I saw a headline in a local paper that said, "Credit Card Bills Paid First". Credit cards being paid before mortgage payments? You've got to be kidding me.

People are so concerned about getting behind in their payments, but they don't think the lender will foreclose on them. Wake up! They will, if they have to. With Congress and others looking for ways to slow down the number of foreclosures around the country, some consumers may get a break from having to move out of their home by re-financing their mortgages or possibly adjusting their terms, but for many others there will be no relief.

What you need to understand is by taking out home equity loans and lines of credit can only get you into deeper debt if you don't change your spending habit. Many consumers use home equity loans to pay off high interest rate credit cards and other debt. The problem is if you keep using the same credit cards and you start building balances on them again, you won't be able to increase your home equity loan again. You're really just switching your short-term debt into long-term debt. You haven't paid anything off.

I'm not here to criticize you, but the banks and credit card companies of the world are bamboozling consumers. They just want you to borrow more and more money. When you are late with a payment, they just increase your interest rate to extremely high levels. I recently heard that up to 30% of a credit card company's revenue is generated from late fees and imposing higher interest rates.

Always consider what you need to pay first: your necessities like your mortgage, utilities, food, car payment...

Look at how you can cut back on your daily and weekly expenses. I'm not to go into it here, but there are a lot of ways to find and save extra cash. It just takes making changes.

Keep your credit score as high as possible, because if you start becoming delinquent on payments, your credit score will drop. The more it drops, the more you'll pay for things like insurance, car loans, mortgage, credit cards. It's a vicious cycle!

If you need to have a garage sale or sell a new car that's more than you can afford, do so. Try selling some items on e-Bay.

In the end, VISA and Mastercard, etc, have conditioned us to consume...buy, buy, buy! Just stop, take a breath and decide if you really need something. Do you need it brand new or would you get significant savings by buying slightly used?

For years, we leased new cars, because it initially kept our payments low. But over time, they kept going up, so we finally bought them out. Now, the next time we go looking for a vehicle, it'll be a late model. You've heard the old saying, "They depreciate the minute you drive them off the lot".

When you have a big financial decision to make, please don't be too embarassed to ask someone you trust for their insight into your situation. Whether it's your accountant, financial planner, pastor, trusted friend or me, get another opinion that you value to see if you really need or can afford what you want.