Are you broke?  No, really, it is a legitimate question.  If you are living paycheck to paycheck you are definitely broke and you should make a significant effort to turn your financial situation around.  Most people though, don’t necessarily feel like they are broke and it might take a little bit of convincing them that they actually need to make some changes.

So, you may have to ask yourself some questions to determine if you are in fact, broke:

1. Are you living paycheck to paycheck?  Yep, you are broke.
2. Are your credit cards maxed out?  Yep, broke.
3. Do you have any balance on your credit card?  Broke.
4. Do you struggle to pay your bills each month, even though you make good money? Broke.
5. Is your house payment more than 25% of your monthly income?  Most likely broke (This one is not a guarantee, but you should always strive to keep your house payment at a lower threshold than 25%.  
6. Are you paying late fees each month.  Definitely broke.
7. Do you avoid checking your bank balances afraid of what you may see?  You are most likely beyond broke.

Most of us have had some broke times throughout our lives.  There is no shame in that. There is, however, ways of beating this broke cycle and getting yourself set on the straight and narrow in the fiscally responsible world.

How?  You ask.  Well, here are just a couple of tips on how to stop being broke:

• Get a second job.  Oftentimes it’s a spending problem as opposed to an income problem, but it may be a good idea to start bringing in some more money to pay down your debts.
• Stop charging stuff. Seriously.  Be disciplined in your spending and DO NOT use your credit cards.
• Budget, budget, budget.  I say it all the time, but that’s because it WORKS!! Budget each and every month and you will be amazed at how much better your financial life will be.