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I've read over some of the articles in Personal Finance and was quite surprised by the number of people that submitted articles but claimed that "they had no interest whatsoever in personal finance". Hmmm. When I had "no interest", I was always living from paycheck to paycheck and frustrated at the times that I could not afford to do what I wanted, when I wanted or purchase what I needed because I was broke. I increasingly became angry and depressed. Despite the advice from my family, that always fell on deaf ears, I would continue to "live in the moment" and buy what I wanted when I needed a lift of spirits or just to go along with the gang to have fun, at that moment. You see how that works? Has this ever happened to you? You get a call from some friends, "Hey its Friday man, we are all going out later after work, starting off the weekend right; come join us." You've had a long week so you say to yourself, "absolutely, why not, I deserve this!" You're on your way home from work and you impulsively turn into the mall parking lot for a quick purchase to make you feel even better; you will look fabulous tonight! Then you wake up the next morning with a flat tire or you feel the flu is coming on or maybe a family member is in the hospital, out of town, and you really need to be there. BUT, you check your funds situation and damn! You spent $200 last night! You feel this sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach and think to yourself, "that was so stupid. I wish I hadn't gone out, then I would still have that money." That is the lesson, that is the feeling that you need to sit with until it sinks into your hard head. Impulsive spending leads to disappointment later. It's also a sign of some growing up that still needs to be done. I remember something very similar happened to me, for the hundredth time and I sat with that disappointing feeling as I cried because I made an irresponsible, impulsive purchase and now was unable to help my child at college buy some books that she desperately needed. How could I let her down? That day, I put together a very simple budget, that I got off of the internet (very easy to do) and I actually felt better about myself as I was realizing what I was doing wrong; that I could pay myself first and put money aside so that I could have some entertainment in my life and also be able to have money for the necessary things that creep up on you rather suddenly. It soon became to be a domino effect for me. After Hurricane Katrina,

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