It’s true that maintaining a positive outlook can help keep your life together, generally or financially speaking. Here are steps from the CBS Marketwatch article:
* Identify your traps. Figure out what your excuses are. One of mine, for example, is I’m not making enough money to cover all of my expenses.
* Consider your goals. Perhaps my long-term goal is to not have to worry about being able to afford bringing up a family some day.
* Plan your rebuttals. A rebuttal for the excuse above may be that I need to cut back expenses even further.
* Put that plan into action. Perhaps its time for me to write out a new budget. Maybe I need to cancel cable or stop buying lunch for $6 to $7 from the office cafeteria every day. (Think that price is high? Our cafeteria food is actually partially subsidized. Imagine if it weren’t!)
Good tips, as always.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published March 3, 2005. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
