What kind of improvements would you like to see here at MoneyCrush? Are there specific topics you would like to see covered that have been missing? Or topics you’d like to see covered in more detail?

Would tutorials or case studies interest you? If so, on what?

I would love to get your feedback on things I could do to make MoneyCrush more useful and interesting to you. Please comment or email with your ideas and suggestions.

On a marginally related note, I know at least some of you are considering of starting a small business. Would a course related to choosing a niche and getting over the initial hurdles that stand in the way of taking the plunge be of interest?

Ok, enough with the questions. I’m looking forward to your responses. And as always, thanks for being a reader.

You’ve heard the platitudes before: slow and steady wins the race, patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait, etc.

But oh, sometimes it’s so hard to be patient!

Because I want what I want, and I want it right now! (Are you channeling your inner three year old along with me?)

Of course, I want stuff like a large enough net worth to reach financial independence, and maybe even a large enough net worth to be able to make some major investments. (Like buying houses for cash…)

I see things out there that I would just love to invest in or to try my hand at, and I’m just not there yet. So I stick to the plan, and just feel impatient inside instead.

I try hard not to let impatience lead to unwise action, because a lot of those tempting side streets along the road to wealth are really just dead ends. Or worse, they lead to somewhere that’s nothing like what the travel brochure advertised.

If your financial goals seem a long way off, there are things you can do to help curb impatience, unwise side trips, and backtracking.

Think back to when you originally started — maybe you knew nothing about money at all, or were making all sorts of classic mistakes — and see how far you’ve come since then. Often the progress is more substantial than you realize.

Compare what happened in the past when you got impatient or overly enthusiastic. How did things turn out then? Usually that’s when we make the most (and biggest) mistakes. A good look at those is usually enough to prevent a repeat for me.

What types of things have worked for you when it comes to gaining the patience to take the steady (and ultimately rewarding) route?

When folks start working on getting out of debt, a debt consolidation loan often seems like a good idea.

It makes sense on the surface, especially if you can get a relatively low or no interest loan. Why not just lump everything together so you can make one big payment each month and be done with it?

Logically, consolidating debt means that more of your payment will be going toward principal each month, allowing you to pay off your debts faster. You’ll also reduce the chance of late fees, since there will only be one payment to make.

There’s just one thing wrong with that theory, and it’s a biggie: People don’t always act logically. If we did, we wouldn’t pay thousands of dollars over the years for things we probably don’t even remember buying.

Usually the problem with debt is NOT high interest rates and late fees — those are just the things that hurt. They’re symptoms.

If you have non-medical debt, the real problem is that you’ve been living above your means for some reason. And if you’ve been living above your means, consolidating debt is almost certainly going to put you even deeper into debt — no matter how well intentioned you are.

You’ve got to fix the underlying problem first. You have to stop borrowing money. Period. For any reason.

Borrowing money is not the solution. It’s just something you’ve gotten used to doing almost automatically. The next time an emergency happens, pretend that no one will lend you money, not even the credit card companies.

What would you do then? Do that thing instead and break the cycle.

Once you’re consistently living below your means and scraping up extra pennies to throw at debt, then a loan to lower your interest rates might be beneficial.