STOPPING SPENDING MONEY

If you need help recovering from anything that you do to excess, whether it's spending too much money or indulging in some activity to a degree that affects your income, you can probably find a group to help you.
A wide range of 12-step programs is available, for everything from simple debt recovery to help for a wide range of emotional disorders. Because debt can be triggered by something deeper than just not understanding compound interest, you may find that you need recovery from something that is more than merely financial. Alcoholics Anonymous is the best known of the 12-step programs, but it's not alone anymore. As the success of 12-step programs has spread, the programs have multiplied, all employing the basic steps of the original program. Now, other recovery groups are popping up when needing help on debt consolidation. The benefit of these programs is that they offer both guidelines for recovery and the emotional support of a network of friends and acquaintances in a similar situation.

These programs also offer you a framework that may be invaluable to your recovery. If your spending or any other aspect of your life - is out of control and you need more than just helpful hints, the sense of accountability, fellowship, and more structured environment that a recovery program offers may be the key that helps you get on track and stay there.

You can find local chapters of the most popular and successful programs by checking the white pages of your local phone directory. You can also use the Internet to help you fnd more information about the groups, or to fnd meetings wherever you may travel. Here is an alphabetical listing of some of the more common 12-step programs, along with their Web addresses, plus Web addresses for links to myriad other programs across the nation and around the world.

Suppose you have $1,000 in your checking account all month long, and now it's time to pay the bills. You write checks for the rent, the electricity, the phone, and yourcredit card bill. By the time you've finished, your checking account is down to $225.

You're not worried though, because Friday is payday, and you'll be depositing moremoney in the account. Aren't you surprised when your next bank statement comes,and you've been charged $10 for a low minimum balance. It was only a couple of days between the time you paid your bills and deposited more money, but wham! your bank got you.
A better way to go is with a bank that uses an average daily balance system. That way,as long as your account balance stays above $250 (or whatever) for the month, you'renot penalized.

Unless you keep a ton of money in your checking account, which isn't a great idea, you probably will do better with the average daily balance system.Be sure you find out some basic information about checking accounts from every bank you query. When you get the information, write it down carefully, and keep track of which banks have given you particular information. Things can get pretty confusing if you don't keep your information in progress.

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