Staying on our health posting kick, The Washington Post has a great article on how stress about financial worries can lead to both physical and mental problems, not the least of which are hypertension and eating disorders.
"Although there is little quality research linking debt to poor health, experts say there's no question that being in debt can be stressful. And a wide body of research has tied stress to health problems including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stomach disorders such as colitis".
Having practiced bankruptcy law in the past, I can tell you most people state they are having "financial problems", but an analysis of the situation indicates that they are really having a "debt problem", because typically they have sufficient income to support themselves if not for their debt. Most debt comes from unexpected medical bills, and maybe this cannot be much prevented. However, most debt I have seen comes, directly or indirectly, with struggling to open, operate and continue a business, such as a law practice. Sure the debt might have been incurred going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, for example, but credit card was necessary ultimately because the business is eating too much cash.
The solution is to not go into debt starting a practice. You might ask, "how is that possible"? My response is cut expenses, overhead and start cutting costs to the bone. If you have a kitchen table, a computer, a broadband connection, do not lease an office, hire staff, buy books, or any of the numerous things that require you to divert cash from your living expenses. Sure you might have to eat beans and cornbread for a while, but you will benefit from it in the end.
It is hard enough to start over from zero, but who wants to dig themselves out of hole just to reach zero. We result to debt to avoid the stress in the first place, only to multiply the problem down the road.
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