Accepting Financial Responsibility
By Matt - Sunday, September 16th, 2007
As we get older in life we are tasked with more responsibility over our worlds. When we’re children we’re responsible for very little but by the time we’re making money we’ve got obligations and a responsibility to those obligations. Financial responsibility is no different; once we’re at the point in our lives where we’re making money our financial matters are our responsibility. We have to take that responsibility and accept it.
Debt for example doesn’t happen over night, people who find themselves very deep in debt have no one but themselves to blame for their situation. They spent more money than they had or than they made. They were irresponsible and now they struggle. I know I’m one of those people but unlike a lot of people when I’m asked how I got into debt my answer is: “I was stupid with my money” where a lot of people blame this circumstance or another. When it really comes down to it there will be times when you need to spend more money than you have but if you’re not willing to accept the repercussions of your own actions then maybe you shouldn’t be taking them.
Another aspect of the financial responsibility for me is the social pressures to spend. Keeping up with the Jones’ has always been a fact of life but when you’re pressured to keep up with the Hilton’s that’s a completely different story. Regardless of if we like it we’re all influenced by our peers and the media to some extent. We see what those around us have and sometimes we can’t help but want something similar. This is a fact of life and as long as we accept our financial responsibilities and live within our means we’re far less likely to find ourselves in debt to our eyeballs.
Accepting responsibility is hard. Even something as simple as admitting to yourself that you’re the cause of your own financial troubles takes time and a certain amount of bravery. Unfortunately getting into a financial mess is far easier than getting out of one. Knowing just how much you owe banks and other people is a frightening concept because you are forced to admit that you made mistakes and are likely going to make them in the future. Without accepting responsibility for your actions and yourself you’re never going to be able to get out of debt and into a situation where you don’t have to keep up with the Jones’ on debt but with excess money.
Taking the lazy way out by floating along and not accepting financial responsibility for your actions is foolhardy and you’re left with no one but yourself to blame. Circumstances will come up that will force you to spend money you don’t have, deal with it! Living in fear of your debts is not a way to live; I know I’ve been in that situation. I’ve accepted that I’m bad with my money and this blog is partially to help me keep myself in check. I’m using the experiences of other personal finance bloggers to accept responsibility for my spending and to improve it.
Accepting the issue is the very first step to being able to fix it.
This entry is filed under Commentary, Debt, Financial Situation.
7 Responses to “Accepting Financial Responsibility”
1 Carnival Of Personal Finance #118: Fun Money Facts Edition says:
September 17th, 2007
at 5:24 am
[...] Accepting Financial Responsibility by Matt @ To One Million and Beyond. Debt for example doesn’t happen over night, people who find themselves very deep in debt have no one but themselves to blame for their situation. [...]
2 Best Finance Articles from Carnival of Personal Finance #118 at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money says:
September 17th, 2007
at 11:05 am
[...] I liked most of MMM’s editor’s choices as well. First is One Million and Beyond’s article about accepting financial responsibility. I actually just left a response on Mapgirl’s article about biting off more than you can chew espousing the same ideas. Ultimately, you, the buyer, are directly responsible for every single one of your purchases! If you don’t know something, ask until you understand it. Don’t just trust “the expert”. [...]
3 The 118th Carnival of Personal Finance: Fun Money Facts Edition says:
September 18th, 2007
at 11:12 pm
[...] Accepting Financial Responsibility from To One Million and Beyond [...]
4 The Financial Blogger » Financial Ramblings says:
September 22nd, 2007
at 7:08 am
[...] #1 Accepting Financial Responsability by onemillionandbeyond.com. Too many people think that they are just full of bad luck… I think this is full of b…. [...]
5 Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge / Articles I Liked Last Week says:
September 24th, 2007
at 10:15 am
[...] One Million and Beyond. A kick in the pants for me. Accepting my responsibility. [...]
6 Weekly Roundup #7 (December 8, 2007) - My Investing Blog says:
December 8th, 2007
at 11:53 am
[...] 1. FreeFromBroke posting about how they WILL retire, not now, but sometime and has some good tips to anyone looking to retire. 2. Neville reminded us all how good it feels to cross off to-do list entries… Good job! 3. OneMillionAndBeyond shows us what it is like to accept financial responsibility, and where it’ll put you later in life… 4. FinancialHack about something we can all use a little more wisely, time… 5. RandomRoger pounds home the diversification point in investing; you can’t ever get enough of this… 6. RussellBailyn warns of the recession on the horizon, or is it? 7. FinancialBlogger keeps getting asked the same question… I might as well jump in too – FB, Can I borrow some $$$?
8. GLBL didn’t win the Ipod, but came away with a good goal for 2008 that is always a decent 2nd place prize… 9. First time on EverythingFinance, nice blog. They have a very good post on tips to selling your own home by watching how the REALTORS do it. 10. MMMM post about how there is no such thing as bad debt. Really???!?! Some good points to the case… 11. FinancialIndependence lets us know 5 steps to a better credit score. Who doesn’t want that? 12. Moolanomy can do no wrong in his posts! Here he illustrates the 7 steps of debt reduction perfectly. 13. NewRetirement lets everyone know 31 more sites to help you with retirement. Apparently I didn’t get the nod, so don’t read any further. 
14. OfficeStuffer gives us some insight on 17 tax filing resources. I hate taxes personally; hopefully I can put a few of these to use. 15. FiLife has an interesting wish list this year. 16. InterestingMoney investigates a problem that actually happened to me TODAY with my wifes adp.com password – Make sure you spouse knows your financial passwords! 17. OnFinancialSuccess gives us 4 steps to making in out there in the big world of finance! 18. DoughRoller wrote up a post last month about 10 online budget tools that I found interesting last night. 19. FMF jots down the 10 Most Hated money saving tips. #8 is my fave – tough to do, but oh so true. 20. KCLau gives his advice on some big time tips in the personal finance realm that shouldn’t be overlooked. Author: hank [...]
7 Stock Research says:
September 13th, 2008
at 8:19 pm
Just found this post, Matt. I admire your candor. I hope you’re doing well in resolving your debt issues. As you know, with work and discipline, they can be resolved. The encouraging thing is that, as I understand it, people once heavily in debt often take their financial positions in the other direction- to great wealth. Best of luck to you.
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