In every relationship (whether it's a friendship or a romantic liaison), there are deal breakers. Deal breakers are just another way of saying "standards"; it's the measuring stick that helps each of us define our personal limits of what we will and won't accept.
The other day, a friend and I were talking about financial deal breakers. He had two: his prospective mate "must have good credit", and if over 30 she must also have "at least one major asset such as a home, a car, a business--something we can build on." Thankfully, I wasn't trying to date him. LOL. (I discovered, the hard way, that in America paying off your bills and canceling your credit cards actually hurts your credit score. Go figure.) I thought his second deal breaker was a little excessive, but what was even crazier is that my friend was seeking qualities in his prospective mate that he had yet to accomplish, thus breaking the Golden Rule of Deal Breakers: never write someone off for something that you don't possess yourself.
Deal breakers often get a bad rap, but from a financial perspective they can actually be quite helpful when trying to meet your financial goals if they're not too restrictive or unrealistic. You can have financial deal breakers for yourself, or for your partner...which may not be a bad idea considering that many marriages break up over money matters.
My personal financial deal breakers:
- No layaway: If I have to put it on layaway, I don't need it. And after hearing about Chuck Schumer's latest initiative regarding layaway, I'm glad this is one of my deal breakers.
- No loans: I really HATE owing people money. If I have to borrow money to pay for it, I don't need it. Obviously, this excludes major things (college education, home purchase, car purchase) or if I fall on hard times, but this is the general rule.
What are your personal financial deal breakers?
No comments:
Post a Comment