Financial Bad Habits

It is easy to get into bad habits with financial matters. Few people have enough money to simply buy what they want without a thought. Most people have to plan their purchases and stay vigilant to keep themselves solvent.

Many people have bad habits of getting too far in debt with credit cards. The cards are easy to get. You can get a handful of Visas and Master Cards, an American Express Card, a Discovery Card, and several cards from retail stores without much effort. You do not have to have much income to get this many cards, either.

None of the card companies seem to consider that you might have to pay payments to the other cards. You may think you have all these cards just for emergencies. However, if you get into bad habits with them, you can end up spending them to their limits. You may reach a point where you cannot even make the minimum monthly payments.

You might be tempted to borrow money from relatives at a time like this, but that would be just another of type of bad habits. Relatives may want to help you for a time. They may allow you to get into the bad habit of going to them each time you need money. Yet, there will come a day when the money will run out, or the situation will get old. The relative will not only discontinue the loans. They might stop speaking to you as well.

When it comes to friends, both borrowing and lending money are bad habits. It puts a strain on the relationship that many friends cannot handle. One friend might forget how much was borrowed. Yet, there may be animosity if a written contract is suggested. You can rarely win when you get into this bad habit.

Many people get into trouble financially because the have the bad habit of not sitting down to make a budget. They have a general idea of where the money should go. They may think they have it all in their brains. It never quite comes together, though, unless you put it on paper (or on a spreadsheet on a computer). Only then will you know you have everything included.

Most utility companies have a certain grace period before they will cut off service. Some people count on this grace period and get into bad habits when it comes to paying their utility bills. If you do this you put yourself in jeopardy of losing your lights or water. You also destroy your credit rating.

Some financial bad habits have to do with the way people manage their checking accounts. One thing people often do is to throw away paperwork they get when making transactions. Of course, there is a time to throw it away. Yet, until it is recorded into your account, you need to keep deposit, ATM, and debit slips to verify that the correct amount was taken out.

Some people even have the bad habits of not reconciling their checking accounts. If they want to do internet banking with a software program like Microsoft Money or Quicken, they can make it very easy on themselves. It is important to be sure that your account has in it what you think it should. For one thing, there is no better way to catch fraud. Taking charge of your money habits can make your life less stressful and more productive.

Dangerous Bad Habits

Some bad habits are just annoying, but others are actually dangerous. It is these dangerous bad habits that can really get you in trouble. Some people like to take risks. Others do not think about how their bad habits could affect them.

Bad habits can be nothing more than not paying attention to your physical condition. If you are taking sedating drugs, it would be a bad habit if you continually worked in this condition. If you work two jobs, it can be a dangerous habit to work when you are sleepy. You would need to find a safe way to get enough sleep to work.

Many people have bad habits around electricity. They may use frayed extension cords without thinking. This is a bad habit that can lead to electrocution or fire. Using ladders, especially metal ladders, around power lines is another bad habit that is dangerous.

Some people have dangerous bad habits that are just unnecessary by any stretch of the imagination. People, often younger people, like to stand on moving cars and "surf." This is reckless behavior at the least. At the most, it can be deadly.

Many bad habits have to do with driving a car. People often forget how potentially dangerous driving can be if it is not done with caution. They drive so often that they become accustomed to taking the wheel without thinking. This leads to a number of dangerous situations.

Some people have bad habits of grooming themselves when driving. Women might put on make-up while driving. They believe that they can apply mascara and watch the road at the same time. It may work out for a long time, and then eventually there comes that time when they are not concentrating on the road enough and an accident happens.

The same can happen when men shave while driving. Or, it can happen when men or women groom their hair. Other bad habits include the way people use their cell phones when they drive. Sometimes people are so keyed in on their cell phones that they do not see the car in front of them.

Driving through high flood waters can be a very bad habit. People think they can get through the water and make it to the other side. If it happens often enough, they may get braver and braver. However, if they go too far, their vehicle could be swept away. It could lead to a very dangerous situation.

Drinking and driving is the ultimate in bad habits. If you do this, you are not only putting yourself at risk. You do not even know who else you might be endangering. It could be an infant, an elderly person, or a single parent. It could be someone just like you. You could kill them or make their lives a lasting misery. This is not a bad habit that you can let stand.

If you engage in dangerous bad habits, you have to ask yourself why you do it. There must be something you can do to curb your desire to put yourself and others at risk. Find out what that is, and do it.