Comments on: Controlling Your Financial Destiny: Seeing Things as They Really Are

By: olderbrothercomplex.com » Blog Archive » OBC Digest #2

olderbrothercomplex.com » Blog Archive » OBC Digest #2 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:56:51 +0000

[...] with YNAB, a budgeting/money-management software I’ve been using for 3 years now, writes about seeing things as they really are. Anyone who marries personal finance and The Matrix is a winner in my [...]

By: Budgeting: It Affects Your Lifestyle | CreditLendingBlog.com

Budgeting: It Affects Your Lifestyle | CreditLendingBlog.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:09:53 +0000

[...] You Need a Budget Blog has an interesting article for this week titled “Controlling Your Financial Destiny: Seeing Things as They Really Are.” It cannot be denied that a significant number of people base their financial decisions on [...]

By: Calvin

Calvin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:08:53 +0000

Brilliant post Jesse!
you do always wonder about stuff like this.
i’d be really interested to know as well what some of the forces are behind this massive consumer debt.. like what kind of marketing/scientific research has gone into getting people hooked on debt.. it’s only a recent thing.. and it works really well…

By: walterc

walterc — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:29:43 +0000

What a great analogy! YNAB is the red pill… I have seen the future – and it is debt free! Thanks for some good reading Jesse.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:38:47 +0000

I love the analogy.

I hope your readers realize… this is SO true. I have done individual and business taxes for several years (part-time job at a small CPA firm while still in school… your alma mater) and the truth is, doing individual taxes – you learn a lot about the real financial situation of many individuals. I would say rarely do the THINGS that people have (cars, clothes, etc…) ever coincide with their actual financial situation. This was ESPECIALLY the case 2-3 years ago, but is still true today. It blows my mind how much debt people have simply to show the illusion of financial success. It’s more common than you think.

There are so many people making poor financial decisions, it’s shocking when we actually take a dose of reality by looking at our budget and realizing how different we are (and will be) from others just by living within our means.

Thanks for the post!