So it's Christmas Eve - technically Christmas Day. All the stockings are stuffed, all the presents wrapped snugly under the tree. While I'm happy for the surge in consumer spending will hopefully bring to our defiled economy - I can't help but look around and see the wealth of enonomic irresponsibility that surrounds me. I'm not talking about corporate America.

Time and time again I hear sob stories from those around me - a coworker who is overdrawn in their bank account, a friend who is living paycheck to paycheck, another who is having trouble making the rent. Yet it is these same people who the next day, week, or month will go and purchase themselves a shiney new gadget.

The fact of the matter is that if you are living paycheck to paycheck you should not have a $400/month car payment, and if you can't make the rent you shouldn't buy yourself an Iphone. Period. These items are all luxeries, which comes from the Latin word for excess.

I don't have a fancy car, an iphone, designer clothes, or eat out every other night. By some people's standards I deny myself. I do however have a strong savings account, excellent credit, have no debt with the exception of my mortgage, and have the peace of mind that not only will my bills get paid on time - but that there will be some left over in case of emergency.

I guess it's a personal choice. Everybody reacts to financial pressures differently. Last week in the midst of the Christmas shopping craziness I let a few bills sit for about a week. I thought about those bills each day when I woke up. Yesterday when I got around to paying them, I realized that they weren't late at all, not due until January. My brain just couldn't shut off the internal Jiminy Cricket chirpping at me to pay the bills - hounding me more than any bill collecter ever could.

I suppose some people are just better able to squash their cricket and go buy an Iphone instead.