"How deep is your pocket?" asks January.

Well, the festive season has come and gone like it always does. You enjoyed it; drank yourself to a pulp and danced the night away in those expensive, custom made shoes you always wanted. You also got yourself that pair of ‘Guess’ jeans you always saw on display at the mall; out of that money you had been saving since last summer, just to make the festive a happy day for you and those around you. You even had the chance to hit the road and make your away to that exotic, exquisite holiday resort you always wanted to go to, and basked under the summer sun, sipping on some chilled champagne and nibbling on the most exclusive cuisine on the menu.

Well, for some the tables have turned once more. The dreaded enemy called January has come to haunt us again. It’s like you are happy for the rest of the year and you have the world at your feet in December. But come January; that smile on your face is wiped off so fast you won’t remember the last time you had it! It’s like you have lived your life through the last eleven months of the previous year just to watch your spirit die and your body live, walking around like a zombie in January through piles of accounts and invoices that need to be cleared. Even ideas seem to slip away round about this time, and all the companies energy is revitalized as they snap their fingers, neck and appetite, getting ready to guzzle down those installments from your account.

The major reason for this is usually because we over spend. Not only do we spend beyond our own margin or what we can afford, but we throw in a ton of other relatives, friends and bystanders into the spending trolley and shop ourselves dry during the festive season. Well, as much as we would like to look for somebody to blame besides ourselves, we always stand alone in the ring to face those accounts, which throw in our way some formidable punches that are either hard to dodge, or impossible to ignore.

If I told you I had a secret to solving this famous trend that usually takes refuge in your pockets in December, I would be lying. What it all comes down to is personal discipline. Yes, simple personal discipline. Others make it through this month without flinching. Others don’t even feel the heat in the January kitchen, and they top it off with a lousy whistle as they walk through into February, March, April and the rest of the year. It is not as if they have a secret too, but they have just come to a point where they have accomplished personal discipline. Discipline they have come to master over a long period of years, through hard work and stringent budgets, just to make ends meet.

I believe the question you should ask yourself next time you are about to plunge into this deep abyss of debt is… just how deep is your pocket? This is a simple question really, because, apart from what your friends and neighbors know about you or what they see you dressed in everyday, you are the only one who knows the truth. We all know how far our arms can reach. That is not so different from our pockets. We should all know how deep they are, and what we can afford and what we can’t. Once we know that simple fact, we are on the right track to establishing personal discipline. It is with personal discipline that the eye, heart, and that hand that swipes are leashed. The next time you see something beautiful, and your heart suddenly loves it dearly; before that hand snaps into action to flip out the card and swipe, remember that simple question: How deep is my pocket? You might be shocked with the results.

Like I said, not all of us go through the same phase. Some move through all the months without hassle. But if you do, this one is for you my brother and sister. Once you find that weak point of yours that always yearns to be spoilt and pampered with tit bits that you can do without, you need to clamp it down and put it on a leash. Be in control and don’t let the adverts fool you. At the end of the day, its just business they say, while you drown in debt and end up resorting to the worst options you could ever imagine, out of desperation.

“How deep is your pocket?” asks January!!  Only you know the answer to that question. Take Care.