Watch The Squirrels
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (112717)
United States
October 24, 2020 12:04pm CST
Winter is fast approaching, and outside my window the squirrels are working fast and hard to gather all the nuts they can so that they will have enough to eat during the cold months of winter when food will be scarce.
Good little planners they are, those squirrels.
And as I watch those squirrels I often wonder. How is that when it comes to planning and preparation, that it may be that the squirrels are smarter than a lot of people are.
Living paycheck to paycheck. Injecting thousands of dollars of debt and interest payments into their lives. Flying by the seat of their pants and wishing for the best and figuring everything will just somehow, miraculously, work itself out.
Until it doesn't. And then those people blame everyone else for their money problems.
Be like the squirrel. Plan for the leaner times. And when the leaner times come...
You will have plenty of nuts. 
5 people like this
6 responses
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
24 Oct 20
Exactly. More people should be like the squirrels.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
25 Oct 20
@porwest People carry too much unnecessary debt.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
26 Oct 20
@LindaOHio Debt is such a big problem for a lot of people. Especially with the credit cards. If people knew that buying something with a credit card is essentially like a mortgage, they might reconsider. Of course, that's if you pay the minimum payment, which many people do.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52143)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Oct 20
That's why credit cards are not a good idea. You can max them out, getting whatever you want, even though you can't physically pay for it all. And then you are in deep debt that doesn't seem to decrease much even when you pay something every month. Thankfully, I am not in that situation. I never charge unless I can pay for it at the end of the month. Hubby has credit card debt though and it's not small. 
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
2 Dec 20
I am always surprised when I see that a married couple does not have a designated money manager in the house. If two people are doing their own thing, that can spell financial disaster. In our house, since I am best with the money, I control ALL of the finances.
@lovebuglena (52143)
• Staten Island, New York
2 Dec 20
@porwest It's very easy to charge stuff on the card every month but then hard to pay it off. He doesn't charge much on his card these days. The high balance is from years past.
They really get you with the damn interest charges...
In my opinion, unless it is an absolute necessity you shouldn't charge anything on your card that you can't pay off in full at the end of the month.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
3 Dec 20
@lovebuglena I agree with that logic 100%. Those finance charges will eat you alive, and nothing is worth essentially putting a mortgage on, which is pretty much what you do when you charge things on a credit card and carry a balance.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112717)
• United States
2 Dec 20
@NJChicaa Paying off the credit balances each month is a very good thing to do. Especially if you also happen to use a card that offers rewards. I like using Discover because it pays me 1% to 5% cash back. So long as I pay the balance each month it's like getting free money.
1 person likes this
