You can’t. That’s right, you can’t make more money. You can only earn more money. You aren’t the Treasury Department and you don’t get to print it up when you need it. Money must be earned.

Some of you will immediately respond with “semantics” because you like to argue and would rather argue than think. But there is much more to this statement than mere semantics. We are at a sad place where people seem to have forgotten that wealth at every level is earned at some level.

Too many people don’t understand that their money is a payment for a service rendered. They certainly don’t like facing the idea that the reason they don’t have much money is because they don’t offer much of a service, or don’t offer a service that is worth much.

Sadly, I have discovered that people don’t really want to earn more money . . . they just want to have more money. I guess the Money Fairy is supposed to slip into their bank account during the night and deposit money. Even the Tooth Fairy expects you to leave a tooth behind in exchange for the money. You give up the tooth and the Tooth Fairy gives up a little coinage. That’s how the Money Fairy works too: You give up a little work, a little effort, a little service and the Money Fairy shows up with a little money.

So if you want to have more money, read on.

2. How to have more money.

There are only two ways to have more money: increase income and/or decrease expenses. Hopefully a combination of both. This little principle works for government, business and individuals.

I’m not going to spend any time here explaining what you could do to increase your income, as that is up to you, your talents and the time available. And if you want to know how to decrease expenses just look at how you are spending your money and figure it out. It’s not hard to look at your spending to evaluate what you need, what you want and what you can live without. It’s all about priorities.

3. Set good priorities.

Your time, your energy and your money always go to what is important to you. When I was doing my A&E television show, Big Spender, I would spend ten minutes walking through someone’s house, another ten minutes looking at their checking account and then their credit card statements and I could tell exactly what their priorities in life were. I had a couple that spent 40% of their income on food. You can guess their size probably but it was more than that. Food was their obsession. It was their priority to the point that their bills and house and cars and even their appearance suffered. I had a father who spent more money on his three pack a day cigarette habit than he did on making sure his kid had a roof over his head and a car to ride in and milk in the refrigerator. His personal pleasure was more important than his family as evidenced by his spending. If you spend more money at the mall each month than you do on having a secure financial future, then looking cute if more important to you than being financially secure is.

Finances are like a good crime novel; if you want to know who is guilty, follow the money! Take a few minutes and evaluate your spending to see what your real priorities are and if yours need some realignment, then start now!

4. Get your mind right!

Each of these points I’ve made here are as much about how you think than anything else. It’s about getting your mind right. Begin to think in terms of earning money instead of magically making money. Get your mind wrapped around the simple idea of increasing income and decreasing expenses instead of easy way outs and get rich quick ideas. And most importantly get your mind right about what is really important to you. Is the temporary exhilaration of the moment more important than the long-term satisfaction that comes from investing your time, energy and money in things that really matter?

However, he is thinking of now buying new because,

“The interest rate on a new car is a lot lower, 1.9% vs 4 or 5%”

Now, my friend is one of the smartest people I know…but this is just terrible logic, right?

On a $40,000 loan, a 2 or 3% rate difference isn’t going to make a dent in even just the first year of depreciation on a new car.

I know if I ask for advice, everyone is going to scream, “Stupid! Go for the used car”….

but,

Are there ever any reasons to buy a new car? (I can think of a few…mostly not financial though!

Right now I’m having a harder time than I have before staying on task. The remaining debt is the biggest “snowball” and is a hefty $10k. It’s also been hanging around like a member of the family for so long it’s become nearly invisible (the balance has been roughly this size for about four or five years years). Waking up every morning and staring that thing down and saying “you’re next sucker” isn’t working because I can practically hear it shouting back to me “yeah right kiddo… just try…”

We’ve covered maintaining the motivation several times (links below) but today I want to focus on immediate and right now ways to get your eye back on the goal.

In our house, we’ve found ourselves beginning to stray now and then—eating out more frequently saying “well, we’ll be debt-free in four months, so let’s celebrate now” or slipping up and beginning to add lifestyle extras. Now that we’ve noticed this—here’s how we’re tackling it.

This isn’t the home stretch—it’s crunch time! We’ve enrolled our oldest daughter as the “traffic cop” to help us all stay accountable on this. Kids notice everything, may as well reward them for pointing out things like this. Besides, when your kid calls you on “bad behavior” you have no choice to but to shape up. There’s no rationalizing to children.

That last snowball is intimidating, so break it down. We used to budget $1,300 to $2,500 for our snowball payments. It got broken up into several places but now we’re down to writing one gigantic check to the last debt every month. I’ll admit it, I’m a wimp. It’s psychologically difficult for me to write one gigantic check—part of me wants to hang on to the money “just in case” something comes up. Instead, I’ve started writing weekly payments to break the big payment into smaller ones that don’t hurt so much to write and maintains some cash flow security. If you are doing this with a credit card account make sure they accept multiple payments in a month as some charge an extra fee for doing this.

Amp it up! Amp up the energy. Talk about your progress to goal every week, or every day. Make a chart or keep a list—whatever energizes you.

Surround yourself by those who’ve done it. One of my favorite things to do is to download the Friday Dave Ramsey podcasts. Every Friday, he invites listeners to call up and scream “I’m Debt Free!” Then he interviews them about the hardest parts, the best parts, and how much they paid off in how much time. I always find myself energized after listening to these, and sometimes listen to them more than once!

Re-focus on the why. I recently realized that I had completely lost track of this. I cannot remember why we were getting out of debt. It took me some thinking to remember what prompted our conversion to the debt-free lifestyle and I realized that one of the motivators wasn’t a factor any longer. (We were attempting to adopt two kids who I met on my travels to Ethiopia, but they’ve since found another family, which is truly OK by us, but I had to step back and re-evaluate my reasons for continuing on this debt-free journey. Additional freedom, reduced need for income, and security for the kids we already have at home proved to be sufficient motivators for me). A few minutes of fantasizing what would happen to us if my husband lost his job (and excellent health insurance) was enough to get me back on the wagon. Take a minute and remind yourself WHY you’re getting out of debt. Make a list of what being debt-free will allow you to do and put it on your checkbook, or your bathroom mirror, or your forehead.

Next up: Motivational reading and soundtrack ideas for maintaining the focus.

In case you’d like to look back at some of our other motivation posts, the links are below.

Motivating yourself when you want to spend

Feeling derailed

Some techniques to keep yourself on task

Without savings to fall back on or access to easy credit many families now face the daunting task of repaying those debts at a time when money is a concern for everyone. Sadly there are some people who find themselves unable to handle the stress caused by financial concerns. The combination of depression and debt can have a devastating effect on individuals, families and society as a whole.

Understanding Depression

Before we can help ourselves or those dealing with depression, it is important to first understand the condition with which we are dealing. The first issue that has to be addressed is recognizing the difference between feeling depressed and depression. At some point in life, we will all face times when we feel depressed. This is a normal and completely natural emotion felt when we deal with death, divorce, loss of employment or illness. Feeling sadness or sorrow during emotionally painful situations is not only expected but also a necessary part of the healing process required to move forward.

People who suffer from depression on the other hand, are dealing with an entirely different animal. Now recognized as an actual illness, depression is not something a person can simply shake off. Unable to escape their constant feelings of sadness, people suffering from this illness often give up trying to lead a normal life and withdrawal within themselves.

Debt and Depression

It comes as no surprise the debt can trigger feelings of depression. A person who is able to work through these emotions may feel stress, irritation, anger and frustration when faced with a severe financial hardship. Most people are able to work through these emotions and focus on taking action to resolve the problem. Apply the same circumstances to a person suffering from depression and the results may be very different. Already feeling as if life cannot get any worse, this person may sink deeper in depression making it impossible to face, let alone correct the situation.

Who Is Affected?

As a society we have come a long way in how we deal with depression and people who suffer from this illness. The more we learn about depression the better equipped we are to help those who are unable to help themselves. Unfortunately there are still those who think people with depression are just feeling sorry for themselves or lack the motivation to pull themselves out of a bad place. Unable to envision happiness or success in their future many people suffering from depression find ways to escape their feelings through alcohol, drugs or suicide.

The Impact On Society

As a society we often lack the strong communal ties that bind people together when facing adversity. That is not to say we don’t help others in need, however the tendency to not get involved is more prevalent in today’s society. The single mom down the street that is struggling to keep her kids from going hungry could use your help. The grocery store clerk that lost their only source of income, might be worried about being a burden on society. The day care worker who’s house is in foreclosure might find it difficult focus on her charges. Would you help these people if you could? Can you see the impact depression could have on everyone in the community?

The number of people facing financial hardship has not yet reached a peak. People already struggling with depression might just find dealing with debt or other money problems the proverbial straw the broke the camel’s back. So the next time you notice something is “off” with a friend, family member or neighbor don’t just pretend nothing is different. Taking a moment from your day to simply ask how they are doing or extend a helping hand might be the positive experience they need to push through another day.

What do you think? Has debt ever contributed to depression for you or a friend? I know for me personally, it was definitely a factor when I was experiencing some mild depression last year.