot of them are postponing retirement and some even choosing to work until they drop.
These debt quotes should give you an idea about the credit situation in the country. The amount is still high but the good news is, people seem to be wising up with their credit. For instance, credit card debt is declining and so is the mortgage loans. However, student loans and auto loans are growing and their growth is enough to increase the overall consumer credit of Americans.
Credit quotes from Benjamin Franklin
Let us explore three insightful debt quotes from Benjamin Franklin – one of the Founding Fathers of our country. It should give you a fresh new insight on what it means to be in debt and possibly, the motivation to help you get out of it.
Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it. This simply implies that debt, for all intents and purposes, really enslaves you. The fact that it limits your finances and binds your budget is enough proof that it can own you. When you buy unnecessary things, you are not owning them, you are being owned by the credit that you used to purchase them.
Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt. Literally, it is hard to agree because if your kids are hungry, it is difficult to forego debt if it is the only way to feed them. However, Benjamin Franklin probably refers to extreme cutbacks on your spending when he made this statement. It is more acceptable to just live frugally and minimally if that means you get to be debt free.
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor. This is a great debt quote that will help you avoid extravagance. If you think about it, contentment will keep you from trying to have what your neighbors have. It allows you to focus only on what you really need – and not what society expects you to possess. Even if you have a lot of money, if you are not content, you will always aim to have more – and that spending lifestyle can really ruin your finances.
Financial planning to help cure debt
If you are really burdened with so much debt, we strongly advise that you try to put some order into your financial life. This can only be done if you come up with a financial plan that will help you organize your money. The ConsumerFed.org released a study about the Financial Planning Profiles of American Households in 2013 and it showed that consumers are divided into 4 categories:
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Comprehensive planners. They make up 19% of the group of respondents. These are the households that go beyond the budget and plan for savings and insurance too.
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Basic planners. This is the biggest percentage with 38%. It reveals that most Americans have the basic financial goals for retirement and college education but it is not as comprehensive as the first group. Some claim to have a budget in mind but it is not really written down.
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Limited planners. This comprises 33% of the group. This includes consumers who have only a budget or saving goal. Usually, it is not both.
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Non-planners. Surprisingly, after everything that we went through financially, there are still 10% who do not have any plan at all. They still live the same way – keeping their finances disorganized.
This statistic is a wake up call for most of us. Regardless of what theories you learn, the application is very important in your quest to fix your finances. You may read all the debt quotes available out there but if you fail to implement your learnings, it will be for nothing. And we all know that you cannot implement if you do not have a plan. So you better start working on your financial plans while it is not yet too late for you.
Here is a video from National Debt Relief about how to get out of debt.