Why are so Many People Reckless With Money?

It often appears that people are rather reckless with money, but who can blame them? After all, you only live once and if you are earning your own money why not spend it the way you want? Unfortunately, being reckless with money can have negative repercussions for you later down the line. You may get into debt and have to sell your house and cars; you may end up blacklisted and find it hard to get credit in future; your family could end up suffering. It's all well and good living for the moment, but sometimes you have to think about the future.

However, thinking about the future doesn't get people spending money. This is a society driven by advertising and marketing. As soon as you turn on the television you see gorgeous, glamorous women spraying themselves with the latest designer perfume and tall, handsome men driving an expensive sports car. It is easy to be influenced into thinking that if you spend lots of money on looking good and leading an expensive lifestyle you will be a happier person, when quite often this is not the case. You may give it a try, though, and so start spending money as if there is no tomorrow.

Why shouldn't you treat yourself when you work so hard during the week just to pay the bills? Don't you deserve nice things? The trouble is that if you're on a low income, you have to be sensible about how much you can actually afford to spend each month if you are going to avoid getting into debt. You may be able to get a credit card or an overdraft and buy lots of expensive stuff, but you will have to pay everything back eventually with interest and so you have to consider whether it is really worth it. Do you really need a massive television when something smaller and cheaper would do the job just as well?

It is understandable why so many people are reckless with money, because life is for living. You work hard and you need to have something to make life worth living. If you have nothing to look forward to, it becomes harder to motivate yourself to keep going – to put up with the drudgery and boredom of your everyday job. This is especially true if you're on a low income and working in an unskilled job, because you may feel undervalued and that the job you're doing is a waste of time. Being able to spend the money you have earned in the way you want gives you a boost.

The only problem is that being reckless with money means that you may not have anything saved for the future, so that if something does go wrong – if you lose your job or fall ill – you have no savings to fall back on. Yet, many people do not want to consider these potential scenarios, because not thinking about the possibilities enables them to keep living as they live, rather than having to change their lifestyle and reduce their spending.