Photo courtesy Bernat Casero
The third myth in our series of seven from Your Money God’s Way by Amie Streater has to do with the excuses people make to avoid work. She calls these people self-righteous slackers.
The author identifies several different scenarios that she has run into during her counseling where people have tried to make excuses for not meeting their obligations. One young lady wanted to be a stay at home mom, but had racked up a couple of hundred thousand dollars in student loan debt getting a masters degree. She had never even gotten a job using that degree after finishing school. There was no way her husband was going to be able to meet all of their obligations once those loans came due. Another lady was doing well in cutting back her lifestyle after a divorce, but was “waiting on God” before going out and finding a job.
These may represent extreme situations, but I have also met people who are struggling to pay various creditors but yet still have cable, eat out regularly and buy the latest gadgets. Their first responsibility needs to be to meet these obligations that they have signed up for.
I’m all in favor of staying at home with the kids, or doing work that you love, or going above and beyond with our giving by supporting worthy charities. First however, we have a responsibility to meet our basic obligations. We do need to give a reasonable amount to charity regardless of our financial position, but we cannot give to every worthy cause that comes along. We also have an obligation to our family to meet their basic needs. Staying home to be with them yet being unable to put food on the table and pay the rent does not benefit them. Staying home with the kids but not meeting a financial commitment for loans we took out does not teach our children a proper perspective on money either. We need to teach them to be responsible and to live up to their promises.
It is good to set goals such as those mentioned. Along with that create a plan on how to reach those goals while still fulfilling the obligations that you have committed to. You will experience much more fulfillment after having reached those goals if you choose a proper course to get their first. A little hard work never killed anyone.