If you have a job, are receiving unemployment benefits, or if you are receiving social security or disability insurance… and you are struggling financially, it is your own damn fault. Here is why.

You do not manage your money well. You may think you do, because you pay your bills on time, but are your living expenses exceeding your income?
People complain about not making enough money. They may even blame their financial struggles on the economy. However, let us take a closer look at the truth.
I got started in the home business industry as a teenager. The late night infomercials that talked about how easy it was to make a lot of money really appealed to me.
I did not grow up poor. I grew up in a middle class family, but the only financial education I had was to save enough money in my piggy bank so I could buy something.
When I began to learn that it was possible to “get rich”, I started off chasing the money. It was not until I started reading financial books in my mid-twenties, did I start my financial education.
I read books like “The Millionaire Next Door”, and several books by authors like Suze Orman, the Gardner brothers (The Motley Fool), and Dave Ramsey. A few years later I started reading books by Robert Kiyosaki, and playing the CASHFLOW 101 game.
I learned a lot, but knowing really is only half the battle. I had developed the habit of spending all of my money on stuff as a little kid.
In 2009 those bad financial habits got the worst of me. I borrowed $50,000 with my “good credit”, and thought because I had some financial knowledge that I was “smart” when it came to investing. I lost the entire $50,000, without even making a penny on my “investment”.
Not long after that, I got laid off from my job and my tenants moved out of my investment property causing me to have a negative cash flow, leading to foreclosure, and ultimately bankruptcy.
It took a lot, but I finally changed my bad financial habits…just in time. Not long after that, my bad eating habits also caught up with me, and I had a mini-stroke. Two weeks later I feel asleep behind the wheel while driving for the 5th time. My car was crushed by an 18-wheeler on the interstate.
I cut my ear in the accident and had to go to the hospital to get stitches. I did not realize it at the time, but this affected my equilibrium, and I have been off-balanced ever since.
Because I have a red personality, I was slow to accept the fact that I had become disabled and needed help.
I share my story with you to let you know that I have not had a steady stream of income from a job or the government since my unemployment ran out in the first half of 2010.
I have seen people with spending habits so bad that they would spend up all of their food stamps before the end of the month, and then start using cash to pay for food. Then they would complain about not having enough money.
People start a home business (internet marketing or network marketing), and they complain about the expenses. They don’t pay their business expenses like membership fees, autoship payments, or monthly fees for tools, because they say “…it’s too expensive!”
No…your spending habits are too expensive. You have a habit of living way above your means. You have bad financial habits, yet you are the first one to holla “FINANCIAL FREEDOM!”, or “GENERATIONAL WEALTH!”
Stop lying to yourself.

Author's Bio: 

Jeremiah Carstarphen a.k.a The Cartoon Coach
Learn how to build true wealth and earn multiple income streams at http://www.TrainingByJ.com