Just the other day I was reading an article about politics. Part of the article talked about how some people more easily accept victim status. I don't know how true it is in the political world. But, I do know that it's true in the financial world. Some people look at themselves as financial victims. They feel that they have no control over their financial future. That it's all under someone else's control. And, that there's nothing they can do to change it. Fortunately, most Dollar Stretchers know that they don't have to play the victim. They can take control of their circumstances and put themselves in a position where they'll control their financial destiny.
It hurts to see people victimized. Take, for instance, our friends who have a variable mortgage that just jumped. They can't afford the payment and the current market makes it very hard to sell the house. Right now they're victims. Certainly it's not their fault that the housing market is down for the first time in recent memory. They assumed that they could refinance when they got to this point. At least that's what they were told when they bought the house.
It could have been different if they had been regular Dollar Stretcher readers. They would have read the warnings from Greg McBride of Bankrate www.bankrate.com/dls about interest only and variable mortgages. They would have known exactly the dangers they faced. They would have read numerous articles on how to calculate how much house you can afford. It could have been different.
Please understand that this is not a backhanded way of saying "I told you so". It is a way of saying that in many cases you don't have to be a victim unless you choose to be. You have the right to know what could happen with a mortgage. Or a car payment. Or a credit card payment. You have the information available to you to help you make an informed decision (we publish much of it right here). You have the ability to understand the information. You have the ability to make decisions that will keep you from being a victim later. And, that's the key. You can take steps now to prevent you from being a victim later.
Are there some situations that are outside of your control? Sure! Some things happen to us that there's no way to predict or protect ourselves from. In those cases we are indeed victims. But, we encourage you to take control of as many financial situations as you can. Some will require a little effort on your part. Others will require you to put off a purchase or buy something less expensive that what you originally planned.
So refuse to be a victim. Don't let anyone take control of your financial life. Even if you can't control everything that could happen in the future, Choose to take control of the events that you can. You'll find that it pays big dividends in the future!
Keep on stretching those dollars!
Gary
