The path to financial destruction is wide, and those who go that way are many.
Spending money on wants (things you would like, but aren’t necessary for life) instead of needs (water, food, shelter) is one of the first things to understand with your financial defense. Financial defense is your ability to keep your money, while financial offence is your ability to make money. Here is a list of wants that you should cut out of your life if you want to get your financial house in order:
DC Lottery, other forms of gambling, new cars, new shoes, Panko bread crumbs, jewelry, anything from the corner store (especially sugary drinks), bottled water, cruise vacations, fast food, drugs, alcohol, Netflix subscription, guns, ammo, extra-capacity magazines, silencers, bump stocks, pets, Pokemon cards, Starbucks, TVs, video games, fake hair, fake eyelashes, fake nails, and other things.
If you’ve budgeted appropriately or are stably reaching personal finance goals to debt-freedom and wealth-creation, you can spoil yourself by purchasing things to satisfy your wants, but you should know that money spent on wants has a higher cost because of your choice to not pay down debt that is charging you interest.
