Abacus Daily Debt News

Spend less than you earn.

Advice given by Charles Dickens in his 1850 Novel, David Copperfield.

A famous line from Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield equates money with happiness:-

“If a man had twenty pounds a year for his income, and spent nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence, he would be happy, but that if he spent twenty pounds one he would be miserable.”

This may sound like stating the obvious, but the cause of much misery stemming from debt problems is that too many people simply spend more than they earn for no good reason other than credit is available to them.

It is true that most debt related problems are a result of change in circumstances; this is certainly the case for most of our debt management clients. However consider this, is you’re treating yourself to a period of overspending now, then you must at some time do the reverse, spend less than you earn to repay your debts, plus the interest. 

To this, many people say for example, “I need to spend now to kit out my new flat, I won’t need to spend so much later on”. There is some sense to this, but if your overspending is just a way of life without laying any foundations for the future, then think about this:-

• Where were you financial 12 months ago, where you are now and where you will be in 12 months time?
• Does this conflict with your longer term financial plans?

I wonder if Oscar Wilde had debt problems, one of his famous quotes is:

“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” –Oscar Wilde