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It is no laughing matter to see people making these money management mistakes. Have you made any of these mistakes with your hard-earned income?

1. They have never figured out how much money they really need every week to exceed just paying their bills. They don't have a budget set up.

The appropriate definition of a BUDGET is: the calculation of the amount of money necessary for an organization to function and achieve its purpose. If you are happy with just being able to pay your bills, and you don't pay yourself first into some type of savings plan, you will make other people wealthy and you will stay poor. Every supplier that you pay is running their business to make a profit. Shouldn't you be running your business to make a profit? The income target must include a profit or the enterprise will fail financially.

2. They haven't worked out a way to make more income than they need, and then be willing to do whatever is required to carry out the plan.

By UNDER estimating the amount of income necessary to do better than just break even, they almost always set their income target too low and lose money existing on credit instead of getting busy raising their income. Anyone can discover ways to make more money; it is more often the 'willingness to do whatever it takes' that seems to be the problem.

3. They habitually spend more money than they make.

Using your money to buy the 'appearance' of having wealth is a deadly activity. I refer to this breed of spender a Gratification Groupie. This can catch up with you quickly and over a short time can drown you in debt. This situation causes constant stress about money and brings on lots of sleepless nights. Money truly cannot buy happiness. However, doing something worthwhile and productive and being appreciated for it can make you feel like you are on top of the world.

4. They don't figure out what they need to buy in the future and set aside a bit of cash every week so they can pay cash for the purchase later.

Purchasing something with a credit card because you are short on cash is committing your future production to the credit card company. You are then in economic slavery to the credit company. The right method to buy things, especially big ticket items, is to put away a small amount every week till you have enough cash to purchase the item, and then negotiate a big cash discount. The guy with the CASH IS KING!

5. They buy services and products based on WANT rather than on NEED.

Purchasing decisions should be based on how your purchase of the product or service will help you produce more income for you. Let's be honest here, do you want the latest cell phone that offers text messaging and email retrieval because your friends have one, or do you need it to increase your work productivity because you are out of the office making more money?

6. They don't contribute to a retirement savings plan so they have money for use later in life.

Are you counting on the younger workers' future production to supply you with Social Security income when you stop working? Boy, that is a huge gamble! Despite the fact our government says the cost of living is going up 3 - 3.5% a year, the truth is that it is going up 8 - 12% a year. You have to bring in that much more income just to stay even. Why does our government report that it is only 3 - 3.5%? Unfortunately, it's because the government has to increase Social Security payments every year by the percentage they report. The Social Security system is already bankrupt and those living on Social Security alone are headed in that direction.

7. They don't build up multiple sources of income. If one source dries up they are in trouble financially.

The old saying 'don't put all your eggs into one basket' holds true today, especially when it comes to income sources. Look for profitable products or services you can add, or business ventures you can participate in that are ethical, and have a great chance of producing a residual income.

8. They worry about the low interest their bank pays on savings accounts while they are getting killed with much higher interest charges by carrying balances on their credit cards.

If you have high credit card debt, it is more advantageous to use excess cash to pay down the debt and stop the high interest payments instead of trying to earn interest from the bank. As you reduce your debt, you should also keep enough cash on hand to cover a few months of basic living expenses. Once the debt is gone, or will be soon, then begin investing any excess cash in investments that return real growth.

9. They worry about 'the economy' in general.

I'm surprised that people actually worry more about 'the economy' than about their household or business failing financially. They stress over what the media is reporting about 'the economy' when that is something they can't control, while never confronting how they are affecting the economy of their own household or business, which is something they CAN control. A rise in unemployment is no cause to worry. Small business' creation of new jobs greatly exceeded the number of jobs lost in large corporations, according to the latest ADP report. A failing bank is no reason to panic. Banks receive funding for bailouts from the FDIC and other investors. Nobody is standing by to bail out your failing business. That is entirely up to you. So keep promoting your business, put aside some cash, and sleep well at night while the dire news about 'the economy' rages around you.

10. They expect to survive financially without accepting total responsibility for controlling their financial future.

Money problems have a simple solution. Cut expenses, increase your income, and correctly manage the money you do get. It's not only about how much money you make, it's what you do with it that determines your financial condition.

Proper money management is something educational institutions don't teach. People receive false information and bad advice about how to handle money. So then they make these silly mistakes, get into trouble, try to solve the problem by using credit, create more trouble, and then go searching for debt relief.

The good news is that there is an inexpensive, proven, money management software system that can reverse the money management mistakes a person has made in the past, and keeps them from making the same mistakes in the future. It is an old-school system that your great grandparents used before the days of credit cards. Very wealthy people know and use this system today.

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals manage their money to achieve financial freedom.