Barbara had been a teacher for more than twenty-five years.  She married in her early twenties, divorced six years later and was still single at 52.  Her constant companion was monthly payments: furniture, a car, and TEN credit cards.  She was a sucker for every "open a credit card and save 10%" deal that came along.  When the payments became long overdue, she usually got her brother or friends to bail her out.

 Barbara had lost her passion for teaching and was just marking time.  To compensate for her less-than-rewarding job, she found what she described as "a real life" by traveling during the summer vacations.

 Beneath Barbara's acquiescence to her boring and unfulfilling job was a desire for adventure, and stimulation-desires that were satisfied by travel and spending sprees—none of which Barbara could afford.  Plus, she had recently lost 60% of her 401k savings plan; she had invested heavily in tech-stock mutual funds.

 Since times are tough for just about everyone, she no longer has people to rescue her.  Her brother lost money in the stock market, too, and so had her friends at work.  No one was flush and she couldn't bear to ask for yet another favor at times like this.

 When I received an email from her seeking help, she said "I know this is going to sound really stupid, but sometimes I think that I might wind up like the homeless women I see on the streets.  I know I shouldn't feel like that; I still have a job and all.  But I'm afraid of ending up alone and poor."

 For Barbara, like many others who live from paycheck-to-paycheck, while the market was going up they had a ray of hope that they would be rescued and not have to truly dial back their lifestyle.  It was as if they were never going to have to pay full price for their reckless expenditures. It would have been very difficult to get Barbara's attention while times were good, but times were very different for her when we made contact.  She was desperate. I knew there was a possibility she would heed advice and make the long-overdue changes necessary toachieve financial security.

 It is interesting to note that while Barbara was willing to take risks with her money, she stopped short when it came to risking a change of career.  This is not atypical of people with High Roller financial personalities.  They find it a lot easier to take a risk when it doesn't involve a personal commitment. Risking and losing money on an investment was a lot more tolerable for Barbara than risking failure in a new career.

 Barbara did not perceive herself as a high financial risk-taker.  She was taken aback when she read how I described her.  She also didn't think of herself as emotionally impulsive.  Certainly, one of Barbara's liabilities was her impulsive decision-making style with money.

 Finally, however, she was willing to work toward reducing her debt.  She asked for a referral to someone who could help her.  Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies are nationwide, and offer debt-reduction programs free-of-charge and will even help in creating workable budgets for people.  Barbara will have money automatically taken out of every paycheck; she will destroy all but one credit card; she's working out a payment plan with creditors.

 Self-discipline will not come easy for Barbara, nor will changing her spending behavior, but she really has no choice.  The alternative is to live in a state of anxiety with short-term relief with each expenditure.  But she has learned one of life's most important lessons: There is no magic solution to living a well-balanced life.  It comes from the choices we make every day.

 Barbara has now embarked on rebuilding her financial life very slowly.

 Short-term pain will lead to long-term gain.