A bootstrapped business is more likely succeed than an angel or venture capital invested business – period. And there's good reason for that. It's called being blinded by abundance.

It's more than just a little disturbing if you realize that even the 20% of people who have 80% of the world's wealth can't compensate for all the people in debt. Apparently, we have a great big spending problem.

...and it all centers around one horribly wrong belief with credit cards.

However, it's not just what you buy, but how you buy that really matters.

These are the seven ways to be a more responsible consumer that I think get overlooked much too often.

Does anyone else think this is a problem?

To make sure you or your children don't spend your post-college years stressing about student loans, consider these alternatives...

I got a call today from that same guy thanking me to no end for the solution I suggested. In all, it's going to save him $12,000 per year. That's like, what, an 86% savings... something like that.

What was that miracle $12,000 discounted solution? It's so simple, I can hear him kicking himself from 6 states away.

How many times have you said or heard one or all of the following (or some similar version) throughout the course of your life?

“You made me get angry by not doing what I asked.”

“You forced me to behave badly by doing what you did.”

“I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.”

You see, I do math like a normal human being, and banks do math like... well, banks. I've been doing good though. Ever since the New Year, I have only overdrafted once.

There were two key things I changed which prevented me from overdrafting until I forgot why I set those personal rules and broke one... and overdrafted. I guess you need that one regression as a painful reminder.

Normally you would think such a splurge would be really dumb, but spending more all at once is a much better idea for a lot of reasons. For one, it gets your buying bug fed. Secondly, you make smarter decisions when large lump sums are involved.

You see, it wasn't just the bill swipe... it was the searching of pockets after my dad got home from work (yes, still 10). I thought it was quite clever, actually. He would leave change in his suit pockets and I would find ways in which to redistribute the change. Call it lets say my own little 'economic stimulus package.' Other than the fact that I was lifting money from my parents (stealing seems so strong) what is curious to me still, to this day, is why they never noticed? They weren't playing dumb. They just didn't have a clue.

We were not rich but we had money. We had everything we ever needed growing up. We were spoiled. My parents were generous and wanted us to have what we wanted because their parents weren't as capable of giving them what they wanted. I don't think my parents ever managed a budget. If they did, they would know that twenty-dollar bills went missing mysteriously, often.

Despite these words of comfort, you are probably still very eager to keep a low profile as far as the IRS is concerned. The following five tips should make that slim chance of an audit even slimmer.

The main advantages of home equity include:

• Lower interest rates - since it includes the big amount risk free business, lenders provide you with low interest loans.
• Tax deductibility - federal financial laws view your paying for home eligible for tax deductions.
• Availability of bigger amounts as loan - up to 80% or more of the total value of your property is available as loan.
• Low monthly pay - you can completely pay the loan over many years, in 10, 20 or 30 years.
• Longer terms up to 30 years
• Easier to qualify with bad credit score - lenders have your house as collateral. It is thus possible to attach your house in case you default in your payments.

These fees can be very steep, with some banks charging high premiums for customers who exceed an agreed overdraft limit by as little as a few pence. A recent consumer report suggests that bank customers paid more than £4 billion pounds in unauthorised overdraft fees in 2004.

Scale Of Overdraft Fees

The BBC have reported that the seven major banks charge unauthorised overdraft fees of £25 to £38 pounds. Interest rates on the unauthorised amount can also be high. While some banks charge under 8% interest, others have interest rates that hover around the 30% level.

Have you ever received a letter from one of these firms? They not only go far out of their way to hoodwink you into opening the letters, making them look like legal documents, letters from your own mortgage bank, or worse.

The big four statements are:

1. Balance sheet which describes a company's assets and liabilities.

2. Income statement which describes a company's income and expenses.

3. Statement of Cash Flows which describes how corporate operating, investment, and financing activities have affected the company's cash position.

4. Statement of Retained Earnings which describes changes to shareholders equity (for example a payment of dividend).

Because these statements are often complex an extensive set of Notes to the Financial Statements and management discussion and analysis is usually included. The notes will typically describe each item on the Balance Sheet and Income statement in further detail. In many cases the notes are much longer than the financial statement they are elucidating.