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Because these mistakes are so critical, they are nothing to laugh at. Are you making one or more of these mistakes with your hard-earned income?

1. They haven't figured out the amount of money they really need each week to exceed just paying their bills. They don't have a budget set up.

The correct definition of BUDGET is: the calculation of the amount of money necessary for an organization to function and reach its goals. If you are happy with just being able to pay your bills, and you don't pay yourself first into a savings plan, you'll stay poor while you make your vendors rich. Every vendor that you get a bill from is in business to make profits. You should run your business to make a profit. The income goal needs to include a profit or the enterprise will fail financially.

2. They haven't worked out a way to earn more income than they currently need, and then willingly do whatever is required to execute the plan.

By incorrectly estimating the amount of income necessary to do better than just break even, they almost always set their income goal too low and lose money existing on credit instead of getting busy raising their income. Everyone can find different ways to increase their income; it is often the 'willingness to do whatever it takes' that is the problem.

3. They habitually spend more money than they make.

Using your money to buy the 'appearance' of having wealth is a dangerous activity. I call this type of spender a Gratification Groupie. It can catch up with you fast and eventually can drown you in debt. This situation causes constant stress about money and makes for lots of sleepless nights. Money truly cannot buy happiness. However, doing something worthwhile and productive and being appreciated for it can make you feel like a million bucks.

4. They don't figure out what they will need in the future and then set aside a bit of cash each week so they can pay cash for the purchase later.

Buying something with a credit card because you are short on cash is committing your future production to the credit card company. You are then in economic slavery to the credit company. The right method to buy things, especially big ticket items, is to put away a little each week till you have the cash to buy the item, and then go out and negotiate a big cash discount. The guy with the CASH IS KING!

5. They buy products and services based on WANT rather than on NEED.

Purchasing decisions must be based on how your purchase of the service or product can assist you to produce more income for you. Honestly, do you want the latest cell phone that offers email retrieval and text messaging because your friends have one, or do you need it to work more efficiently because you are out of the office making more money?

6. They don't put money into a retirement savings plan so they have it for use later in life.

Are you counting on the younger workers' future production to supply you with Social Security income when you stop working? Boy, that is a huge gamble! Even though the government says the annual cost of living is rising 3 - 3.5% a year, the truth is that it is going up 8 - 12% a year. You have to make that much more income just to stay even. Why does the government say it is only 3 - 3.5%? Regrettably, it's because the government has to increase Social Security payments each year by the percentage they report. The Social Security system is already bankrupt and those living on Social Security alone are going in the same direction.

7. They don't build up multiple sources of income. If one source disappears they are in financial trouble.

The expression 'don't put all your eggs into one basket' holds true today, especially in terms of income sources. Locate profitable products or services you can add, or business ventures you can participate in that are ethical, and have a great opportunity to producing a residual income.

8. They get stressed out about how little interest banks pay on savings accounts while they are getting killed with much higher interest charges by carrying balances on their credit cards.

If you have high credit card debt, you are better off using excess cash to pay down the debt and stop the high interest payments instead of attempting to earn interest from the bank. As you pay off your debt, it is wise to keep sufficient cash on hand to cover a few months of basic living expenses. Once the debt is gone, or will be soon, then start investing the excess cash in investments that return real growth.

9. They worry about 'the economy' in general.

I'm amazed that people are actually more worried about 'the economy' than about their business or household failing financially. They worry about what the media is reporting about 'the economy' when that is something they can't control, while never looking at how they are affecting the economy of their own business or household, which is something they CAN control. An increase in unemployment is no cause to worry. Small business' creation of new jobs greatly exceeded the number of jobs lost in big corporations, according to the latest ADP report. A bank failure is no reason to panic. Banks get bailouts from the FDIC and other investors. No one is standing by to bail out your failing business. That is entirely up to you. So keep promoting your business, stash some money, and sleep well at night while the bad news about 'the economy' rages around you.

10. They anticipate surviving financially without accepting total responsibility for controlling their financial future.

There is a simple solution to money problems. Cut expenses, increase your income, and correctly manage the money you bring in. It's not only about how much money you make, it's what you do with it that determines your financial condition.

Proper money management is not taught in educational institutions. People get bad advice and false information about how to handle money. So then they make these silly mistakes, get into trouble, try to solve the problem by using credit, wind up in more trouble, and then go looking for debt relief.

The good news is that there is a proven, inexpensive, money management software system that can reverse the money management mistakes a person has made in the past, and keeps them from making those same mistakes again. It is an old-school system that your great grandparents used before the days of credit cards. Very wealthy people know and use this system today.