Whose Fault is Your Debt?

So I started reading Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cure$ yesterday. It was on the clearance rack at the Half Price Books near my favorite Chinese restaurant (Ma Po Tofu and a vegetarian spring roll for $5.00 – can’t beat that). I figure if I pay $1 for a book, and I get even one good tidbit out of it, it’s worth it. Some of their clearance books have been goldmines.

The thing that struck me as odd was that Trudeau hooked you in during the first few pages with the idea that your debt is not your fault.

I mean, let’s face it… no one wants to accept blame. In Western society, and in the United States in particular, we are conditioned to escape fault whenever possible. Remember the lady who milked McDonald’s for millions for spilling hot coffee in her own lap? She won her lawsuit because no one told her the coffee was hot.

Such is the danger of believing that your debt is not your fault.

Now, I’m not suggesting that it is your fault in the sense that you intended to get into debt and mess up your credit. I’ve never met a “credit challenged consumer” who intended to rack up debt and then fail to pay on time. Who wants to do that?

No, instead, most people start out innocuously enough, putting college textbooks or groceries on a credit card because they’re running short one month. Over time, it snowballs, and they end up living out a financial nightmare.

But blaming someone else isn’t going to help you pick up the pieces.

Sure, my own debt arose from circumstance, not because I wanted to screw over a bunch of credit card companies. And all the late fees and overlimit fees and all that didn’t help. But ultimately, I have to take responsibility. Otherwise, I’d never have the motivation to make things better for myself and my family.

Yes, my debt is my fault. And yours is your fault. No way around it.

It’s not pleasant to take responsibility for your actions. But because I hold my mistakes in my own hands, I also hold the power to change. No matter how much the credit card companies want to extract more fees and interest from  me, I will continue to use everything in my reach to dig myself out of debt and live off the “debt grid.”

-Mike