At the root of economic theory is a simple principle; people make smart and responsible financial decisions. Given the choice to spend their money paying debt that is owed, or to spend it on let’s say going out to dinner, the responsible consumer will spend their money on paying down the debt. Unfortunately that is not always the case.

For those of you that choose to go out to dinner, you should begin to focus on what you’d like to accomplish in your life. With every dollar you earn, you choose whether to responsible or to be irresponsible. Responsible people do not spend money on non-essential items they cannot afford. Additionally, I am constantly amazed when people have hundreds of dollars in cash in their pocket, and a nice new cell phone with a custom ring tone, but haven’t sent any money to their creditors in 6 months. What’s more important, your bills or your ring tone? Do you expect to pay your bills or do you think you can magically make them disappear?

Don’t get me wrong, there are always people that are just in that tough of a spot. They just don’t have enough money coming in each month to deal with all their bills. That’s not the person I’m referring too. I’m referring to the person that makes the conscious decision to avoid their creditors and spend money on worthless items instead. What these people must understand is that spending their money on themselves instead of dealing with their bills will only injure them in the long run. This behavior hinders credit scores and can even cause depression because of financial instability. You are either in denial about your situation, or you should seek professional help.

If you want to be responsible, my recommendation would be to look into a debt consolidation program, a debt settlement program, or start to automate your bills. Create an income and expense budget to understand what you can afford. Possibly pay all your bills through your bank accounts. Set up an automatic deposit for your paycheck to go into your checking account. Total up your monthly bills for each month. Have that amount remain in your checking account and have the remainder of your funds be transferred into a savings account. Forget about your checking and allow yourself to use the money in your savings as you see fit. This will ensure that you begin to live within your means and your bills will get paid on time.