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It is no laughing matter to see people making these money management mistakes. Have you made these mistakes with your money?

1. They have never worked out the amount of money they actually need every week to do better than just pay their bills. They haven't worked out a budget.

The correct definition of BUDGET is: the calculation of the amount of money needed for an organization to function and achieve its purpose. If you are satisfied to just pay your bills, and you never pay yourself first into some type of savings plan, you'll stay poor while you make your vendors rich. Each supplier that you get a bill from is running their business to make a profit. Shouldn't you be running your business to make a profit? The income goal needs to include enough profit or the enterprise will go broke and fail.

2. They don't work out ways to make more income than they need, and then be willing to do whatever it takes to execute their plan.

By incorrectly estimating the amount of income needed to do better than just break even, they typically set their income goal too low and lose more money by living on credit instead of getting busy raising their income. Anyone can discover ways to make more money; it is more often the 'willingness to do whatever it takes' that seems to be the problem.

3. They habitually spend more money than they make.

Using your income to buy the 'appearance' of being wealthy is a deadly activity. I call this breed of spender a Gratification Groupie. This can catch up with you quickly and eventually can drown you in debt. Being in this situation causes constant stress about money and brings on lots of sleepless nights. Money truly cannot buy happiness. But, doing something worthwhile and productive and being appreciated for it can make you feel like a million bucks.

4. They never figure out what they need to buy in the future and then set aside a bit of cash every week in order to pay cash for the purchase later.

Buying something with a credit card because you don't have the money is committing your future production to the credit card company. You are then working for the credit card company as an economic slave. The right method to buy things, especially high dollar items, is to set aside a small amount every week until you have enough cash to purchase the item, and then 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.

Buying decisions should be based on how your buying the product or service can help you produce additional 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 never contribute to a retirement savings plan so they have money for use later in life.

If you are relying on other peoples' future production to pay you Social Security payments so you can retire, that is really taking a gamble. Despite the fact our government says the cost of living is going up 3 - 3.5% a year, the real figure is 8 - 12% a year. You have to make that much more income just to break even. Why does our government say it is only 3 - 3.5%? Regrettably, it's because the government has to increase Social Security payments every year by the percentage they quote. Our Social Security system is already bankrupt and those living on Social Security alone are headed in that direction.

7. They never build up multiple sources of income. If one source dries up they are in trouble financially.

The expression 'don't put all your eggs into one basket' is true today, especially in terms of income sources. Locate profitable services or products that you can add, or business ventures you can participate in that are ethical, and have a really good 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 rates by carrying balances on their credit cards.

If you have substantial credit card debt, it is more advantageous to use excess cash to pay down the debt and get out from under the high interest payments rather than 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 close to it, then begin investing the excess cash where you can get real growth.

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

I'm amazed that most people actually worry more about 'the economy' than about their business or household failing financially. They stress over what the media is reporting about 'the economy' which is something they can't control, while never looking at how they can affect the economy of their own business or household, which is what they CAN control. A rise in unemployment is no cause to worry. Small business' creation of new jobs far outweighed the number of jobs lost in big corporations, according to the latest ADP report. A bank failure is no reason to panic. Banks receive bailouts from the FDIC and other investors. Nobody is waiting in the wings to bail out your failing business. That is entirely up to you. So keep promoting your business, put aside some cash, and sleep well at night while the dire news about 'the economy' rages around you.

10. They anticipate surviving financially without taking full responsibility for controlling their financial future.

There is a simple solution to money problems. Increase your income, cut expenses, 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.

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

Fortunately, there is an inexpensive, proven, money management software system that can reverse all the money management mistakes a person has made in the past, and keeps them from making those same mistakes in the future. It is an old-school system that your great grandparents used prior to the days of credit cards. Very rich people know and use this system today.