In the movie, "What about Bob?", Bob (played by Bill Murray) explains to his psychiatrist Dr. Marvin (played by Richard Dreyfuss) that,

"...There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. My ex-wife loves him."

Funny "yes", but pragmatic "no". We will hardly "win friends and influence people" with broad-brushed stereotypes.

But such a simplistic view of our financial world may not be such a bad thing.

I dare say that there are two types of people in the financial world:

Those who understand interest, and those who don't.

If you find yourself in trouble with money, sit down for a cliff-notes version of "Interest 101".

If you insist you get it, then at least make sure you are making interest working for you and not against you.

Wikipedia simplifies it pretty well,

"Interest is a fee paid on borrowed assets. It is the price paid for the use of borrowed money"

And Americans have paid a heavy price for borrowing that money. It's gone for credit card purchases, financing new toys and Pay-Day lending services.

What? You need cash now and can't wait until payday?

It's not unheard of for people to borrow at a rate of 500%.

Now there's a serious need for consumer credit counseling.

Our culture of instant gratification says "get now and pay later". We played that game until the adage should now be "can't get now but pay now".

The creditor keeps calling even though we thought that buying that new car for "0% down and 0% interest" would never come.

The fine print said "six months" and we didn't pay attention. We just singed on the dotted line.

Some may wish they now had that clunker back because the cash they got wasn't really cash at all.

It was debt - pure and simple.

It is interest you owe someone else.

And the lender wants their money - now.

The euphoria of driving that new car is long gone, but the creditor is just getting started. Is it really worth it?

We pay a heavy price for instant gratification...don't we?

If you have read my blogs, you know I've preached living within your means even if that means going without.

Because "going without" really means "living with".

Living with peace, harmony and happiness because you are in control of your money - and not the other way around