11 Signs You Might Be Broke

11 Signs You Might Be Broke You might be broke if 1. Youre living paycheck to paycheck. If youre spending every dollar you take home, you are, by definition, broke. More than 75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck (with little to no savings), which means that, right off the bat, at least three-quarters of us are impecunious. 2. You have credit-card debt. Theres no such thing as good debt. The debtor is always slave to the lender. 3. You have student-loan debt. Read our lips: THERES NO SUCH THING AS GOOD DEBT, DAMMIT! 4. You have a monthly car payment. Ahem. 5. Your income dictates your lifestyle. It should be the other way around: we should work to earn enough money to live, not live to earn enough money to buy shit we dont need. Until he breaks free from consumerism, the hoarder is slave to his hoard. 6. You arent saving for the future. We know, we know: youll start saving tomorrow. But of course tomorrow never comes, because tomorrow will be today tomorrow, and tomorrows tomorrow will never be today. Ergo, begin today. Your life literally depends on it. See 5 Difficult Steps Toward Financial Freedom. 7. Youre not healthy. Unhealthy equals depression. Yes, if youre unhealthy, statistics show that youre likely depressed. If you cant enjoy life, no matter how wealthy you are, then youre broke in a different way: youre broken. The richest man in the graveyard might have the most lavish tombstone, but hes still dead. 8. Your relationships are suffering. Too often we forsake the most important people in our lives in search of money or ephemeral pleasures. We believe that our loved ones will always be around or that theyll understand. But when you’re careless with something for long enough, it breaks. 9. You argue over money. Troubled relationships tend to end for one of two reasons: arguments over money or arguments over sex (or both). Even if the relationship doesnt end, it is difficult to grow if yallre constantly bickering about finances. (P.S. If youre arguing over sexâ€"or the lack thereofâ€"then somethings broken.) 10. Youre not growing. It doesnt matter how much cash you earn: if youre not growing, youre dying. We feel most alive when we cultivate a passion, drudge through the drudgery, and live our lives with purpose, autonomy, and mastery. 11. You dont contribute as much as youd like. Your worth isnt determined by your net worth: real worth comes from contributing beyond yourself in a meaningful way. It was MLK who said, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others? Giving is living, and its much easier to give when youre no longer worried about money. Being broke is okay. Being broke without a plan to break the cycle is not. You see, given the above criteria, weve all been broke at some point in our livesâ€"everyone has been broke or broken. True, we all need money to live, but you are not the contents of your wallet. Whats more important than income is how we spend the resources we have. We personally know broke people who make six (or even seven) figures a year. We also know families who live on $25k per year but arent broke at allâ€"because they live within their means: they live deliberately. Real wealth, security, and contentment come not from the trinkets we amass but from how we spend the one life weve been given. Read this essay and 150 others in our new book, Essential.