If you are new here, every Monday I blog about a money related topic. Nothing should be considered as financial advice, but for informational and discussion purposes only.

Is there a such thing as being too successful for a mate? In this case I’m talking about a successful woman.

Of course. women have no problem dating a successful man and when I say successful, I mean doing well financially.

“Typically” the man is thought of as the breadwinner or the financial provider in the relationship.

That’s not so much the case today, women have their “stuff” together. We are smart, driven, we have careers, we own homes, we’re educated and may not be financially dependent on a man.

However being successful and dating doesn’t always go together. Some men are intimated and insecure about a woman who has achieved a measure of success that out weighs his own. He may feel that if she has all these “things” then why is he needed.

I came across this quote from a guy on this topic and he said: I’m not intimidated by successful women, but I’m not exactly comfortable with them in the long-term, neither.

Is the thought of being too successful an “issue” that women create or is it time for the men to get over their insecurities and learn to embrace her success?

Photo by LongHairBroad

Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

Below is a brief and somewhat comical soap opera-ish video on this disease.

In a poll released last week (there’s a poll and study for everything, which I find to be a waste of money, but then we’d have no numbers) it showed that because of debt “23 percent of people had severe depression, 51 percent had muscle tension and 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems”. Debt not only affects people financially, but also physically.

I will admit, it’s not easy delaying pleasure when it comes to spending money and buying stuff. I love nice things, I want nice things, I feel I deserve nice things, but I’m not willing to go into debt (any more) to get them. Not wanting to continue making payments on stuff for the rest of my life keeps my Affluenza bug under control. How do you go about keeping your life simple or have you been bitten? Has debt caused you any health (loss of sleep) problems? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

Q. What’s the quickest way to destroy a friendship?

A. Lend them money.

Okay maybe this is not true with everyone, there are some friends that we can lend money to and then there are friends that we shouldn’t lend money to, but we do anyway because: we’re friends, until they don’t pay us back.

Last week a friend of mine called, and I won’t mention any names, but their initials are Pat Johnson (ha ha, couldn’t resist, not their real name) and asked to borrow a couple thousand dollars. When I was resuscitated we continued the conversation and I said I don’t have it to lend, but I would be happy to sit down with them and help get their finances in order. I know that wasn’t the response they wanted to hear and I felt bad but trying to borrow our way out of debt just digs us into a deeper hole that’s harder to get out.

Personally, I don’t lend money. I have in the past, but IF I have it and you need it, I rather just give it to you. I can’t deal with lending someone money and then watching them not pay me back. They do and buy everything else with money and all I can think about is when are they going to pay ME back.

How would you have handled this situation? Have you ever loaned money to a friend and not been paid back? Are you still friends? Would you do it again? What about lending money to family members?

EDIT: Due to brain damage, I forget to mention the winner of the personal finance book is Sandy K. Sandy I will put the book in the mail today, thanks for entering!

“Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an extremely important role in human societies.” Wikipedia

Several times while listening to a personal finance radio show I’ve heard callers call in about their inheritance from parents who are not even dead yet. It amazes me how some people feel a sense of entitlement just because they breath air, like they did something truly remarkable to deserve their inheritance.

I thought an inheritance was a gift and not a right.

This just got me thinking, how do you feel about what your parents have accumulated, if anything? Would it be ‘okay’ if they left you with nothing or would you feel like you’ve been jipped.

Do you ever wonder if your parents are spending your inheritance?

I have a few financial books that I will be giving away on any given Monday for FREE! All you have to do is send me an email at vdm17 [at] yahoo dot com with the words, Get Out of Debt in the subject line.

One email will be chosen at random and the winner will be announced the following Monday. (I will accept email entries up until June 1st at 11:59 pm). This giveaway is not limited to the USA, I’ll be happy to ship overseas because you guys have money over there too. The book I’m giving away is How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously. You can read some reviews about this book on Amazon here.

An excerpt from the back of the book says you’ll learn:

• How to recognize the warning signs of serious debt
• How to negotiate with angry creditors, collection agencies, and the IRS
• How to design a realistic and painless pay-back schedule
• How to identify your spending blind spots
• How to cope with the anxiety and daily pressures of owing money
• Plus the three cardinal rules for staying out of debt forever, and much more!

I know not everyone has debt, but if you’re interested in reading this book or know of someone who would benefit from it, then send me an email. I’m closing the comments for the book giveaways since the entry is via email.