About the Author, Marc Summers: I help you through simple, clear, and practical advice and work hard to ensure you’re getting quality instead of clickbait junk. I focus heavily on mindset, common sense, controlling emotions and behavior, communication, and leadership – key areas that make you happier and make your life better. If you have feedback, questions, or comments, you can reach me here.
Broke people complain about things that actually help them. Even though they feel good, and maybe even true, they keep you from thinking and behaving like someone who makes and keeps more money than the average person. Here are the top 10 complaints keeping you broke – the exact things that prevent millions from fixing and growing their money.
If you complain about any of these things now, you can still fix it and fix your money. Others complained about these things in the past, stopped doing them, and changed their results through changing their mindset, outlook, behavior, and habits.
1. “It’s Not Fair”
Complaining things aren’t fair keeps you broke because you think things SHOULD be a certain way. Since they’re not, you think you’re automatically dismissed from making an effort like everyone else.
“They were born rich. They had help. They had a head start. I never got those chances.” Even if it’s true, focusing on fairness wastes your time and energy. You can’t change ANY of it. You have to play the hand you were dealt. You can only plan, strategize, and make moves from your current position.
“Life isn’t fair!” – everyone agrees. But, not everyone is crying about it and doing nothing to fix and improve their situation. People with money accept it and move forward. They focus on what they CAN control: skills, effort, attitude, and choices. Complaining about fairness keeps you stuck comparing instead strategizing, planning, executing, and moving forward.
What to do instead: Next time you feel things aren’t fair, ask “What’s one thing I can do right now to improve my situation?” Fair or not, action beats complaining and NO ONE will show up, hand you money, or take the action for you.
2. “It’s Not My Fault”
Broke people blame bad luck, the economy, or their childhood, skin color, parents, and family for not having money. “My parents didn’t pay for my college. The job market sucks.” Blaming feels good, justifies your position, and makes you look better to OTHER broke people, but it robs you of power. It prevents you from taking action and making progress.
When you have money, you take personal responsibility FOR EVERYTHING – even when it’s not your fault. You say, “This is where I’m at and what I’m working with. What can I do from here?” ONLY FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CONTROL. It changes your thinking, shifts your perspective, and opens doors. While others look for excuses for why they’re broke and getting what they want, you’re looking at what YOU can be doing better to fix your money and not looking for where to place blame.
Start here: For the next 30 days, don’t blame anything on anyone else. Find what you control and take responsibility for it. Take ownership of your money, situation, and progress. Own your results. Blame YOURSELF when you fail or come up short. You’ll be surprised how fast things change.
3. “The System Is Rigged”
The system is NOT stacked against you. Banks, rich people, and the government ARE NOT making it impossible for normal people to win and fix their money. Is some of it harder and does some of it suck more than back in the day? Absolutely. Some things may be more unfair for us, today, than they were 30 years ago. But, it’s still not impossible. If you can’t do anything about it, learn how it works and make adjustments.
The system will never be “perfect”. Even with the problems it has, tons of people FIGURE IT OUT and fix their money. They research, learn the rules, find loopholes, and use them. AI makes it easier than ever. Complaining about the system only keeps you from trying and taking action because you think you’ve already lost. You can’t jump to conclusions before you’ve done the research and learned the exact details. Complaining using broad, general statements instead of being able to pinpoint and recite EXACT issues makes you look ignorant, arrogant, and keeps you broke longer.
Action step: Research and learn ONE money skill – like investing in index funds or starting a small side business. Learn how it REALLY works. Learn what the people winning are doing and what mistakes the people failing are making. THE DATA IS THERE. Knowledge and facts ALWAYS beat complaining about what you THINK something is.
4. “I’m Not the Right Color or Race”
ANYONE can fix their money through hard work, smart choices, and persistence. When you become good at what you do, opportunities don’t ignore you. No one cares anymore what color or race you are.
What companies and businesses actually care about: Are you presentable? Are you respectful? Can you communicate like a somewhat intelligent person? Can you follow directions? Will you show up on time? Will you be a good employee who represents the company well? If you can do these things, they don’t care if you’re a purple alien from another planet. When you do what they ask, you get results, and you’re predictable and consistent, they love you.
Just show up, follow directions, and be consistent. Skin color and race doesn’t prevent you from doing your job. If you don’t show up and do what you’re supposed to, it’s because you’re lazy, arrogant, stupid, or you’re surrounded by lazy, arrogant, and stupid people who hurt your ability to make money and be successful. Blame it on your mindset and environment, not imaginary racists.
Let’s be real: We’re not in the 60’s anymore. Quit pretending racist people are physically stopping you from getting a job, showing up, and being consistent. It’s not real. If you actually believe it is, please rethink your view of the world and evaluate who you’re spending time with and allowing to shape your thoughts and opinions.
Better approach: Build skills people PAY MONEY for. Improve your mindset and presentation. Improve your social and emotional intelligence. Improve your network. Deliver value. Get results. When you do, you’ll prove racism isn’t as prevalent as thought to be by lazy, arrogant, and dumb people. If you don’t eliminate this complaint and view of the world, you will never fix your money and have the success you actually want.
5. “I Don’t Have Enough Time”
“I’m too busy. I don’t have time. The day goes by too fast. I can’t work a job AND do this and that.” As one of the most common complaints keeping you broke, 99% of the time, it isn’t true. It’s not that we don’t have enough time, we’re mismanaging it.
There IS enough time. It’s just that we’re not taking it seriously and respecting how quick it flies by if we’re not squared away with our actions. We say we don’t have enough time when we’re not starting soon enough, we’re not quick and efficient, and our schedule is sloppy and disorganized. To have enough time to make things happen, fix your money, and make more of it, you have to be on point with what needs to be done and when. THEN, you have to actually do it and get it done.
It’s the same 24 hours for everyone. People with money have time because they eliminate doom scrolling, TV, and low-value activities. They figure out what they’re doing that doesn’t contribute to their money and future and they quit doing it. You can, and need to, do the same.
Try this: Replace 30 minutes of your day with reading or working on a side income. That 30 minutes alone adds up FAST. If you do it 6 days a week, it’s 12 hours a month and 6 full days a year of pure productivity towards making money. If you view it through the lens of a job, it’s 18 full 8-hour workdays a year.
6. “It’s Too Hard”
EVERYTHING worth your time and effort is hard. Learning new skills, saving money, or starting a business is difficult FOR EVERYONE. Join the club. When you’re broke, you complain, “It’s too hard” and give up before you even start or make an effort.
People with money face the hard things. They know it’s gonna suck and they do it anyways because THEY KNOW there’s a better reward at the end of that long tunnel of work, frustration, confusion, monotony, and discomfort. It’s worth their time to do what broke people won’t.
What works: Break big goals into smaller steps. Do 1 – 3 steps a day. When you get them done, take a moment to absorb that feeling of accomplishment. This builds momentum and confidence quickly. When you reach the point where YOU NEED that feeling of accomplishment, it’s a sign your days of being broke are about to be over.
7. “It’s Too Uncomfortable”
The main reason broke people complain and NEVER fix their money problems is because they’d rather remain comfortable than to take risks and feel like they’re starting over.
Learning new things is uncomfortable, confusing, and frustrating FOR EVERYONE. Waking up early, being on time, being consistent, being good at your job, saving money, and investing is uncomfortable. It sucks. No one WANTS to take a huge chunk of their money THAT THEY JUST WORKED HARD FOR and do nothing with it. They’d rather buy something cool. Knowing it’s there and you can’t touch or spend it is difficult and uncomfortable. The problem is, when you’re broke, you can’t handle the discomfort. So, what do you do? You reach into your account, take that money you SHOULD be saving, and have fun with it because it’s what makes you more comfortable.
People with money live outside their comfort zone. They’re comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s just part of their life and they know when they’re too comfortable, something is wrong.
Practice: Pick one uncomfortable money action this week – research how to make money as a side business, wake up earlier, get to work earlier, stay more focused on your job, or push yourself to get better, and faster, results. Do it even if it sucks and feels weird.
8. “Discipline Sucks”
“I can’t do that. I’m not a disciplined person.” Broke people use this complaint to let themselves off the hook and get others to accept that they’re just too weak and lame to be an adult.
Broke people complain about waking up early, showing up to work, being on time, being consistent, paying bills on time, and tracking and controlling income and spending because they’re too weak and immature to accept and embrace discipline. Accepting and embracing it means knowing it sucks and doing it anyways because it’s the correct, and best, move. Since they’d rather be comfortable, they AVOID it and dodge responsibility. It’s easier and feels better.
Responsibility and discipline is the price of freedom. When you be an adult and handle the things you’re SUPPOSED TO, opportunities present themselves. Discipline is doing what you’re supposed to do and what you said you’d do – whether it was to yourself or someone else. You don’t need to be perfect. You need to make the things that fix your money non-negotiable.
Start simple: Track income and spending, pay bills early, and set up automatic savings. Make small, responsible moves every time you get paid.
9. “Working Sucks”
Hating work only makes it suck more. If you don’t think it’s that bad, it won’t be. If you see it as necessary, you’ll find a way to live with it. If you think it’s the most terrible thing in the world because you’re lazy and entitled, it’ll be horrible OR you’ll just avoid it, like tons of broke people, and your money will remain a joke.
“Working hard is whack. Working hard is for suckers. Working hard is slavery.” Broke people find any complaint they can to avoid effort and find shortcuts. The problem is, the shortcuts rarely exist and you can’t make money avoiding the effort. If you can’t go around it, you have no choice but to go through it.
The truth: A LOT of people with money work hard AND smart because they’re lazy. And, because they’re lazy, they look for the smartest way to get it done with the least amount of work. For the work they can’t avoid, they FULLY ACCEPT it’s non-negotiable and they find the easiest way to get THAT done as well. The common theme: they STILL do the work and get it done – even if they find the easiest and laziest way to do it.
Look at it this way: The work has to get done no matter what. Whether you make it easy or hard is completely up to you. If it gets done, you get money. If it doesn’t, you don’t get money. Don’t make it anymore complicated than that.
10. “Adulting Is Hard”
If you want childish money, keep being childish. If you want adult money, then quit complaining about “adulting” and learn how to become a responsible, capable adult.
“Adulting” means waking up, going to work, being on time, acting like a grown-up, doing your job well, paying bills on time, tracking and controlling spending, saving, filing taxes, buying groceries and cooking instead of eating or ordering out, and handling all the boring grown-up stuff. Deal with it, dude. It’s part of how it goes as an adult.
What broke people say: “I’m not good at this adult stuff.” “I don’t cook.” “I don’t clean.” “It’s overwhelming.” “I’ll deal with it later.” “I’m going out to have fun.” “Why is everything so complicated?”
Like seriously, grow the fuck up, biatch. If that hurts your feelings, it’s because you need to hear it.
You can’t treat basic responsibilities like they’re optional or too difficult. You can’t avoid “adulting” and not have money problems. Avoiding it leads to negative bank balances, missed payments, late fees, debt, missed opportunities, and zero financial progress. Like when is enough, enough, you know?
The truth: adulting is hard for everyone when they first start. But, people with money do it anyway. They learn and do the boring stuff that protects their money and future. They get over it and keep feelings out of it.
What to do instead of complaining: Start small, make it simple, and keep it simple. Set up automatic bill pay and automatic savings (even $20 a week). Use one easy budgeting app. Deal with one money task per week instead of avoiding all of them. The more you handle the “adult” parts of money, the easier and less stressful life becomes – and the more you fix your money.
Why Complaining Hurts Your Money
All of these complaints do the same thing – they strip you of personal power and focus on problems instead of solutions. When you repeat them, your brain finds more reasons to stay stuck, lazy, entitled, and broke.
Flip these complaints into questions:
- Instead of complaining, “It’s not fair”, ask, “How do I create my own opportunities?”
- Instead of complaining, “It’s too hard”, ask, “What’s the next small step?”
Small changes in thinking lead to BIG changes in results.
Break Free From Complaining Like a Biatch
When complaining, catch yourself and rephrase it into an action question. Take a tiny step immediately. Track your wins.
Remember: Broke people complain about what they can’t do and why. People with money find what THEY CAN DO and why. You don’t need a perfect plan or huge motivation. You just need to stop feeding old, meritless complaints and start building new reasons and habits.
People who have fixed their money used to say these exact things. They didn’t suddenly get lucky. They changed what they focused on. You can do the same. Thanks for reading.
